BLACKFOOT discography
by DENIS PROTAT - November 2004

Blackfoot is a Southern Rock legend. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, the band's name was, at the beginning in 1968 Fresh Garbage (Spirit song, the famous Randy California band), then Hammer and at the end Blackfoot. The name comes from the Indian tribe Blackfeet that fought with the Sioux. Rick Medlocke played in not-so famous bands (The Hot Water Blues Band, the Rocking Aces, Candied Apple), learned to play banjo at the age of 5 and to play drums (like on Lynyrd Skynyrd first lp). Jackson Spires played in Tangerine. The first album "No Reservation" appeared in 1975 ; then came 5 great albums : "Flyin' high", "Strikes", "Tomcattin'", "Strikes", "Marauder" and "Highway Song live". The band splitted in 1986 just after "Vertical Smiles" and was born again after 3 years with the good "Medicine man", and the excellent "After the Reign". A new reformation is on the air… but let's have a look about this long southern adventure…

No Reservation (Island 1975)
Rick Medlocke, Charlie Hargrett, Greg T Walker, Jackson Spires : first lp (produced by Jimmy Johnson and David Hood) and first southern bomb. Everything is already there : musicians are playing together for 8 years. First feelings, first dreamed southern ballads with "Stars", "Not another maker", "I stand alone". Rick voice on this last song is at the top of intensity, screaming alone with choirs behind… for almost 8 minutes… and at the 5th…you understand, guitars like the end of "Free Bird". The main thing, when we listen to No Reservation, is to understand how rich every song is, with many changes in the middle of each of them and different and rich guitar solos. It is, no doubt, the hardest and richest Blackfoot album. Just listen to "Take a train" or "Big Wheels" and you can figure that. It is a great album where musicians show how gifted they are.
The original lp is now quite a collector and it's hard to get it. We can just note the last song, "Railroad man",
a little 1'10" bluegrass song played on a banjo, not to forget the roots…

Flyin' High (Epic 1976)
The group is now on Epic, and is on tour with Ted Nugent and Aerosmith.
The new lp is once more produced by Jimmy Johnson and David Hood. This lp is in the same way as No Reservation : same musical intensity, same energy. It is a great second lp : there are good rock n' roll energy ("strange on the road", "feelin' good", "dancin' man") with great riffs, and southern sweetness ("Try a little harder", "Island of life", "Junkie's dream"). Guitar solos are really fabulous, as we can listen to on "Flyin' High". There are also great heavy songs, like "Stranger on the road" and "Dancin' man" with powerful riffs.
We can also feel Rickey's grandfather influence, Shorty Medlocke bluegrass musician, like on the song "Mother". This is a great album.

Strikes (Atco 1979)
Blackfoot has a new manager : Al Nalli, and is now on Atco. Strikes reaches a Golden Record after one year. It is the first, and not last time, that there is an animal on the cover. They have chosen the snake, and it just figures how this lp really is. They begin with a crazy "Road fever", followed by a magic "Highway song", a real top song. It is a 4'11" happiness time, and a 6'59" emotion moment, like only the greatest Southern bands can give us. Rick talks again of his grandfather with "Train, train, train" (a song written by him in 1926). The old man plays the introduction on harmonica. We just have to note that there are, and it is rare with Blackfoot, three covers on this album : Blues Image "Pay my dues", Randy California "I got a line on you" and the great Free song "Wishing well".

Tomcattin' (Atco 1980)
It is the fourth album. A black panther is on the cover, and the album is produced by Henry Weck. It is an ambitious album, after Strikes success. The band takes some extra musicians : Pat McCaffrey (keyboards, saxophone), Henry H-Bomb Weck (percussion, ex Kub Coda's Brownville Station), Peter "madcat" Ruth (electric harmonica). In the hard-rock seventies encyclopaedy, I wrote that Tomcattin' is a little bit at a lower level than the first albums, and there is a lack of a great song like "Highway Song" or "Diary of a Working Man". I confirm that, even if the album ten songs are very good like "Dream On" and the southern heavy "Street Fighter", "Gimme, gimme, gimme" and "Warped". The group in on tour in Europe with Scorpions. Shorty Medlocke is bock on the harmonica on "Fox chase".

Marauder (Atco 1981)
That is the greatest Blackfoot album, the top of their career (only southern-metal band ?), a little higher than the two first ones and Strikes (is it possible ?). An eagle warns us that it is not over yet. Marauder shows the two different and complementary faces of southern rock : great and moving ballads and heavy songs.
This album has the heaviest songs the group has ever created : "Good Morning" (England's number 1), "Too Hard to Handle", and two of the most beautiful quiet songs ever recorded, "Diary of a Working Man" and "Searchin'". It looks like "Simple Man" and "Free Bird" on the same lp of their musical brothers.
There is another Shorty time on "Rock n' Roller", a real n' roll song…
It will be hard to do better, these guys are really good.

Highway Song Live (Atco 1982)
This historic live recording is a wonderful testimony of the crazy energy that the group can show on stage. This album is, with No Reservation, Jackson Spires' favourite one. Blackfoot is on tour for 5 months in Europe after the release from Marauder. This live is totally recorded in Europe and mainly at London Hammersmith Odeon and Glasgow (as an homage to their british fans). Musicians play their best songs, "Gimme, gimme", "Good Morning", "Road Fever", "Train Train", "Highway Song", it looks like an electrical festival. Blackfoot is at the top and absolutely perfect. What can they do after this perfection ?

Siogo (Atco 1983)
This album shows Ken Hensley, Uriah Heep former keyboard player, arrival. Jon Lord refused, at the last time, to join the group and preferred to join back Deep Purple to record "Perfect Strangers". The keyboard intro on the first title "Send me an Angel" really worries us. Did we make a mistake when we put the record on the record player ? Let's be clear : this album is less good than the older ones, less "roots" with a better and flat sound. But, in another way, Siogo is also a very good hard-rock album, with heavy songs like "Crossfire", "We're going down", "White man's land", "Sail Away". "Drivin' Fool", in the "Good Morning" way (on "Marauder"), is quite a heavy metal song. So, let's forget the keyboards parts and enjoy this record, that was sometimes too much and not fairly criticized.

King Biscuit Flower Hour live
This recording happened on august 1983 the 10th, at Hollywood's Palladium in California.
This is an not exceptional but interesting live testimony. Here are the reasons why :
1. Some songs are very much longer than studio versions ("Train Train" lasts 8'22" and "Highway Song" 10'21") , so they are really different.
2. a 17'08" long interview with Rickey Medlocke is at the end of the cd. It is interesting, even if there are not breaking news.
In another way, musically talking, we are far away from "Highway Song Live". Sound is not so good and there are too much synths effects. So a cd for die-hard fans only !

Vertical Smiles (Atco 1984)
Charlie Hargrett has lefted the group. In my opinion, there are two different ways we can listen to this record : We are close to "Southern Rock" spirit and first Blackfoot recordings fan, so this new record seems really too bad to us (many fans were really disappointed with this record) Or we do listen to the cd forgetting the Blackfoot roots, and in that way, this is a good hard-fm boogie-rock record, as we can see on the tittles
"Ride with you", "Get it on" and "Heartbeat and Heels" that look like ZZ Top "Afterburner".
Now this is your own choice.

Rickey Medlocke and Blackfoot (Atco 1987)
Rick plays on his own way, forgets the good old Rock n' Roll roots, gets leather jackets…
This is definitively not a record at the level of this legendary man. Wizard, Mother's Finest bass player, won't change anything… For real die-hard fans only.

Medecine Man (Atco 1993)
Don't make a mistake : Medecine Man is a very good record, too short but a real quality one. Al Nalli is back at the production. Rick is the only survivor of the former musicians. The new line-up is Gunner Ross (drums), Neal Casal (guitars), Rikki Mayr (bass) and Doug Bare (keyboards). This is a less good record than the older ones, but we do enjoy songs such as "Sleazy World" and "Runnin', Runnin'". Musicians' approach is more heavy-rock, with a little bit more blues and less good ballads as "Guitar Slinger Song and dance".
A record to be bought however.

After the Reign (Wildcat 1994)
This album has a blues colouration, with less heavy and southern sound, and is really different in Blackfoot discography : a real great album however, that looks a little bit like Bon Jovi at his best (Keep the Faith) and John Cougar Mellencamp at his best too (folk-rock ballads), as we can listen to on songs such as "Rainbow", "It's all over now", "Tupelo Honey", "Hard Time". So this is real good Rock n' Roll, with some folk-guitar and bluesy electric solos, a "roots" harmonica on "The Road's my middle name". The last cd title "After the Reign" looks a little bit like what did the group before as a southern ballad.
It is like another style, another group, but a real delight however.

Rattlesnake Rock n' Roller - The Best of Blackfoot - Rhino 1994
A good compilation, but how can we forget to buy the six first albums ?
How is it possible to make a selection when every song is quite perfect ?

Coffret Bootleg Gimme, Gimme, Gimme
I just listened to these recordings that mainly come from live shows in Knebworth in 1981, 1983 and 1985. There are four incredible records with magic and unexpected moments.
As these are bootleg recordings, I won't say much as a kind of homage to our idols.