It was a ballad, acoustic version which was very cool, believe it or not. During this time Charlie had joined a band in North Carolina called Blackberry Hill who had lost a guitar player. A few months later the drummer left so Jakson was brought in. A few months later the other guitar player quit and RM was brought in. Now three guys from Blackfoot were in a band with another bass player. The bass player got sick and the guys wanted to get me back so it would be the original band again. I was making $50.00 a week and 75 when we played a gig and I had to think about it. But, the guys came up to see me and I knew I wanted to come back to the band, so I agreed to make a trip down to North Carolina to spend a week and really talk about things. While I was there I called The Tokens and gave my two week notice. Everyone in the band was pissed except Jay Seigel, the lead singer. He knew where my heart was and was very happy for me, giving me his full support and blessings. We are still great friends to this day. Thank you, Jay, you are a great human being. This was the summer of '73. Blackfoot stayed in tact with me, RM and Jakson to the very end. A keyboard player (Ken Hensley) was added in 1982, Charlie left the following year, Hensley quit soon afterward and Bobby Barth was brought in to assume both guitar and keyboard duties and vocals. Bobby was, and still is a great talent who brought a lot to the table. This lineup played it's last show in December, 1985, and everything came crash- ing down the last day of January, 1986. Took me ten years to get past that, but I never have gotten over it. Like I said, I got past it.
Did you guys consider Blackfoot South- ern Rock, Hard Rock or Metal? Seems you were always on shows with AC/DC, Scorpions etc We always considered ourselves Hard Rock. When we began in 1969 the only terms
9
around were simply Rock Band or Rock"N"Roll Band. It was several years later when Southern Rock began to apply to the bands coming out of the south, especially northern Florida. Somewhere around 1980 or 1981 the term Southern Metal was coined and used to describe us, as we were a harder edged band to have come from the South.
What was the biggest show Blackfoot ever played? In August of 1981 we played the Monsters of Rock festival in England with AC/DC, Whitesnake and others to a crowd of 80,000. That was the official paid attendance and esti- mates of 90-100,000 were the unofficial esti- mates. It was insane, a day I will never forget. There were a few others with different lineups in Europe with the same numbers.
Who were your favorite bands to tour with? You were pretty tight with AC/DC, right? We got along great with everyone and the list is long, so forgive me if any bands feel left out. In no particular order: Foghat, Nugent, Peter Frampton, ZZ Top, Iron Maiden, Scor- pions, Deep Purple, The Who, Cheap Trick. This barely scratches the surface. Touring with AC/DC was unique because we did a lot of shows when Bon [Scott] was alive. Bon, Jakson and I raised many an elbow together. When Brian came into the band it was instant friendship as well . Those guys were very kind and gracious to us every single night, as well as their crew. We had a blast. As far as pure fun, it was Nazareth that made our tours a riot. From day one we hit it off, hung out on and off stage, rode on each others busses at times. laughed, drank, swapped stories and had the time of our lives.
We’d love to hear a funny road story or two.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74