Blackfoot

Blackfoot biography

Blackfoot is an American Southern rock musical ensemble from Jacksonville, Florida organized during 1970. Though they are primarily a Southern rock band, they are also known as a hard rock act.

They've had a number of successful albums during the 1970s and early 1980s, including Strikes (1979), Tomcattin' (1980) and Marauder (1981).

2012 will bring a new era of BLACKFOOT to the masses, introducing a new line-up personally chosen and to be produced by founding member Ricky Medlocke. The new line-up is modeled after the live high energy version of Blackfoot in the early 80's.

History

Early years

During the spring of 1969, Rickey Medlocke and Greg T. Walker met former New York City native Charlie Hargrett in Jacksonville and organized the band Fresh Garbage with Ron Sciabarasi for keyboards, Rick for drums and vocals, Greg for bass and Hargrett for lead guitar, playing mostly at The Comic Book Club on Forsyth Street.

That autumn, Sciabarasi left Fresh Garbage and lead guitarist Jerry Zambito (ex-Tangerine) joined as a new band, Hammer, was organized with Medlocke performing lead vocals (playing almost no guitar); Greg T. Walker for bass and backup vocals; Jakson Spires, from Tangerine, for drums and backup vocals; DeWitt Gibbs, also from Tangerine, for Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes for electric piano, and backup vocals; and Hargrett for lead guitar. They soon relocated to Gainesville, Florida to be the house band of Dub's, a well-known topless bar on the outskirts of town.

About the beginning of 1970, the band relocated to Manhattan after a friend, who was working in a music publishing company, told her boss about the band and he had them move to New York City. During the early spring of the same year, the band, after learning of another band on the West Coast named Hammer, decided to change their name to Blackfoot to represent the American Indian heritage of Walker, Spires and Medlocke (Spires is part Cherokee, Medlocke part Sioux, and Walker part Eastern Creek, a Florida Indians tribe). When the band failed to acquire a contract as a result of their relocation, Gibbs quit the band and Medlocke began playing rhythm guitar full time.

During the spring of 1971, Medlocke and Walker accepted an offer to join Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blackfoot ended for a time. There was a brief attempt to regroup during 1972, but Medlocke quit again and Walker joined The Tokens, who soon changed their name to Cross Country. Hargrett remained in the north, living in Hackettstown, New Jersey. During August 1972 Blackfoot's old friend and roadie, John Vassiliou, visited Hargrett with Reidsville, North Carolina bassist Lenny Stadler from the band Blackberry Hill. Hargrett decided to relocate to North Carolina and invited Medlocke, who'd quit Lynyrd Skynyrd by this time, to reform Blackfoot with Stadler for bass guitar and Jakson Spires for drums. Danny Johnson (later with the bands Derringer and Steppenwolf), from a Louisiana group, Axis, was employed as second guitarist. But Medlocke soon decided to be both main vocalist and guitarist again, so Johnson was employed only briefly.

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