Detroit rocker Mitch Ryder rolls into town with '60s stars like Cyrkle, Revere's Raiders

Mitch Ryder was a headliner in an era when music insisted on a irresistible beat, ear worm melodies and lyrics that, well, served the other two functions.

You're just not going to find poetry like "Spinnin', spinnin' spinnin'/
Spinnin' like a spinnin' top/ Jenny Jenny whoo Jenny Jenny" any longer.

But now that the words are out there, a good number of readers will be singing "Jenny Take A Ride," all day. Mitch Ryder, born William S. Levise, Jr., and the Detroit Wheels were the original blue-eyed soul group that made that mashup tune and at least a half dozen others like it hits. A fast-paced, infectious beat, lighthearted lyrics and Ryder's clarion voice propelled "Devil With the Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly," "Too Many Fish in the Sea/3 Little Fishes" and "Sock It To Me Baby" and "Little Latin Lupe Lu" to the upper echelons of U.S and Australian charts.

It was a transitional time in pop music, when rock, R&B and folk music shared the charts with the incoming psychedelic and somber socially conscious movement. Cos-play pioneers Paul Revere and the Raiders and Rare Earth were in it. So was, to a lesser extent, Cyrkle, whose first hit, "Red Rubber Ball," was cowrittten by Paul Simon.

Ryder, 73, with his current band; the original Cyrkle; and members of the other bands have reconstituted that  infectious mid-Sixties sound and will bring it to Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall on Thursday (see information box)). 

Ryder, who once had Cream and The Who as his opening act, has broadened his writing and recording. If it hasn't caught substantial fire in the U.S., it has critics' respect and a fan base around the world. Ryder, who was inducted into the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, is currently working on another project, but took time to respond to emailed questions:

Daily News: There was a character to music in the 1960s that had excitement and verve to it and certainly your music was good part of that. When you formed Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, where did you look for musical inspiration, including your arrangements, which brought a Hammond B-3 more forward in the sound?

Mitch Ryder: My inspirations are well documented but essentially Hank Williams, Little Richard, James Brown and Johnny Mathis. The Hammond B3 was put on "Jenny Take A Ride" to give it more of a church sound.

DN: You were at the top of the heap; then you were at the bottom of the pile. Was there a moment when you knew you were going to actually start climbing out again and what was that moment?

Ryder: Yes, it was up at first. A non-stop rise from the best local band in Detroit to gold top 10 recordings, Cash Box artist of the year and a national recognition that only lasted four years until the fast slide down under my producer, due to the direction of my music, during which he claimed that I would never work in New York or anywhere again. This was answered in 1970 with the critically acclaimed recording "Detroit."

DN: “I don’t think they have any misconceptions about what I am in Europe,” you told Goldmine magazine a few years back. What would you say you are?

Ryder: Europe allowed me to follow my artistic instincts with no barriers or, in other words, to become an artist. I have to say that once I was free from my original producer this was allowed me in America, but to a limited degree, when I recorded "The Detroit-Memphis Experiment" with Steve Cropper as producer.

It also put me right where I wanted to be at that time by introducing me to the R&B market.

DN: I think most people know you for an up-tempo R&B, high-voltage sound. Of the ballads you’ve sung, which would you say are what you feel is your best work? Which has the most meaning to you to sing?

Ryder: My favorite balled that I have written and recorded is a song called "Star No More" on my CD titled "The Acquitted Idiot." There are others also from the Europe collection, but like so much of my work in the last few decades my CDs were not available in the U.S.A due to the size of the labels I recorded on.

He last performed in Fort Myers in 2014:http://archive.naplesnews.com/entertainment/music/music-in-the-239-happy-together-show-rec

DN: You knew all the stars in the ‘60s, having Cream and The Who open for you in concert.  When you look back on those years, were there some groups you heard and said they deserve to be big but didn’t break out?

Ryder: One of my favorite groups from the time that I stood as a big star was a group called The Left Banke ("Walk Away, Renee"). They were creative in a way that was not seen very much at that time, but they, like myself, disappeared from the national consciousness. I have somehow managed to re-appear from time to time, but they have not.

DN: You’re from the Detroit area when it was at its best, and you have seen the city change a lot. If there is one thing you would like to see happen there that you think would help it most of all, what would that be?

Ryder: Well, the easy answer is another Motown but that won't happen. I've spent time thinking about what you are asking, and especially now that I've moved to Georgia and can observe my beloved former lifelong home from a distance I think Detroit could benefit from a more eclectic business community with a variety of tax incentives for the businesses.

DN: You seem like such an energetic and lively performer. Are you enjoying the time onstage as much as you seem to be? And can you recall what may have been your most exciting (or even toughest) concert and what made it that way?

Ryder: I do still very much enjoy my time on-stage, and I'm not selfish about it because the biggest thrill comes from making people happy.

A concert I will always remember was in Berlin, Germany. As I was leaving the hotel to go to the venue the front desk handed me a message from America. It stated that my sister Nina had died. Nina was for me my best friend, and we were the first two children in a brood of eight. ...

Nina was my hero, my protector and my guide through the mystery of life since she was one year older. The two-hour concert that night was like an undiscovered precious jewel hiding in a soft fog. It was beautiful in its sadness.

DN: And finally, I always saw you as a vocalist. Do you play an instrument, too, and if so, which one?

Ryder: I play guitar, but not the kind where I could solo. I only use it to find chords when writing a song or creating a tempo feel.

If you go

'Where the Action Is'

What: Members of 1960s star groups, many if whom appeared on the rock and pop TV show "Where the Action Is"

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 22

Where: Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall, 13350 FSW Parkway, Fort Myers

Tickets: $41.22 to $69.84

To buy: bbmannpah.com or 239-481-4849