Michigan produced an incredible number of rock artists during the sixties and seventies. Bob Seger, The Stooges, MC5, Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, and Grand Funk Railroad all came out of that state. Then there was Motown, which was another world altogether. There must have been something in the water up there.
One artist I haven’t covered nearly enough is Mitch Ryder. I previously wrote about his song B.I.G. T.I.M.E. because, as usual, I went for something less obvious. This time I’m going with the song most people remember him for.
Devil with a Blue Dress On / Good Golly Miss Molly is three minutes of pure rock and roll. He was born William Levise Jr. in Hamtramck, Michigan, in 1945. He started singing around Detroit and eventually joined a band called Billy Lee & The Rivieras. After attracting the attention of producer Bob Crewe, they became Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels.
The first part of this medley was originally recorded by Motown artist Shorty Long in 1964. Long wrote Devil with the Blue Dress with William “Mickey” Stevenson. It was a good R&B song, but it didn’t become a major pop hit. Ryder and the Wheels took it somewhere else entirely. The second song, Good Golly Miss Molly, was already a rock and roll classic associated with Little Richard. It was written by John Marascalco and Robert “Bumps” Blackwell. Putting these two songs together turned out to be a great idea.
The Detroit Wheels played with a loud, raw energy that fit Ryder’s voice perfectly. Guitarist Jim McCarty was an important part of that sound. There was nothing delicate about this band. They came out swinging and didn’t let up.
The record was produced by Bob Crewe and released in 1966 on his New Voice label. It appeared on the album Breakout…!!! and reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It became the band’s biggest hit.
What makes this recording work is the way the two songs fit together. They don’t sound like two separate numbers that somebody decided to stick on the same record. The band moves from one into the other without losing any momentum.
And Ryder’s voice is something else. He doesn’t have the smoothest voice in rock and roll, but that’s not what this song needs. He sounds like he’s giving everything he has, and the Wheels are right there with him
I love this kind of rock and roll. It’s loud, it’s raw, and it sounds like a band having a great time. There is no need for a long guitar solo or a complicated arrangement. They get in, play the song, and get out.
I’ve always thought Michigan had its own musical personality. The Detroit rock bands had a toughness about them. You can hear it in Seger, the MC5, and The Stooges. Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels were part of that same musical world, although they leaned more toward R&B and early rock and roll.
I usually try to find the forgotten songs by artists like Ryder. There are plenty worth hearing. But sometimes you have to go with the obvious choice. Especially when it sounds this good.
The song peaked at #4 on the Billboard 100 and #5 in Canada in 1966.
Devil with a Blue Dress On / Good Golly Miss Molly
Devil with the blue dress, blue dress, blue dress
Devil with the blue dress on
Devil with the blue dress, blue dress, blue dress
Devil with the blue dress on
Fee, fee, fi, fi, fo-fo, fum
Look at mine today, here she comes
Wearin’ her wig hat and shades to match
Her high-heel shoes and an alligator hat
Wearin’ pearls and diamond rings
She’s got bracelets on her fingers, now, and everything?
Devil with the blue dress, blue dress, blue dress
Devil with the blue dress on
Hey I said now, devil with the blue dress, blue dress, blue dress
Devil with the blue dress on
Wearin’ her perfume, Chanel No. 5
Got to be the finest thing alive
Walks real cool, catches everybody’s eye
Catch you too nervous and you can’t say hi
Not too skinny not too fat
Real humdinger and I like it like that
She’s the devil with the blue dress, blue dress, blue dress
Devil with the blue dress on
Devil with the blue dress, blue dress, blue dress
Devil with the blue dress on
Good golly, Miss Molly (good golly, Miss Molly)
You sure like to ball (good golly, Miss Molly)
Good golly, Miss Molly(good golly, Miss Molly)
You sure like to ball (good golly, Miss Molly)
If you’re rockin’ and rollin'(good golly, Miss Molly)
Hear your mama call (Good golly, Miss Molly)
From the early, early mornin’ ’til the early, early nights
See Miss Molly rockin’ at the House of Blue Lights
Good golly, Miss Molly (good golly, Miss Molly)
You sure like to ball (good golly, Miss Molly)
You have take it easy (good golly, Miss Molly)
Hear your mama call (good golly, Miss Molly)
Fee, fee, fi, fi, fo-fo, fum
Look once again, now, here she comes
Wearin’ her wig hat and shades to match
Got high-heel shoes and an alligator hat
Wearin’ her pearls and her diamond rings
That sort of thing is now everything
She’s devil with the blue dress, blue dress, blue dress
Devil with the blue dress on
Hey I said now, devil with the blue dress, blue dress, blue dress
Devil with the blue dress on
Devil with the blue dress, blue dress, blue dress
Devil with the blue dress on
Devil with the blue dress, blue dress, blue dress
Devil with the blue dress on
Devil with the blue dress, blue dress, blue dress
Devil with the blue dress on
Devil with the blue dress, blue dress, blue dress
Devil with the blue dress on
Discover more from PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Michigan talent!!!!
There were so many!
My ex’s mom went to school with Mitch
Oh cool dude!
My Dad was a huge fan of “Blue-Eyed Soul” (Four Seasons, The Animals, Mitch Ryder etc.,) so I grew up listening to his stuff as a very young kid. I love hearing nowadays. Good stuff bro’!
Thanks dude! I love this stuff… straight out rock and roll
Hmm… I never considered The Four Seasons blue eyed soul. Something to think about. Thanks!!!
It really was lightning in a bottle this song. As you say not so easy combining two songs. Detroit being so close we could sometimes get the radio to pick up stations. Actually often a Cross border station that played a ton of Seger and Nugget and Ryder. Not so much MC5! Alice Cooper played here early in his career. So this song takes right back.
Yea the MC5 is a mystery to me but I want to cover them. Michigan and Florida really put out the rock stars back then.
MC5 weren’t exactly AM radio friendly 🤣
Kick out the jams Randy!
🤣
I always think of the Four Seasons when I hear the name Bob Crewe, but he was involved in a lot of other stuff like Good Morning Starshine from Hair and Barbarella starring Jane Fonda. Great music, Max.
Thanks for reading Jim!
A rock classic. I wonder how many times Springsteen has done it in concert? I kind of hear his voice if I think of the song though I know it’s a Ryder ine
Yea…Ryder has that kind of voice…raw like Springsteen…
Michigan sure had a good number of top bands.
Michigan and Floriday really pumped them out during this era.
Compared to the wild dancers, Mitch Ryder looks like he’s just chillin’ in the video. I don’t know if you meant it that way, but your line “There must have been something in the water up there” worked on multiple levels considering the later public health crisis due to contaminated water in Michigan.
No….this is news to me! Wow I didn’t know that at all.
Pure mid 60s dance your ass off fun! No frills, no message, all action.
Yes…here you go and do what you will to it. The raw energy is there.
First of all, I am greatly pleased that the mention of a certain medley that has been the end of the long show that got titled “Detroit Medley” on the released live albums. Yes, he got named in the comments.
Second, this is first class rock and roll. Privately we talked about why I stopped writing about rock and roll so many years ago. This is just one example of many where there is nothing to say about it other than a simple, “Listen to this.” Awesome stuff.
I didn’t know about the Bob Crewe connection. All I know of Bob Crewe is the Four Seasons. I may know some stuff but there’s a lot where I’m ignorant. With a record like this, without disrespecting Crewe one iota, what difference does it make.
There are pieces of this record that have been in my vocabulary since I was a kid. “Devil with the blue dress, blue dress, blue dress, devil with the blue dress on” was never about religion and always about a hot chick. “Good golly, Miss Molly” was never quoting Little Richard, it was quoting Mitch Ryder.
I love how he joined these two songs together…it worked so well that I don’t like hearing one without the other. When you do that to listeners, you have succeeded.
I like Ryder’s later music as well…an overlooked artist to me…that makes some great music. I get what you are saying completely with “Listen to This”
While I first heard the name Mitch Ryder in John Mellencamps’ 1986 hit “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.,” I wouldn’t have been able to name any song he did. “Devil With the Blue Dress/Good Golly Miss Molly” is a great rock & roll medley that’s right up my alley. “B.I.G. T.I.M.E.” sounds sweet as well. Looks like you just sent me down into another rabbit hole! 🤣
He is a GREAT rabbit hole to go down Christian…his voice and energy catches me every time. Primal rock and roll.
😎
Hearing this as a kid pulled me into rocknroll. Still sounds good and gives me a jolt.
It does…it still has that energy still going from the sixties.
2-3 minutes of unrelenting energy. Ryder learned his lessons from his R&B idols. Michigan’s got the stuff for sure. Classic.
Yes they do…them and Florida pumped out some great artists in this era
Who are you thinking about from Florida?
Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Tom Petty, Gram Parsons, Bernie Leadon, and more… there was something about that state and Michigan…
That’s right, the Allman Brothers originated in FL I tend to associate them with Georgia.
Yes, I can see why because they eventually made their home and Macon Georgia. But they started out on Daytona Beach and touring Florida.
I remember it getting another go-round in the mid-80s when it showed up in a few movies and on a few Moonlighting episodes!
Thats right Jon…I do remember that. It’s probably where I heard it for the first time.
This sounds so sixties, I love it.
Thank Stewart…it is pure sixties!
You could use it as scene setting music in a movie. Instantly in the 60s!
It’s pretty raw, does a great job of bringing back 50s rock and roll with a lot of edge.
I saw Mitch Ryder in the 1970s at an outdoor concert on the campus of Grand Valley College, now known as Grand Valley State University. I don’t remember much about the concert, only that I went. It was the same place (though indoors) I saw Eric Carmen after he split from The Raspberries.
I love Mitch’ voice. I also love his song, CC Rider, from the movie with Joe Namath.
I would have loved to have seen both of the ones you saw. I love the Raspberries and Carmen.
Mitch’s voice is pure rock.