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The one and only FOGHAT is back! This hard-rocking, British blues-rock band is legendary for selling out concerts across America and earning five gold and two platinum albums in the 1970's. Indelible in the rock n' roll playlists are Foghat classics, "Slow Ride", "Fool For The City", Drivin' Wheel" and "I Just Want to Make Love to You."
Culling a new, younger audience from their appearance on the best-selling Dazed and Confused soundtrack, Foghat has added to their already sizable and dedicated audience. With brilliant, spine-tingling slide guitar, powerful chords, and hits such as Slow Ride, I Just Want To Make Love To You, and Fool for the City, Foghat is 70's, and, now, 90's rock. The lineup, identical to the one that founded the group 25 years ago, proved this by scoring six gold albums, one double-platinum, and one platinum and five TOP 40 singles and headlining arenas and stadiums, playing before millions of fans.
 Foghat began their career in 1971 as a bunch of rather unpretentious young Brits with an affection for American blues and '50s rock'n'roll. by the middle of the decade, they had evolved into a major touring and recording act, playing a pumped-up brand of boogie-rock to arena-size audiences. Their looks grew flashier, their sound fattened and filled out, yet the roots-rock core of the band remained ever-present under the surface.
From the viewpoint of certain critics, Foghat unduly compromised their early blues-based approach in order to reap commercial rewards. Certainly, their mid-'70s hits ("Slow Ride," "Drivin' Wheel," "Stone Blue") were not aimed at the rock purists of the world. But it's also true that they continued to record traditional blues and R&B material throughout their years with Bearsville Records. In fact, Foghat's final albums on Bearsville reaffirmed their love for unadulterated, primal American music.
Lonesome Dave Peverett (lead vocals, guitar), Rod Price (lead guitar), Tony Stevens (bass), and Roger Earl (drums) all came out of the vital, close-knit London blues scene of the '60s. Peverett (born in 1943) first gained attention as leader of The Cross Ties Blues Band, then served a stint with Swiss rock group Les Questions. From there, he returned to Britain and joined Savoy Brown, who had already established themselves with their "Shake Down" album.
As Savoy Brown's rhythm guitarist and, later, lead vocalist, Peverett appeared on the band's "Getting To The Point," "Blue Matter," "A Step Further," "Raw Sienna," and "Looking In" albums. In early '71, he decided to strike out on his own, taking Savoy Brown bassist Tony Stevens and drummer Roger Earl with him. With the recruitment of Rod Price (another London blues player) on lead guitar, the new group began to stir interest. Bearsville founder Albert Grossman put the still-unnamed band into a London studio for initial recordings with Todd Rundgren. Ultimately, Rundgren didn't seem the right choice for producer, though some tracks he recorded with the group were included on their debut album.
 There was an LP, released in '79 by London Records Collectors Series, called "Before Foghat Days." This was an unknown album to most people. According to the liner notes, during a break in the studio while recording Savoy Brown's "A Step Further" album, Dave, Tony and Roger started jamming, picking old rockabilly tunes off the top of their heads. Unknown to them, the engineer had the tapes rolling. After hearing the tapes they decided to record a few more songs and release it as an album. It was originally released in '69 as "Warren Phillips and the Rockets." It is done in the old Sun Records style, and the original idea was to write phony liner notes about the lost recordings of the "legendary" Warren Phillps. It says 95% was recorded in one take, a few songs being "Shake, Rattle, and Roll," "Money Honey," and "Matchbox." One song even features a kazoo solo by Dave.
The "Foghat" LP (1972) was produced by Dave Edmunds, whose idiosyncratic style in the studio can be heard throughout the album. "Dave was very much into early Elvis and the Sun Records thing," Peverett recalls. "I loved the phasing effects he got on the vocals. He wasn't scared to try off-the-wall sound ideas." "Ubangi Stomp" was among several recordings from these sessions that didn't make the album. The track displays Foghat's often-underplayed rockabilly side, and features Colin Earl of Mungo Jerry on Piano.
On the eve of the album's completion, the band was still grappling with the choice of a name. Brandywine Track and Hootch had been considered and rejected. Finally, Foghat was selected. Peverett had made up this nonsense word in a childhood game with his brother, and once tried to convince Cross Ties bandmate Chris Youlden to change his name to Luther Foghat. (Youlden failed to see the wisdom in such a move.)
Foghat's eponymously titled first LP reached #127 on the U.S. album charts, with the single "I Just Want To Make Love To You" gaining them a bit of radio attention. The band quickly followed this up by recording and releasing "What A Shame," which crept up to #82. Produced by Edmunds, "What A Shame" would later be included in remixed form on their second album, "Foghat" (aka "Rock & Roll").
The "Rock & Roll" LP was produced by Tom Dawes, following several disappointing sessions with Edmunds at the helm. Formerly with The Cyrkle ("Red Rubber Ball"), Dawes brought a more mainstream touch to Foghat's studio approach. (The album's cover, dreamed up by filmmaker Robert Downey, featured a photo of a rock and a roll in place of a title. A visual pun not everyone understood.)
Dawes was called back to produce Foghat's "Energized" album (1974), which included an R&B-flavored remake of Buddy Holly's "That'll Be The Day" among its highlights. Though "Energized" went on to reach gold status in the U.S., the band wasn't exactly happy with its production. "Tom Dawes was really talented, but his musical tastes differed from ours," Peverett says. "We wanted someone who understood the feeling of our music a little more."
The band found such a studio partner in Nick Jameson. Hailing from Philadelphia, Jameson had become part of the Bearsville family when Todd Rundgren worked with Nick's band "American Dream." From there, Jameson became an engineer, remixing some tracks on the "Foghat" album. He returned to produce and engineer the group's "Rock And Roll Outlaws" LP (1974), from which comes the melancholy midtempo track "Dreamer."
At this stage in their career, Foghat had a fairly uneven track record. The success of "Energized" was not matched by "Rock And Roll Outlaws," leaving the band with doubts about their future. Foghat continued to relentlessly tour the U.S., mostly as an opening act. With four albums under their belts, they found themselves a middle-level band purveying blues/rock to a market that had moved away from such earthy sounds.
The band's fortunes turned around with "Fool For the City" (1975), which was their first album to go platinum, and introduced Foghat to the Top 40 radio with the hit "Slow Ride" (Best Of Foghat, Vol. 1). That same year, Stevens was replaced on bass by Jameson, who adapted his guitar skills to the instrument after several weeks of intensive practice. The revamped and revitalized Foghat had reached the big leagues at last, though not without some artistic sacrifices. "I think we started painting ourselves into a corner with "Fool For The City," Peverett says today. "There was pressure to come up with another 'Slow Ride."
Night Shift (1976) continued the certified-gold success of "Fool For The City," yielding the hit "Drivin' Wheel." "I'll Be Standing By" (which reached #67) and a rocking remake of the R&B classic "Take Me To The River" were also released as singles. "Night Shift" was produced by ex-Edgar Winter Group member Dan Hartman, who helped to nudge Foghat even further in a commercial, airplay-oriented direction.
Jameson bowed out of Foghat to pursue a solo career and did not tour with the band again. He was replaced in 1976 by a veteran bassist from California, Craig MacGregor. His solid, driving approach to bass playing reflected Foghat's increased emphasis on simple, aggressive boogie-rock numbers. "Slow Ride' became a trademark song for us, and that was where the music headed," Peverett says. "The band's sound got bigger. We were playing larger venues, and that sort of influenced our stuff. We wanted songs that would work in front of big audiences."
Foghat Live (1977), produced by Nick Jameson, captured the band at the height of their Boogie Monster phase. From the bombastic intro to "Fool For The City" to the drawn-out treatment of "Slow Ride," the album found them playing the roll to the hilt. The album's version of "I Just Want To Make Love To You" was released as a single and reached #33 in the U.S. "Foghat Live" went on to earn double platinum status. "I thought a live album would do well," says Peverett. "It pushed us even further. That was as big as we ever got."
The band's next studio album, "Stone Blue" (1978) paired them with producer Eddie Cramer, who had previously engineered recordings for Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. Cramer and Foghat didn't collaborate smoothly, but the tension in the studio may have helped to give the album an added edge. Besides the title track (a Top 40 hit), "Stone Blue" contained a ferocious cover of Robert Johnson's "Sweet Home Chicago," reasserting the band's blues credentials.
Stone Blue went gold, as did the band's 1979 LP "Boogie Motel" (represented here by their version of General Johnson's "Somebody's Been Sleepin' In My Bed"). Still, Foghat was getting restless with the formula perfected on "Fool For The City." Peverett, for one, was drawn to the sounds of New Wave rock. "Punk and New Wave reminded me of early rockabilly," he says. "It appealed to me, even though I felt Foghat was part of what New Wave was trying to replace. So I was kind of knocking myself in a way."
Tight Shoes from 1980 (featuring "Stranger In My Home Town") was a tentative foray into New Wave. It was also the last album Rod Price participated in. He was replaced on lead guitar by Erik Cartwright, a versatile player who had previously recorded with Dan Hartman. Cartwright joined Foghat in time to appear on "Girls To Chat & Boys To Bounce" (1981), which was produced by Nick Jameson, also serving as bass player. A surprisingly credible effort in a Dave Edmunds/Elvis Costello vein, yet tracks like "Live Now - Pay Later" failed to win Foghat many new converts.
In The Mood For Something Rude (1982) was largely an album of R&B covers, rendered in a spirit of good fun (as evidenced by "Slipped, Tripped, Fell In Love"). A similarly playful approach can be heard on "Zig-Zag Walk" (1983), Foghat's final Bearsville album. "That's What Love Can Do" was among the stripped-down rockers in this set. Old mate Nick Jameson served both as producer (under the nom du disque "Franz Leipkin") and bassist/keyboardist (credited as "Eli Jenkins").
After Zig-Zag Walk's release, Foghat continued to tour until early 1985, when they finally called it quits after some 16 years on the road. In 1990, Peverett reactivated the group with new players (including guitarist Brian Bassett, drummer Eddie Zyne, bassist Stephen Dees and later, bassist Riff West), hitting the U.S. club circuit once more.
Eddie Zyne is a new name to most people when it comes to Foghat. He was with the band from 1990-1993, as the drummer. At that time, the band consisted of Lonesome Dave Peverett (founder, singer/songwriter, guitarist of Foghat) with Bryan Bassett (original Wild cherry guitarist now with Molly Hatchet), and on bass there was Stephen Dees (who was in Hall & Oates with Eddie), then after a year and a half they got Riff West (bassist for ten years with Molly Hatchet). There was also Rod Price (another original Foghat guitarist). This lineup was altered at the end of 1993 when Dave Patched things up with Roger Earl (original drummer who had his own version of Foghat). They got Tony Stevens (original bass player) back at that same time. Eddie has played drums with many pro acts. A list of them can be found at the bottom of the page at the Muse Net web site.
Today, Lonesome Dave Peverett, Rod Price, Tony Stevens, and Roger Earl, the original band members, are on tour with their latest CD, "Return Of The Boogie Men," and have returned to the basic blues/rock sound of 25 years ago. Even at their peak as hitmakers, that was the essence of the band's sound. They remained true believers at heart.
Foghat...the ultimate party band!
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