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By Jeb
Wright
Rickey Medlocke’s Southern Rock
roots run deep. Raised by his grandfather, blues musician
Shorty Medlocke, young Rickey had an instrument in his hand from
day one. He refers to Shorty as his Dad throughout the interview
and discusses how he was able to pay the old man back for his
musical upbringing by recording one of Shorty’s songs and having
him play on several of Blackfoot’s classic tunes.
Growing up in Jacksonville,
Florida meant that Medlocke was part of the new Southern Rock
scene that spawned the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. In
1979, Medlocke hit the big time with Blackfoot but years earlier
he was actually the drummer for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Now, over
thirty years later he is the band’s guitar player.
During this interview we
discuss growing up in Jacksonville, the formation of Blackfoot
and his career with Skynyrd. What follows is a history lesson
of Southern Rock told by one of the pioneers of the genre.
Jeb:
Why was Jacksonville, Florida the birthplace of Southern Rock in
your opinion?
Rickey: A lot of jokes have
been made that there was something in the drinking water that
made all of the talent come out of there. The Jacksonville
shipyards were there and there was the Navel base there as
well. Jacksonville was a growing town at the time and was a
transient type of city. You had my old man, Shorty Medlocke,
Glenn Reaves and Mae Axton, who is Hoyt Axton’s mama all living
there.
My dad and I, when I was really
young, from the time I was three till the time that I was eight,
were on a local television show called The Toby Dowdy show that
was a country music show. There were a lot of older adults who
were musicians and they had kids. Jacksonville had a ton of
talent who knew how to play and write songs. I guess it might
have been in the drinking water.
Jeb: You really did have great
bands. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blackfoot, Molly Hatchet and 38
Special.
Rickey: Back in ‘68 there was a
band called The Second Coming that the Allman Brothers came out
of. Berry Oakley and Dickie Betts were in that band, so was
Reese Wynans, who went on to play keyboards with Stevie Ray
Vaughan and Double Trouble. There was another band called The
Allman Joys that had Gregg and Duane Allman in it. They were
also in a band called Hour Glass. I got with Jakson Spires,
Gregg Walker and Charlie Hargot and formed Blackfoot and Skynyrd
was there but they were called The One Percent. I jumped ship
and went from Blackfoot over to Skynyrd and was one of their
original drummers.
We were all kind of
integrated. We would have these Be-Ins in Jacksonville and six
or seven bands would get together and set up their gear at the
same time and everyone would get up and jam. They were going
for three to four hours in the afternoon. You would look up and
see Duane, Gregg, Dickie and Berry playing together then Skynyrd
would play and we would play. When it happened for the Allman
Brothers then they started looking at Jacksonville. I was in
Blackfoot and we had moved up to New York to get work. Skynyrd
stayed in Jacksonville. Tom Petty was in a band called
Mudcrunch who went out to California. It was really the
breeding ground for Southern Rock.
Jeb: Do you feel that they way
the bands all knew each other lead to the family atmosphere of
the genre?
Rickey: I think so. We were
all playing the same clubs. I remember playing the Comic Book
Club when the Allman Brothers were rehearsing for what would
become their first album. They would come over to the club and
use our equipment to get up and rehearse. We all migrated
together and plugged into helping each other out. I found it to
be very cool. If you needed something then you could always ask
musicians.
Did you know that I used to run
lights for The One Percent? I did that for two or three
nights. It is funny because later on I became one of their
first drummers and now I am back as one of their guitar
players.
Jeb: Shorty Medlocke was a
tremendous musician. Did he really get you a miniature banjo to
play when you were a small child?
Rickey: He bought me a
miniature five-string banjo and taught me how to play. I was
only three years old and I picked it up naturally. I wanted to
play guitar later on and, believe it or not, when I first picked
up the guitar I was a lefty. I got self-conscious because
everyone else played it right-handed so I turned it around.
Jeb: Music must have been in
your blood.
Rickey: I played drums in my
dad’s band out of necessity because he needed a drummer and that
is how it went. I picked up guitar when I was five. Before I
got out of high school, I was getting ready to graduate in a
month or two, and I was sitting at my parent’s table. My mom
was very old and reserved. She put her utensils down and said,
“Rickey, have you given any thought of what you are going to do
when you get out of high school? Are you going to take a couple
of years of college so you have something to fall back on?”
About that time I heard my dad throw his fork and knife down.
He said, “Juanita, I want you to take a real good look at him.
Have you taken a good look at him lately? I think it is pretty
laid out what this boy is going to do right when he gets out of
school. When he gets out of school he is gone. I don’t think
he is going to be no brain surgeon or no attorney.”
Jeb: Blackfoot didn’t get any
mainstream success until 1979 but you formed that band in the
sixties, didn’t you?
Rickey: We formed Blackfoot in
1969. I was with them for a little bit over a year. I went to
Skynyrd in 1970 and played with them for three years.
Jeb: Explain how you went from
being the guitar player in Blackfoot to being the drummer in
Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Rickey: Blackfoot was living up
in New Jersey. We were not getting any good gigs and we were
not making any money. One of the band members actually started
to live with our so-called manager at the time, who was this
girl. Nothing was happening and I wanted out. I knew I had to
do something different. I got Allen Collins number through some
people. I called him up and I said, “I am up in Jersey and I
was wondering if you need any roadies. I can drive a truck or
schlep equipment or whatever.” He goes, “You need to give
Ronnie a call because we might have something for you.” He
didn’t say what it was but he gave me Ronnie’s number.
I called up and Ronnie said,
“Rickey, what’s going on?” I said, “I am not getting any work.
I want out. I was wondering if you needed a roadie.” He goes,
“You still play drums?” I kind of bullshitted him and said, “I
still play drums.” I had not sat on a drum stool for years.
Ronnie said, “Bob [Burns] is gone and we are looking for a
drummer because we are cutting a record in about three weeks.
We used to love the way you played drums.” They sent me an
airline ticket and a week later I was back in Jacksonville. I
went to my parent’s house and said hello and then went straight
out with the band and began recording what later would become
the First and Last album. I stayed with them for three
years but I knew that I was not a good enough drummer to get
them to where they needed to be so I got with Gary and Allen and
told them to go out and get somebody better than me. Bob came
back with them at that time and later on they got Artimus Pyle.
I knew I was a good drummer but I was not a phenomenal drummer.
I also wanted to play guitar and sing. It would have been
interesting if Gary, Allen and me would’ve ended up the three
guitar players in Skynyrd.
Jeb: Did you grow up with the
guys in Skynyrd?
Rickey: I grew up on the west
side and we were all around the same area but I really met up
with the guys when we were teenagers.
Jeb: As a teenager did you
think Ronnie Van Zant was going to be a star?
Rickey: There was always
something special about Ronnie. I always used to say that he
was a poet way ahead of his time. He wrote songs like he was on
the streets having a conversation with somebody. I think that
is why everyone related to his songs. He never wrote his lyrics
down. He used to say, “If it is worth singing then it is not
worth writing down.”
Jeb: Was there any jealousy
they became superstars?
Rickey: I was really happy for
the guys. It really bothered me when the tragedy happened. I
felt that if I had stayed then maybe I could have made a
difference in someway but it was destiny; that was the way that
things were going to go.
Jeb: I heard that you were
invited to go with the band that day on the plane.
Rickey: I took my old man,
Shorty, with me over to their studio before they left for the Street
Survivors story and Ronnie said, “We have our own plane,
man. Why don’t you come out with us for a few days.” I had
bookings with Blackfoot for about two weeks worth of dates and I
couldn’t go.
Jeb: How did you find out the
plane had crashed?
Rickey: Somebody came into the
place we were playing and when we ended our set they said, “Did
you hear about your buddies in Lynyrd Skynyrd? Their plane
crashed.” I went back to the hotel and my old man picked up the
phone and didn’t even say hello. He just said, “It’s true.” He
knew that it was me calling.
Jeb: Why did you go back to
Blackfoot?
Rickey: I was looking for
something to do. I was actually working a day gig just to make
money and get by. Jak got a hold of me and told me that he and
Charlie were living up in North Carolina. He said that he
wanted me to come back and front the band so I did. This was in
1973; the Skynyrd record was just coming out. Later in 1974, we
hooked up with Jimmy Johnson and recorded No Reservations,
which came out in 1975.
Jeb: The band’s first two
albums didn’t make an impact. Why do you think that was?
Rickey: Island Records was
putting everything in Bob Marley. We then switched over to Epic
and they were putting everything into Boston, who were a huge
band at that time. We got thrown out there and nothing stuck.
It took us several years until we got with the right people at
Atlantic and we had a huge album that did double platinum.
Jeb: Do you feel Strikes
had a harder edge than your other albums?
Rickey: We had always been that
way. We were like a heavier rock band. We just stuck to our
guns. Johnny Van Zant likes to say that Blackfoot were the
first Southern Rock/Heavy Metal band. I think Jakson and I
wrote the songs and we really did mesh it all together. Our
manager, Alan Elliott, told us to get the record cut. He told
us that Atco was back together and that he couldn’t promise us
anything but that they were going to put it out and see how we
did. They couldn’t keep Strikes in the stores. “Highway
Song” and “Train Train” were both hits. We could have gone two
more deep on that album. We had great success throughout 1981.
We could do no wrong until music changed around 1985. All of a
sudden everything was about California hair bands and we fizzled
out and went by the wayside. It was a great run and they are
great memories that I will always love.
Jeb: One of the things that was
cool was using Shorty to record the intro harmonica on “Train
Train.”
Rickey: “Train Train” was
actually the last song that we came up with. We were told that
we needed to have one more song and that it needed to be
something different. I started fooling around with the song,
which was his old blues tune. The next thing you know what you
are hearing is what you are getting. We decided to honor him by
sticking him on the front of it with his harp. He was like a
kid when we asked him to do it. Since the days he had recorded
things had changed drastically. He couldn’t get over how you
had a 24-track machine with two-inch tape that you could do
overdubs with yourself. He was pretty well stunned over that
stuff. We recorded his part at BJ Recording Studios in
Orlando. We also had him on “Fox Chase” on Tomcattin’
and we had him on “Rattlesnake Rock n’ Roller.”
Jeb: He was part of the
inspiration for the Skynyrd song “Curtis Lowe.”
Rickey: Ronnie, Gary and Allen
used to come over and hang out at my parent’s home. He just
took to those guys. Ronnie loved the blues and my old man
played the blues. He used to ask him to play “Milk Cow Blues.”
When they wrote the song Ronnie said his two favorite blues guys
were Son House and Shorty Medlocke.
Jeb: You did a couple of
remakes on Strikes. You did Spirit’s “I Got a Line on
You” and Free’s “Wishing Well.”
Rickey: I was a big Paul
Rodgers fan when he was with Free. We also did “Pay My Dues” by
Blues Image. I was a huge fan of Spirit and Blues Image. “Ride
Captain Ride” came out and “Pay My Dues” was the flip side of
the single.
Jeb: I think “Wishing Well” is
the best of the remakes. You really put a Southern Rock stamp
on that song.
Rickey: “Wishing Well” was
right up our alley. It was very natural that we do that song.
As it turns out, Paul Rodgers and I are good friends these days,
which is really weird. It is very cool to be friends with a guy
like that.
Jeb: Were you nervous to take
on a song that had his vocals on it?
Rickey: Not at all, I admired
him so much that I knew I had to do the song justice. Our motto
back then was that we had to do a cover at least as good as the
original or better. If you can’t do that then you don’t need to
be doing it.
Jeb: Tell me about the cover to
Strikes.
Rickey: Our manager set that
whole thing in motion -- that was a real snake. They took
pictures of it striking. Blackfoot came out on the tail end of
Southern Rock. Molly Hatchet was already out and they were
huge. We came in and made our stamp.
Jeb: Did the success change
you?
Rickey: We were all tight with
each other. Business ended up getting in the way of a lot of
stuff. When the music changed then a lot of dissension set it.
There was a lot of frustration and in 1985 it just tore us
apart. Jak and I had been friends for thirty-five years but it
just tore us apart. Business can tear the best bands apart.
Jeb: Was Blackfoot as guilty as
Skynyrd as being wild?
Rickey: We were worse than they
were. It was a free for all for us. It was a nonstop party.
That was the times and we lived it, so c’est la vie. The
important thing is that I went into the tunnel and I came out
the other side. I feel like I made out pretty good.
Jeb: Before you re-joined
Skynyrd you tried to keep Blackfoot together. You brought in
Ken Hensley from Uriah Heep. Do you feel he was the right man
for the job?
Rickey: Not really. We were
trying things for all the wrong reasons. We were trying to get
radio play. In reality we should have stuck to our guns and
stayed the way we were. When he left then it really got bad.
It started to fizzle out before that and we knew it was coming.
Kenny was a great player but it just wasn’t the right setting.
Everything was changing and we were listening to the record
company, which we shouldn’t have done. We were pulling at
straws and it just took it down.
Jeb: Did you actually go to
Blackfoot gigs armed at the end?
Rickey: You have got to realize
from 1986 through 1995 I had different versions of the band. In
1995 I got a call from Gary Rossington and it just worked out
that I was able to make my decision – it didn’t take long to
make my decision. I was at a crossroads. For the last couple
of years I was in Blackfoot I carried a gun on me. I have
always been a gun enthusiast but there is a big difference
between carrying a gun because you want to and carrying a gun
because you feel you have too.
Jeb: So Gary called and that
was it.
Rickey: I was at a crossroads
in my career and I really didn’t know what I was going to do. I
knew I had to figure out something. All of a sudden I got a
call from Judy Van Zant inviting me to the movie premier of
Freebird the Movie. They had an all-star jam the night
before and I was able to get up and jam with the guys. Gary
had been talking about putting me back in the band for a couple
of years. I was able to rejoin at the beginning of 1996 and I
am still there today.
Jeb: Did you have to fake it
again with the guitar playing since you had not played Skynyrd
songs before?
Rickey: Allen’s style and my
style were always very similar. We also played the same model
of guitars. I rehearsed for a little bit better of a week and I
learned the stuff and I was ready to go. Gary wanted me to
come back in the band in order to play Allen’s parts because he
wanted to put the rock back in the band.
Jeb: I have not seen the latest
incarnation of Skynyrd but I saw the band with Hughie Thomasson
and you and it was incredible.
Rickey: Hughie and I sounded
really good together; it is too bad how it ended up with Hughie
passing away. He left us but we didn’t want him to leave us.
He felt he was called back to do the Outlaws.
Jeb: He went back to the
Outlaws but people were begging you to go back to Blackfoot and
you never did.
Rickey: I own the name
Blackfoot and I worked a deal out with the guys so they could go
out and play. There is no way that I was going back to
Blackfoot as Skynyrd is my main thing. It is very cool to play
“Freebird” every night. You are talking serious musical
history. It is an honor to stand up there and play. You get
positive comments but you also get negative comments. Some
people say that Skynyrd put me there just for the show as I am
not that great of a musician. Whatever. If anybody can do any
better than I will give them a guitar and let them have a try.
Jeb: Skynyrd is also still
creating new music to add to their legacy.
Rickey: We are in the midst of
doing a new CD right now. We have just started recording and
sometime next year you will see new stuff. Hopefully it will
make its stamp and people will buy it and we will be off on the
road again.
Jeb: Skynyrd has had terrible
tragedy. You have the plane crash where they lost their leader
Ronnie and then you had Allen get in the car wreck and now Leon
Wilkenson and Hughie have passed away. How much more does
Skynyrd have left in it?
Rickey: I think at some point
there will come a time – nothing lasts forever. There will come
a day when everyone will have to look at each other and say, “We
have had enough now” and we will have to let it go at that.
Jeb: Why hasn’t Southern Rock
spawned new acts for the genre like Blues and Rock have done?
Rickey: I think it is a
different day and a different time. I don’t think there is any
pride in heritage with younger people. I don’t think they look
at where they are from and take pride from that. We did. We
took pride that we were from the South. I don’t think people
even care about heritage anymore. I think the days of Southern
Rock as we knew it are gone. When Skynyrd and the Allman
Brothers lay down their guns I think people are going to miss it
and they are going to realize what they had and that they should
have went out and seen it when they had the opportunity. The
bottom line to this whole thing is that the music is timeless
and that everyone can relate to it. Our crowds are from 15 to
55. Ronnie wrote some great stuff and it will be around a long
time after I am gone.
Jeb: Any reflection on your
career with Blackfoot?
Rickey: It was a good time in
my life and I was with good people. I have fond memories of
it. I look back at my history as being able to get from Point A
to Point B. Blackfoot was a great time in my life. Here I am
today still talking about it so it must have been important.
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