Great Rock Albums of 1982: Blackfoot- Highway Song Live

What is the most logical thing to do after your band has put out three very good studio albums? Well, in the case of Blackfoot, the answer is to put out one hell of a live album. That is exactly what they did in 1982 with the album recorded live in London. If it hadn't been for the fact that I happened to visit London in the summer of 1983, this album would have past me by because I never saw it on sale at any of the record shops in New Jersey and that, to me, would have been a damn shame.

Why is this live album so good? The answer is pretty obvious to any Blackfoot fan. At this particular concert, they played some of their finest material off their previous three albums, "Strikes," "Tomcattin'" and "Marauder." If I were to have produced the album, I would have done little different except ask the band to play "I Got a Line On You" from the "Strikes" album but that's a personal thing. The album is fine as it stands. Things open with two songs from "Tomcattin,'" "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme," which is definitely a great concert opener, especially at the beginning when Rick Medlocke announces "All right London, it's boogie time!" You get little time to rest after the opener because Medlocke gets the crowd going by saying, "If someone messes with your queenie, you're gonna mess up their god damn nose!" Then they launch into "Queenie, Every Man Should Know." If the crowd isn't fully up by now, then the almost thrash sounding, "Good Morning" definitely gets them there.

"Good Morning" is the first of three songs from the "Marauder" album. The other two songs that follow, "Dry County" and "Fly Away" sound much better live than the versions on the album and there was nothing wrong with those. It's just the raw energy this concert gives that takes things up several levels. One note, in between "Dry County" and "Fly Away," Blackfoot play their own version of John Lee Hooker's "Rolling and Tumbling" and I will say that they put their own unique stamp on that song quite nicely.

The rest of the album/concert is dominated by songs from the "Strikes" album. "Road Fever" for all the Scotland rock and roll maniacs as how Medlocke introduces the song, rolls things along very well. After they play "Trouble in Mind," Blackfoot take the show up on an enormous high with the two best songs from that album, "Train, Train" and of course "Highway Song" and both are cases of the live version being way above the studio version. This leads me to realise that if Blackfoot can improve on songs from great studio albums when played live, they are definitely a band to be reckoned with.

Track Listing:

1. Gimme, Gimme, Gimme

2. Queenie, Every Man Should Know

3. Good Morning

4. Dry County

5. Rolling and Tumbling

6. Fly Away

7. Road Fever

8. Trouble in Mind

9. Train, Train

10. Highway Song

11. Howay the Lads

[caption id="attachment_1316" align="aligncenter" width="215"] Blackfoot[/caption]

Rickey Medlocke- guitar, lead vocals

Charlie Hargrett- guitar

Greg T Walker- bass, backing vocals

Jackson Spires- drums

I think back to that time in 1983 and thank God that I was in London and saw this album in a record store. Otherwise, I would have missed it. Then again, each time I listen to the album, I become pig sick at not having ever seen them live. Trust me, "Highway Song" will make you feel that way.

Next post: Rossington/Collins- This is the Way

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