After missing the boat with
Lynyrd Skynyrd (for whom he played drums early on), guitarist/singer
Rick Medlocke formed
Blackfoot, arguably the first all-Native American rock group. The band struggled for almost a decade, playing run-of-the-mill Southern rock that they eventually injected with extra volume and attitude before signing with Atco, for whom they recorded their 1979 breakthrough
Strikes. Known as a ferocious live unit and probably the heaviest of Southern rock bands (see opener "Road Fever"),
Strikes also proved that
Blackfoot could write great melodies for the gloomy "Left Turn on a Red Light" and the inspired cover version of
Free's "Wishing Well." But the band's biggest hit would come in the form of the seven-minute "Highway Song," a tune that was admittedly very reminiscent of
Skynyrd's "Freebird" and that helped drive the album to gold status. Also of note is the harmonica performance of
Shorty Medlocke (
Rick's grandfather) on his own blues, "Train, Train." ~ Eduardo Rivadavia