Foghat

Foghat - Return Of The Boogie Men - 1994 - Modern

Foghat began their career in 1971 as a bunch of rather unpretentious young Brits with an affection for American blues and 50's 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. [Taken from Rhino liner notes on Best of Foghat Volume II ]

A mega British rock band during the seventies, Foghat released several top selling albums. The original band split in the early eighties, although some members toured as "The Kneetremblers" and also used the Foghat name. Foghat . The late Dave Peverett formed his own version of Foghat in 1990, and in 1993 got together with the original band. With "Return Of The Boogie Men" in 1994, the band returned to their great blues/rock sound of the late sixties/early seventies. A great album, with Foghat doing what they do best, - Good old fashioned, unpretentious blues rock. Listen to the band's great "Energized" album

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. Jump That Train - Peverett
2. Louisiana Blues - Morganfield
3. Motel Shaker - Jameson, Peverett, Price
4. Play Dirty - Bassett, Peverett
5. Nothin' But Trouble - Peverett, Price
6. Talk to Me Baby - James
7. I Just Want to Make Love to You - (acoustic) - Dixon
8. Take Me to the River - (acoustic) - Green, Hodges
9. That's Alright Mama - (acoustic) - Crudup
10. Feel So Good - (acoustic) - Broonzy
11. I Want You to Love Me - Dixon
12. Writing on the Wall - Peverett, Price

BAND

Lonesome Dave Peverett R.I.P (vocals, guitar)
Rod Price (guitar, slide guitar, dobro, background vocals)
Nick Jameson (guitar, percussion, background vocals)
Tony Stevens (bass, background vocals)
Roger Earl (drums)
John Popper (harmonica)

REVIEW

After many years apart, the original Foghat lineup of vocalist/guitarist Lonesome Dave Peverett, lead and slide guitarist Rod Price, bassist Tony Stevens, and drummer Roger Earl reunited and released the appropriately titled Return of the Boogie Men in 1994. The re-formation was instigated by fan Rick Rubin, noted producer and founder of American Recordings. Return of the Boogie Men is a mixed bag of excellent-to-average originals and electric and acoustic blues covers. Foghat thanks Rubin in the liner notes for pointing the band back to original influences such as Muddy Waters and Elmore James for inspiration. "Jump That Train" is rip-snorting hard rock with wicked slide guitar from Price and inspired singing from Peverett; this fun tune even received a little bit of radio airplay. Waters' "Louisiana Blues" begins and ends acoustically with Blues Traveler's John Popper guesting on harmonica, but the tough electric middle section includes greasy slide guitar. "Motel Shaker" is melodic blues-rock and it's the second best song on the album after "Jump That Train." A four-song acoustic portion includes Willie Dixon's "I Just Want to Make Love to You," Al Green's "Take Me to the River," Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's "That's Alright Mama," and Big Bill Broonzy's "Feel So Good." Foghat performs Dixon's song much slower than they did on their two revved up electric hit studio and live versions. Return of the Boogie Men and 1998's live Road Cases unexpectedly became Foghat's final two albums when Peverett died of kidney cancer in 2000. © Bret Adams, allmusic.com

BIO

Foghat specialized in a simple, hard-rocking blues-rock, releasing a series of best-selling albums in the mid-'70s. While the group never deviated from their basic boogie, they retained a large audience until 1978, selling out concerts across America and earning several gold or platinum albums. Once punk and disco came along, the band's audience dipped dramatically. With its straight-ahead, three-chord romps, the band's sound was American in origin, yet the members were all natives of England. Guitarist/vocalist "Lonesome" Dave Peverett, bassist Tony Stevens, and drummer Roger Earl were members of the British blues band Savoy Brown, who all left the group in the early '70s. Upon their departure, they formed Foghat with guitarist Rod Price. Foghat moved to the United States, signing a record contract with Bearsville Records, a new label run by Albert Grossman. Their first album, Foghat, was released in the summer of 1972 and it became an album rock hit; a cover of Willie Dixon's "I Just Want to Make Love to You" even made it to the lower regions of the singles charts. For their next album, the group didn't change their formula at all — in fact, they didn't even change the title of the album. Like the first record, the second was called Foghat; it was distinguished by a picture of a rock and a roll on the front cover. Foghat's second album was their first gold record, and it established them as a popular arena rock act. Their next six albums — Energized (1974), Rock and Roll Outlaws (1974), Fool for the City (1975), Night Shift (1976), Foghat Live (1977), Stone Blue (1978) — all were best-sellers and all went at least gold. "Slow Ride," taken from Fool for the City, was their biggest single, peaking at number 20. Foghat Live was their biggest album, selling over two million copies. After 1975, the band went through a series of bass players; Price left the band in 1981 and was replaced by Erik Cartwright. In the early '80s, Foghat's commercial fortunes declined rapidly, with their last album, 1983's Zig-Zag Walk, barely making the album charts. The group broke up shortly afterward with Peverett retiring from the road. The remaining members of the band (Roger Earl, Erik Cartwright and Craig MacGregor) continued playing together as the Kneetremblers and after some line-up changes decided to revert to the Foghat name. The band toured throughout the decade and into the early 1990's. Perhaps growing tired of early retirement, Lonesome Dave formed his own version of Foghat in 1990 and hit the road. After healing their rift, the original Foghat (Peverett,Price, Stevens and Earl) reformed in 1993 and toured for years, releasing Return of the Boogie Men in 1994 and Road Cases in 1998. The original band broke apart for good with Peverett's passing due to cancer on February 7, 2000. After some time spent mourning, the band soldiered on with a new line-up (adding Charlie Huhn on vocals) and after two years of touring released Family Joules in 2002. Foghat toured for the next few years and regularly issued documents of their live act: The Official Bootleg DVD, Volume 1 in 2004 and Foghat Live II in 2007. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine and Tim Sendra, allmusic.com