Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Bill Price, and in this episode of Rock and Roll Flashback, I will feature Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, a rock band that had several top twenty hits from 1965 to 1967.

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Transcript

In this episode of Rock and Roll Flashback, I will feature Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, a rock band that had several top twenty hits from 1965 to 1967.

William Sherille Levise Junior was born on February 26th, 1945 in Hamtramck, Michigan. While in high school, he formed his first band called Tempest. The band acquired some attention when they performed at a Detroit soul music club called The Village. Then in 1963 he formed a band called Billy Lee and The Rivieras. Initially, the band had little success, however by 1964 after gaining a fanatical following, they caught the attention of Motor City DJ Bob Prince. Bob then booked the band as an opening act at a club located north of Detroit. Their performances were so powerful that they quickly were becoming the headline act to major Motown artists. Prince arranged for a demo recording, which caught the attention of The Four Season’s producer Bob Crewe that brought Bob to Detroit where the Rivieras opened for The Dave Clark Five. After hearing the band, Bob was impressed. So in February 1965 the band relocated to New York City, where for a short period of time, they performed in Greenwich Village Clubs.

The first change that took place was renaming the band in order to avoid conflict with The Rivieras who recorded a cover of the song titled “California Sun”.  After looking through the Manhattan Phone book, Levise settled on the name Mitch Ryder. Then the Rivieras were renamed The Detroit Wheels. 

With the new name, the band consisted of Ryder, drummer John Badanjek, lead guitarist Mark Manko, rhythm guitarist Joe Kubert, bassist Jim McAllister and Jim McCarty also on lead guitar. Beginning in the mid 1960's, the band recorded for Bob’s DynoVoice Records and New Voice record labels. Their first single titled “I Need Help” failed to generate any interest. In 1965 the next release titled “Jenny Take A Ride” rose to #10 towards the end of January of 1966. Interestingly the single was a combination of Chuck Willis’  “C C  Rider” and Little Richard’s  “Jenny, Jenny’’. 

Have mercy it’s Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels with "Jenny Take A Ride":

In April a cover version of the Righteous Brothers’ “Little Latin Lupe Lu”, reached the #17 position. The next t release titled “Takin’ All I Can Get”, just managed to enter the Top 100. 

Here is an excerpt of the band’s cover version of  “Little Latin Lupe Lu”:

In late 1966 the combination of “Devil with a Blue Dress On” and Little Richard’s “Good Golly Miss” Molly” climbed to the #4 position on the US charts. “Devil with a Blue Dress On” was written by Shorty Long and William Stevenson and was recorded by Long in 1964.

Here is the #4 hit from 1966, “Devil with a Blue Dress On” and “Good Golly Miss” Molly”.

In early 1967 the single titled “Sock It To Me Baby”, written by producer Bob Crewe and Lawrence Brown, was released and rose to #6. Interestingly, the single was banned by several radio stations for being too sexually suggestive. The next release was an other combination single titled “Too Many Fish In The Sea” and” Three Little Fishes” that managed to reach #24 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next release titled “I’d Rather Go To Jail” failed to enter the charts, which apparently caused The Detroit Wheels firing. 

In December 1966 Bob Crewe assembled a ten-piece band to back Mitch. In February 1967 they went on the road as The Mitch Ryder Show. Mitch was the last artist to perform with Otis Redding in Cleveland, Ohio, where they performed the song titled “Knock On Wood” on December 9th. Tragically on the following day, Redding and four members of Otis’ backing band The Bar-Kays, died in a plane crash.

Here is the #6 hit from 1967, “Sock It To Me Baby”.

Mitch severed his connection with The Detroit Wheels around 1968, when music direction began to change during the counterculture. With the disbandment of the Detroit Wheels, Mitch embarked on a solo career that was not as successful. In the 2000s, Mitch continued to perform on US and European tours. In 2005 Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels were inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. Then in 2009 Mitch was inducted as a solo artist. Other prominent artists that have been influenced by Ryder include Bob Seeger, John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen. Deep Purple member Ritchie Blackmore acknowledged the influence of Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels had on the type of beat used on the band’s cover version of “Kentucky Woman”.  The discography includes 25 singles, 8 albums and 33 Mitch Ryder solo albums

Many years ago I purchased the 1966 album titled “Take A Ride” which included “Jenny Take a Ride” and a cover version of Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home To Me”.  I’ve always thought that these two songs were the best tracks on the album, especially their cover rendition of Cooke’s song.  I’ll conclude this episode of Rock and Roll Flashback with Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels’ cover version of “Bring it On Home To Me”.  

This has been a look back at Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels. And until next time, I’m your host Bill Price.