Blackfoot shared an era with Lynyrd Skynyrd yet spent years chasing success in the Southern rock style before breaking through instead with a harder-edged approach reminiscent of AC/DC and the Scorpions. The band scored a charting album titled Strikes along with two notable singles, “Train, Train” and “Highway Song,” during the closing years of the 1970s and the start of the 1980s, only to fade once visually driven acts dominated after the rise of MTV.
Formed originally as a four-piece consisting of singer and guitarist Rickey Medlocke—the grandson of bluegrass musician Shorty Medlocke, composer of “Train, Train”—alongside drummer and singer Jakson Spires, bassist and singer Greg T. Walker, and lead guitarist Charlie Hargrett, the group took its name to reflect Medlocke’s ancestry. Island Records signed them in 1975, positioning the quartet as its primary Southern rock act, yet they switched to Epic the next year. Neither association yielded results, but after landing at Atco the 1979 release Strikes connected with listeners, prompting the band to remain with the label long enough to issue the commercially viable Tomcattin’ and Marauder.
By the middle of the 1980s Blackfoot brought in former Uriah Heep keyboardist Ken Hensley to expand their sonic range. Their commercial standing slipped, however, amid MTV’s emphasis on video clips and the growing sway of European and Australian sounds; attempts to revise their style and presentation proved insufficient to reverse the trend. Hensley departed, a revised lineup delivered the 1987 album Rick Medlocke & Blackfoot, and only Medicine Man in 1990 plus After the Reign in 1994 appeared during the first half of the ensuing decade. With his commitments to Lynyrd Skynyrd taking precedence, Medlocke suspended Blackfoot’s activities in 1997.
Throughout the 2000s and into the following decade the group continued to perform with original members other than Medlocke, issuing several live recordings such as On the Run in 2004 and Fly Away in 2011. In 2012 Medlocke, still active with Lynyrd Skynyrd, assembled four fresh musicians to carry the Blackfoot name forward and served as producer for the new configuration.
