Hippiefest Tour 2015 arrives at the NYCB Theatre at Westbury on Saturday, Aug. 22 at 8 p.m. Dance to the music as the legendary group, The Family Stone, headlines Hippiefest Tour 2015 with Rick Derringer, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels and Badfinger featuring Joey Molland.
To say that Hippiefest” will be “hot fun in the summer time” and a “family affair” would be an understatement, as the legendary group, The Family Stone, will headline this year’s 10 year anniversary Hippiefest tour that will feature Rick Derringer, Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels and Badfinger featuring Joey Molland.
If you’ve attended a Hippiefest show in the past decade, you know what to expect… an incredible evening full of good time, on your feet, rock and roll. If you haven’t, it’s time to turn on, tune in and see what it’s all about!
The Family Stone — featuring original founding members Jerry Martini, Cynthia Robinson and Greg Errico — will be performing the music of Sly & The Family Stone including such classics as “I Wanna Take You Higher,” “Everyday People,” “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),” “Family Affair,” “Everybody is a Star,” “Stand!” and “Dance to the Music.”
The group recently welcomed Phunne Stone, daughter of Sly Stone and Cynthia Robinson, as their new female vocalist leading them into their 50th Anniversary in 2016. The band initially hit the scene in 1966 and was the first major American rock band to have an “integrated, multi-gender” lineup.
In 1993, Sly & The Family Stone were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, who would eventually cite two of their songs, “Dance to the Music” and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again),” among The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2001, they were awarded the R&B Foundation Pioneer Award and, in 2004, Rolling Stone ranked them 43rd on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time. In 2006, Sly & The Family Stone would make a memorable appearance at the Grammy Awards.
Joining Cynthia, Jerry, Greg and Phunne is the powerful lead vocalist, Alex Davis, Musical Director and bassist Blaise Sison and lead guitarist Nate Wingfield.
It’s doubtful that anyone will be sitting down when Rick Derringer breaks into his well-known rock anthem, “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo.” Forty plus years after its release, the song continues to be a staple on classic rock radio and was featured in several movies including The Spirit of ‘76, Rush, Stag, What A Girl Wants and the cult classic, Dazed and Confused.
It’s a little known fact that years before his success as a solo artist, Derringer had a band at the age of 17 called The McCoys that had a No. 1 hit in 1965 called, “Hang on Sloopy.” The song would eventually be knocked out of the top spot by The Beatles’ “Yesterday.” A year after its release, The McCoys would find themselves as the openers for the entire Rolling Stones American tour.
Although “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo” was written and recorded a few years earlier with friend Johnny Winter, it would be Derringer’s solo version in 1973 that would propel him into the stratosphere of rock. In 1977, he would appear on the last Led Zeppelin North American Tour.
In the years to follow, Derringer would perform with such artists as Alice Cooper (“Under My Wheels”), Steely Dan (“Show Biz Kids” and “Chained Lightning”), Todd Rundgren, Richie Havens, Edgar Winter, Johnny Winter and Weird Al Yankovic among others. In 2011, he toured as a part of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band just prior to embarking on that year’s Hippiefest tour. In recent years, Derringer has performed on the popular Rock’n’Blues Fest tour that has included Edgar Winter and the late Johnny Winter.
The hits began for Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels at the tail end of ‘65, with the release of their first hit single, “Jenny Take a Ride!”. In 1966, they recorded and began to perform a medley featuring Little Richard’s “Jenny Jenny” and Chuck Willis’ classic R&B song, “C.C. Rider.” The song would quickly enter the Top Ten charts, setting the stage for what was to come that year.
Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels would follow up their initial hit with two more in ‘66 including a rendition of the Righteous Brothers’ “Little Latin Lupe Lu” and the song that would, ultimately, be their biggest hit, “Devil With A Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly.”
A year later, in typical Detroit fashion, Ryder and the band kept their pedal to the metal and delivered another Top Ten song called “Sock It To Me-Baby!” Shortly after his success with The Detroit Wheels, Ryder would experience a Top 40 hit as a solo artist with “What Now My Love.”
At the end of 1979, Bruce Springsteen would pay tribute to the band by performing the “Detroit Medley,” a selection of the band’s greatest hits including “Devil With A Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly,” “Jenny Take A Ride!” and “C.C. Rider” for the triple live No Nukes album. In 1983, Ryder released an album titled, “Never Kick A Sleeping Dog,” produced by John Cougar Mellencamp that thrust him back into the spotlight with the Prince-penned song, “When You Were Mine.”
Ryder has recorded over two dozen albums in his illustrious career and continues to tour all over the world. Known for his incredible live show, Ryder is coming at you with all his hits in a night to remember.
If you’re aware of such classic rock songs as “Come and Get It,” “No Matter What,” “Day After Day” and “Baby Blue,” then you’ll thoroughly enjoy the Hippiefest performance of Badfinger, featuring Joey Molland. A veteran of Hippiefests past, Molland returns with the music he helped make famous.
At the end of 1969, Molland auditioned for a band called The Iveys that would soon be renamed Badfinger. As they say, the rest is history. From 1970 to 1972, the band would experience four consecutive worldwide hits. Molland departed in 1974, quickly forming another band called Natural Gas that would go on to tour with Yes and Peter Frampton.
In the years to follow, Molland would perform with various incarnations of Badfinger in addition to putting out a few solo projects. Due to its use in the finale of the hugely popular TV show, Breaking Bad, “Baby Blue” has had a recent resurgence of sorts, being introduced to a whole new audience and generation.
On March 31 of this year, a song Molland wrote years ago titled, “Sweet Tuesday Morning,” was released on iTunes to benefit WhyHunger (www.whyhunger.org), a grassroots support organization started by the late, great Harry Chapin. Recorded by Mary Ramsey (10,000 Maniacs) and a new songstress by the name of Savannah, the song features Molland on guitar and harmony vocals.
Bring your parents, your grandparents and bring the kids! Great music and tie-dye never go out of style! Peace, Love and Happiness.
Tickets are $69.50, $39.50 and $29.50 and are available online at www.Ticketmaster.com, charge by phone at 800-745-3000 or at the Westbury Box office. Event, date and time are subject to change. For more information, visit: www.thetheatreatwestbury.com.
