* En anglais uniquement
Blackfoot were contemporaries of
Lynyrd Skynyrd, and tried for years to make it as a Southern rock band, although they finally succeeded as a hard rock outfit, in the manner of
AC/DC and
the Scorpions. They racked up a hit album (
Strikes) and a pair of successful singles ("Train, Train," "Highway Song") in the late '70s and early '80s, before they became lost in the post-MTV era of visually oriented bands.
The group started out as a quartet comprising singer/guitarist
Rickey Medlocke (the grandson of bluegrass musician
Shorty Medlocke, who wrote "Train, Train"), drummer/singer Jakson Spires, bassist/singer
Greg T. Walker, and lead guitarist
Charlie Hargrett. Named
Blackfoot as an acknowledgment of
Medlocke's heritage, they were signed to Island in 1975, evidently as that label's resident Southern rockers, but moved to Epic the following year. Neither relationship was successful, but in 1979, after moving to Atco, their first album for the new label,
Strikes, hit a responsive chord -- the group spent the next few years on that label, racking up impressive sales with the follow-ups
Tomcattin' and
Marauder.
In the mid-'80s,
Blackfoot added ex-
Uriah Heep keyboardist
Ken Hensley in order to bring a new side to their sound. Their fortunes declined amid the advent of MTV and the growth in importance of rock video promotional clips, as well as the influence of sounds from Europe and Australia, and they never recovered, despite efforts to adapt their sound and image.
Hensley was replaced, and a new lineup recorded
Rick Medlocke & Blackfoot (1987). Only two albums, Medicine Man (1990) and After the Reign (1994), were released during the first half of the 1990s. Committed to his duties in
Lynyrd Skynyrd,
Medlocke put
Blackfoot on ice in 1997.
The following decade and into the 2010s, the band was active as a performing act featuring original members but not
Medlocke.
Blackfoot released a handful of live sets, including On the Run (2004) and Fly Away (2011). In 2012,
Medlocke -- still part of
Lynyrd Skynyrd -- chose four new musicians to represent
Blackfoot and acted as the band's producer. ~ Bruce Eder