Foghat
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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 five gold albums, as well as two platinum. Once punk and disco came along, the band's audience dipped dramatically, yet the group continued performing until 1980.
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, although they reunited for various tours in the late '80s and early '90s, releasing Road Cases in 1998. Peverett died of cancer on February 7, 2000.

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Foghat - 1972

Breaking away from Savoy Brown to form this band, the members of Foghat knew from the start what sort of record they wanted to make. With heavy emphasis on the hard boogie, Foghat got down to work with the help of Dave Edmunds and crafted a hard rock gem. Covering Chuck Berry's "Maybellene," they goosed the beat up until it was almost a precursor of the heavy metal yet to come. Interspersing covers with original material, they immediately found a place for themselves in the rock world. - James Chrispell

1 - (4:26) I Just Want To Make Love To You
2 - (3:24) Trouble, Trouble
3 - (3:40) Leavin' Again (Again!)
4 - (3:03) Fool's Hall Of Fame
5 - (4:41) Sarah Lee
6 - (3:56) Highway (Killing Me)
7 - (3:41) Maybellene
8 - (4:11) A Hole To Hide In
9 - (7:47) Gotta Get To Know You

 

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Rock 'N' Roll - 1973

Foghat's second album finds the group working its way towards the fusion of blues and hard rock that would make them an arena rock favorite. They were not yet the stadium kings they would soon become, but Rock and Roll benefits from a muscular production that gives the band a muscular sound worthy of their impressive live act. A good example is the powerful album opener "Ride, Ride, Ride": Lonesome Dave Peverett wails over a boogie beat fortified by rumbling power chords as gospel-style backup vocalists cheer him on at the chorus. "Road Fever" is another choice rocker, a song about the rock & roll touring life (a recurrent Foghat song subject) that spices up its fuzz guitar rock with a rubbery bass line and a attractive but non-intrusive horn section. However, not everything on Rock and Roll is as inspired as these two tracks: songs like "Feel So Bad" and "She's Gone" succumb to cliché boogie-rock lyrics that are as dull as their titles and plodding song structures that lack hooks and inventive arrangements. Despite this occasional lack of inspiration, the band manages to pull off a few surprises here and there that show they were looking forward: "Helping Hand" crossbreeds the band's boogie sound with acoustic country-rock touches to create a tune that sounds like the Eagles on steroids, and the power ballad "It's Too Late" succeeds despite its cliché lost-love lyrics, thanks to a sharp arrangement that shows off the sharp guitar interplay between Peverett and Rod Price. All in all, Rock and Roll lacks the consistent material to win over casual rock fans, but any Foghat enthusiast will find plenty to enjoy on this disc. - Donald A. Guarisco

1 - (4:26) Ride, Ride, Ride
2 - (5:10) Feel So Bad
3 - (5:08) Long Way To Go
4 - (5:46) It's Too Late
5 - (3:53) What A Shame
6 - (4:42) Helpin' Hand
7 - (4:23) Road Fever
8 - (3:14) She's Gone
9 - (1:58) Couldn't Make Her Stay

 

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Energized - 1974

The third album proved to be the charm for Foghat. On Energized, their fusion of blues song structures and heavy metal energy comes into sharp focus. The group storms out of the gate with the opening track, "Honey Hush"; this inspired reworking of a blues classic moves like a locomotive about to run off the rails and dazzles the listener with a barrage of furious, metallic guitar riffs. Another sharp rocker along these lines is "Wild Cherry," a lascivious tribute to a gorgeous woman that is fuelled by a double-time beat from Roger Earl and some killer twin-guitar riffing from Dave Peverett and Rod Price. Elsewhere, the group keeps things interesting by experimenting with their formula: an inspired cover of the Buddy Holly chestnut "That'll Be the Day" successfully recasts it as a bluesy vamp complete with saucy horn arrangements, and "Step Outside" mixes funk-styled instrumental breakdowns and a bass line that would be at home on a James Brown record into its hard rock song structure to create an effective funk-rock hybrid. Energized also produced an enduring classic for the band with "Home in My Hand," an autobiographical tale about living a life dominated by wanderlust. It provided a fitting anthem for a band that toured incessantly and quickly became a beloved part of the Foghat's live set. The one real downside of Energized is that the band gets so carried away sometimes that they let their songs go on a little too long. The notable example here is set-closer "Nothin' I Won't Do," an amiable blues shuffle that is inflated to an unwieldy seven minutes by a few too many guitar solos. However, the album rises above these occasional dips into excess thanks to solid songs and inspired performance from the band. In short, Energized is a solid listen for anyone who gets nostalgic about 1970s arena rock, and a must-have for Foghat fans. - Donald A. Guarisco

1 - (4:23) Honey Hush
2 - (6:21) Step Outside
3 - (4:05) Golden Arrow
4 - (5:15) Home In My Hand
5 - (5:29) Wild Cherry
6 - (2:54) That'll Be The Day
7 - (4:49) Fly By Night
8 - (6:58) Nothin' I Won't Do

 

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Rock And Roll Outlaws - 1974

After establishing a new level of credibility on record with 1974's Energized, Foghat cranked out another album of boogie rock before the year ended. The result, Rock and Roll Outlaws, is not as consistently inspired as its predecessor but remains a worthwhile listen for the group's fans. This time out, the group settles for a more straight-forward boogie sound that downplays the experiments that spiced up Energized. As a result, the songs are often solid but uninspiring: "Trouble in My Way" has some pleasant acoustic guitar work but feels like a throwaway tune while the title track cruises along in an amiable fashion but never catches fire the way a song with a title like "Rock and Roll Outlaw" should. However, when the band is firing on all four cylinders, Rock and Roll Outlaws is a joy: "Eight Days on the Road" is a hard-charging tune about the touring life that became a live favorite, and the good-time raver "Chateau Lafitte '59 Boogie" is one of the most exhilarating rockers in the Foghat catalog. "Blue Spruce Woman" is another crafty rocker, benefiting from a witty lyric about a nature-loving woman and some of the gutsiest guitar riffs on the album. It should also be noted that these high points are given an additional shot in the arm by Nick Jameson's sympathetic production, which manages to bring out a sharpness of detail in the sound without cutting back on its heaviness. Overall, Rock and Roll Outlaws probably has limited appeal to the casual listener but offers enough energetic boogie rock to make it worthwhile for anyone into Foghat. - Donald A. Guarisco

1 - (6:10) Eight Days On The Road
2 - (4:41) Hate To See You Go
3 - (6:41) Dreamer
4 - (3:33) Trouble In My Way
5 - (3:55) Rock And Roll Outlaw
6 - (3:48) Shirley Jean
7 - (4:10) Blue Spruce Woman
8 - (6:19) Chateau Lafitte '59 Boogie

 

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Fool For The City - 1975

After building a solid core audience through relentless touring and a string of hard-rocking albums, Foghat finally hit the big time in 1975 with Fool for the City. It still stands out as the best album in the group's catalog because it matched their road-tested abilities as hard rockers to a consistent set of tunes that were both well-crafted and ambitious. The tone for the album is set by its title track: This hard-rocking gem not only pairs riff-driven verses with an effective shout-along chorus, but also throws in a few surprising moments where the guitars are taken out of the mix completely and Nick Jameson's bass is allowed to take the lead in a funky breakdown. Fool for the City also produced an enduring rock radio favorite in "Slow Ride," a stomping rock tune that transcends the inherent clichés of its "love is like a car ride" lyrics with a furious performance from the band and a clever arrangement that works in well-timed automotive sound effects during the verses and plays up the band's ability to work an R&B-styled groove into their hard-rocking sound (again, note the thumping bass line from Jameson). Further radio play was earned with "Take It or Leave It," an acoustic-based ballad that worked synthesizers into its subtle yet carefully layered arrangement to become one of the group's finest slow numbers. The album's other songs don't stand like the aforementioned selections, but they all flow together nicely thanks to a consistently inspired performance from the band and clever little arrangement frills that keep the group's boogie-oriented rock fresh (example: the witty spoken word bit at the end of "Drive Me Home"). All in all, Fool for the City is both Foghat's finest achievement in the studio and one the high points of 1970s hard rock. - Donald A. Guarisco

1 - (4:33) Fool For The City
2 - (4:38) My Babe
3 - (8:17) Slow Ride
4 - (5:47) Terraplane Blues
5 - (3:33) Save Your Loving (For Me)
6 - (3:58) Drive Me Home
7 - (4:58) Take It Or Leave It

 

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Night Shift - 1976

After hitting it big in the arena rock sweepstakes with Fool for the City, Foghat continued along the same lines on 1976' s Night Shift. This time, ex-Edgar Winter sideman Dan Hartman took the producer's chair. The result is a well-produced and solid hard rock album that nonetheless feels disappointing because it lacks the consistently high levels of energy and inspiration that marked its predecessor. This time, the hard-rocking highlights included the title track, a powerhouse tune built on a strong combination of an ascending guitar riff and rumbling bass line, and "Drivin' Wheel," an automobile-themed slab of boogie rock that glides along on a stomping, cymbal-accented beat and plenty of fat power chords. Night Shift also boasts one of the group's best ballads in "I'll Be Standing By," an emotional number that boasts a heart-tugging vocal performance from Lonesome Dave Peverett and a skillful arrangement that plays off soaring electric guitar riffs against a lush string arrangement. Elsewhere, the material is energetic but hit-and-miss in terms of its quality: "Drivin' Wheel" is a fun but repetitive rocker that lacks any surprises in its rather monotone arrangement, and "Hot Shot Love" is an uninspired attempt at creating a radio-friendly mid-tempo tune. The end result is an album that offers enough highlights to please Foghat's hardcore audience but is too inconsistent to keep the casual listener interested. As a result, neophyte Foghat enthusiasts should probably sample Night Shift's highlights on a compilation before deciding whether or not to pick it up. - Donald A. Guarisco

1 - (5:15) Drivin' Wheel
2 - (6:34) Don't Run Me Down
3 - (5:40) Burnin' The Midnight Oil
4 - (5:34) Nightshift
5 - (4:03) Hot Shot Love
6 - (4:44) Take Me To The River
7 - (5:55) I'll Be Standing By

 

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Foghat Live - 1977

Back in the day, this release was regularly cited in many a '70s live album Top Ten list, but a few decades on, and with the concert experience so removed from that time period (when smaller media exposure for rock & roll meant live albums were truly unique, highly sought-after affairs), it's probably difficult for most modern listeners to hear what the fuss was about. Still, in case you care, in their day, Lonesome Dave Peverett and his crew were true road warriors, peddling their Anglicized blues-rock to American audiences with power, conviction, and a blue-collar honesty - all of which are captured here. Also, Foghat's studios albums were always pretty tough and gritty in their own right, but on Foghat Live, whatever fluff or sleekness had managed to creep into hit singles like "Fool for the City," "Home in My Hand," or the timeless "Slow Ride" was stripped away to reveal the warts and scars beneath. And speaking of warts and scars, it's no coincidence that Foghat's career died a death as soon as MTV came around, making this live recording captured at their peak one for the road. - Ed Rivadavia

1 - (5:33) Fool For The City [Live]
2 - (4:58) Home In My Hand [Live]
3 - (8:38) I Just Want To Make Love To You [Live]
4 - (5:31) Road Fever [Live]
5 - (5:40) Honey Hush [Live]
6 - (8:23) Slow Ride [Live]

 

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Stone Blue - 1978

After racking up huge sales with Live, Foghat found themselves forced to choose between staying a hard rock cult group or trying to expand their success and become a full-on commercial phenomenon. They decided to experiment with adding a commercial edge to their sound and hired producing wiz Eddie Kramer (knob-twiddler for Jimi Hendrix and Kiss) to help them find the right balance between guitar power and studio gloss. Sadly, the resulting album, Stone Blue, is only intermittently successful because it never finds the right balance to make this compromise work. A good example is the title track: It has all the energy of a classic Foghat track and adds in some nice vocal harmonies, but it lacks the thick, bass-heavy bottom end and the bluesy edge that fuelled the band's best songs. This sonic schizophrenia goes even further on faceless songs like "High on Love" and "Easy Money," which sound like they could have been cut by any 1970s AOR band. Despite these moments of stylistic confusion, Foghat's old strengths manage to shine through on occasion: "It Hurts Me Too" is an impressive blues cover that features a searing vocal performance from Lonesome Dave Peverett, and "Chevrolet" successfully marries boogie rock riffs to a slick studio sound. However, the lack of a consistent overall direction keeps Stone Blue from being the success it could have been. In the end, it offers enough solid tracks to please the hardcore Foghat fan but casual listeners would better off checking out Fool for the City or Live for a better, more consistent idea of the group's strengths. - Donald A. Guarisco

1 - (5:41) Stone Blue
2 - (4:01) Sweet Home Chicago
3 - (3:57) Easy Money
4 - (6:56) Midnight Madness
5 - (5:35) It Hurts Me Too
6 - (5:21) High On Love
7 - (3:23) Chevrolet
8 - (4:25) Stay With Me

 

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Boogie Motel - 1979

After toying with a more commercial sound on Stone Blue, Foghat decided to continue in the same vein on their next album. The resulting album, Boogie Motel, brought the group some commercial success but also unfortunately found them straying even further from their trademark sound. The album's success was primarily derived from "Third Time Lucky (First Time I Was a Fool)," a power ballad that became a hit single. It's lightweight stuff, especially by the standard of past Foghat hits, but it benefits from a strong melody and a tight arrangement that boasts some soaring slide-guitar leads. Sadly, it's the one really good track on the album. The big problem with Boogie Motel is its production downplays guitars in favor of an overall radio-friendly slickness. It's the wrong strategy, because it makes a once-ferocious band sound positively toothless: "Somebody's Been Sleepin' in My Bed" loses the dynamic power inherent in its arrangement due to the blunted sound of the guitars and drums, and the title track's slick arrangement (complete with horn arrangement) and radio-friendly mix make it sound pleasant instead of ferocious. Boogie Motel also suffers from uninspired material that downplays the band's classic boogie rock style for a more middle-of-the-road radio rock approach: The worst example is "Comin' Down With Love," which suffers from painfully sappy love lyrics and a dull soul-pop arrangement that strangely feels like an attempt to emulate the sound of Boz Scaggs. All in all, Boogie Motel is a dull, disappointing album that lacks the guitar firepower and rootsy charm that define the best Foghat albums. Even the most devoted Foghat fanatics may want to think twice before picking this disc up. - Donald A. Guarisco

1 - (3:52) Somebody's Been Sleepin' In My Bed
2 - (4:15) Third Time Lucky (First Time I Was A Fool)
3 - (5:26) Comin' Down With Love
4 - (5:40) Paradise Alley
5 - (7:24) Boogie Motel
6 - (4:33) Love In Motion
7 - (5:57) Nervous Release

 

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Tight Shoes - 1980

When Foghat founder Lonesome Dave Peverett (lead vocals and guitar) started his career with Savoy Brown in the late '60s, there was still something progressive about young Brits tackling American blues, R&B, and even some rockabilly, but as the musician entered his third decade of recording, artistic compromises and commercial success had watered-down the entire genre of blues-based hard rock, thanks largely to bands like his own. Although Foghat had released a string of very successful recordings, the group's final two releases of the '70s, Stone Blue and Boogie Motel, both suffered from declining (although still substantial) sales. Peverett's response to the suddenly suspect viability of his group's arena rock sound was to take his songwriting in a more modern (if not quite fitting) direction on Tight Shoes. New wave and punk had emerged out of the U.K. in the late '70s, largely in response to the somewhat formulaic and self-aggrandizing hard rock that had somehow overtaken the entire non-disco musical landscape. Although listeners might cringe while trying to imagine a musical amalgam somewhere between "Slow Ride" and "Watching the Detectives," assessing Foghat's attempt at eclecticism isn't quite as simple as it may appear. The group's musicianship and studio finesse keep tracks like the single "Stranger in My Home Town" and "Baby Can I Change Your Mind" from becoming awkward attempts at timeliness. Instead, Foghat successfully incorporates stripped-down sonics and simpler, almost pop arrangements into Tight Shoes, making it more than a hopeless grasp at musical relevance, making it worthwhile. - Vincent Jeffries

1 - (4:28) Stranger In My Home Town
2 - (4:43) Loose Ends
3 - (4:35) Full Time Love
4 - (3:57) Baby Can I Change Your Mind
5 - (5:06) Too Late The Hero
6 - (5:05) Dead End Sreet
7 - (6:03) Be My Woman
8 - (6:21) No Hard Feelings

 

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Girls To Chat & Boys To Bounce - 1981

By the time Girls to Chat & Boys to Bounce hit record stores in 1981, it had been ten years since Foghat had released their first American single "I Just Want to Make Love to You," and even though the veteran London blues/boogie rock outfit had a rather long list of commercial accomplishments, the wavering quality and focus of their music in the late '70s had shaken the band's core fan base and slight critical appeal. The stomp and the swagger were replaced by glitter and global tours, rust turned to chrome, howlin' blues to raunch and roll. So bandleader Lonesome Dave Peverett continued an experiment he had tentatively begun a year earlier on Tight Shoes: drawing on new musical influences from the burgeoning punk and new wave scene in and around London. While not exactly a new wave recording, certain tracks on the Bearsville release, especially the ode to London pub thuggery "Wide Boys," are decidedly minimal, modern, and just plain un-bluesy. In general, the arrangements on the record are sparse, the songs and solos are short, and the sound is tighter throughout - with tracks like "Let Me Get Close to You," "Wide Boys," and "Delayed Reaction" being the best examples of the bizarre commingling of a Elvis Costello influence with Foghat's reflexive blues sensibilities. An interesting effort, Girls to Chat & Boys to Bounce might actually captivate extremely open-minded new wave fans and Foghat completists. - Vincent Jeffries

1 - (2:48) Wide Boy
2 - (5:36) Let Me Get Close To You
3 - (6:12) Live Now - Pay Later
4 - (5:17) Love Zone
5 - (6:17) Delayed Reaction
6 - (5:16) Second Childhood
7 - (4:09) Weekend Driver
8 - (3:37) Sing About Love

 

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In The Mood For Something Rude - 1982

After two almost desperate but respectable attempts at early-'80s relevance, Foghat ditched the new wave accents they tried on during their first two releases of the decade, Tight Shoes and Girls to Chat & Boys to Bounce, choosing instead to give their trademark blues-rock treatment to a few favorite R&B covers on 1982's In the Mood for Something Rude. In the five recordings released after Foghat's 1977 double platinum live record, the band was now attempting to create a third identity for itself, and although Lonesome Dave Peverett (lead vocals/guitars,) Erick Cartwright (guitars/vocals), Nick Jameson (bass, keys, percussion), and Roger Earl (drums) proved themselves capable arena rockers, new wavers, and now R&B/blues revivalists, the multiple personality disorder cost the group many fans and might have made them appear desperate. Although the abovementioned condition is significant, it should not overshadow the quality and musicality demonstrated on In the Mood for Something Rude. While the list of listeners anxious to hear dinosaur-rock treatments of songs like James Brown's "And I Do Just What I Want" was perhaps rather short, those interested might enjoy the fluid, thick guitars and (relatively) soulful vocals on this track and other highlights like Rodney Crowell's "Ain't Livin' Long Like This." Produced by Jameson and band manager Tony Outeda, In the Mood for Something Rude, suffers a bit due to a somewhat muddled sound, but overall, the band's 12th record is a well-executed, high-spirited romp featuring some classic American songs. - Vincent Jeffries

1 - (5:53) Love Rustler
2 - (3:48) Bustin' Up Or Bustin' Out
3 - (4:22) Slipped, Tripped, Fell In Love
4 - (5:00) Ain't Livin' Long Like This
5 - (3:49) There Ain't No Man That Can't Be Taught
6 - (3:12) Take This Heart Of Mine
7 - (4:40) Back For A Taste Of Your Love
8 - (3:24) And I Do Just What I Want

 

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Zig-Zag Walk - 1983

The 13th release, and the final to appear on Bearsville records, Zig-Zag Walk is an extension of Foghat's backslide into blues- and R&B-based guitar rock. With the glory years well behind them in 1983, the band was content to churn out this rather unremarkable yet competent recording of stripped-down boogie rock. Original members Lonesome Dave Peverett (lead guitars/vocals) and Roger Earl (drums) are joined on this 1983 release by longtime contributors Erick Cartwright (guitars) and Nick Jameson (bass, keyboards). Standout tracks include "That's What Love Can Do" and "Down the Road a Piece." Equal parts good-time rock & roll and effusive musical mating calls, Zig-Zag Walk is far from the finest Foghat foray on vinyl (or silicon, where it has been packaged as a reissue with a similar release from the previous year, In the Mood for Something Rude), but not a bad piece of plastic if you're inclined to enjoy the sound of Brits toying with American boogie. - Vincent Jeffries

01 - (4:01) That's What Love Can Do
02 - (3:34) Zig Zag Walk
03 - (2:49) Choo Choo Ch'Boogie
04 - (4:43) Jenny Don't Mind
05 - (4:02) Three Wheeled Cadillac
06 - (3:35) It'll Be Me
07 - (3:24) Silent Treatment
08 - (2:41) Down The Road A Piece
09 - (4:16) Seven Day Weekend
10 - (3:48) Linda Lou

 

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The Best Of Foghat - 1990

Rhino's Best of Foghat is an excellent 16-track collection featuring every one of the hard-rocking boogie band's best-known songs, from "Slow Ride" and "I Just Want to Make Love to You" to "Fool for the City," "Drivin' Wheel," and "Ride, Ride, Ride." In short, it's all the Foghat most fans will ever need. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine

01 - (4:22) I Just Want To Make Love To You
02 - (3:35) Maybellene
03 - (4:29) Ride, Ride, Ride
04 - (4:59) Take It Or Leave It
05 - (5:00) Home In My Hand
06 - (4:32) Drivin' Wheel
07 - (3:31) Fool For The City
08 - (3:59) Slow Ride
09 - (4:01) Stone Blue
10 - (4:24) Honey Hush
11 - (5:36) Nightshift
12 - (5:30) Wild Cherry
13 - (4:15) Third Time Lucky (First Time I Was A Fool)
14 - (3:57) Easy Money
15 - (6:19) Chateau Lafitte '59 Boogie
16 - (6:06) Eight Days On The Road

 

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Return Of The Boogie Men - 1994

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

01 - (5:20) Jump That Train
02 - (5:51) Louisiana Blues
03 - (4:42) Motel Shaker
04 - (5:07) Play Dirty
05 - (4:53) Nothin' But Trouble
06 - (4:00) Talk To Me Baby
07 - (4:22) I Just Want To Make Love To You
08 - (5:19) Take Me To The River
09 - (4:22) That's Alright Mama
10 - (3:07) Feel So Good
11 - (5:37) I Just Want To Make Love To You
12 - (4:28) Writing On The Wall

 

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Road Cases - 1998

This 76-minute collection of live cuts from two live shows in Oregon during 1996 starts off a little ominously, in terms of the beat that the group uses on "I Just Want to Make Love to You," abut Rod Price's guitar carries the day and the group does well enough on the old blues-rock standard, stretched out to nearly ten minutes. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of variety in the sound of Lonesome Dave Peverett's singing, which is good, but not quite good enough to sustain interest across over an hour of largely original material. The material offers some variation - the most attractive songs here are the Chess-based material, which includes "Chevrolet," an undisguised Bo Diddley variation, but the group does better with originals like "Soakin' the Bone" (itself a Jimmy Reed rip-off). The material is well-recorded, and fans of Rod Price's guitar will definitely not feel short-changed by the mix or the mastering. - Bruce Eder

01 - (10:01) I Just Want To Make Love To You [Live]
02 - (7:27) Drivin' Wheel [Live]
03 - (4:26) Chevrolet [Live]
04 - (4:04) Soakin' The Bone [Live]
05 - (7:53) Sweet Home Chicago [Live]
06 - (6:19) Rock Your House [Live]
07 - (8:10) It Hurts Me Too [Live]
08 - (4:18) Bad Bad Lovin' [Live]
09 - (5:10) Fool For The City [Live]
10 - (9:29) Slow Ride [Live]
11 - (5:13) Angel Of Mercy [Live]
12 - (4:55) Tear You Down [Live]

 

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Extended Versions - 2001

01 - (5:15) Louisiana Blues [Live]
02 - (6:42) Drivin' Wheel [Live]
03 - (5:33) Nothin' But Trouble [Live]
04 - (7:51) Stone Blue [Live]
05 - (6:18) Rock Your House [Live]
06 - (11:01) It Hurts Me Too [Live]
07 - (7:52) Sweet Home Chicago [Live]
08 - (9:17) I Just Want To Make Love To You [Live]
09 - (5:28) Fool For The City [Live]
10 - (9:37) Slow Ride [Live]

 

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Family Joules - 2003

01 - (4:23) Mumbo Jumbo
02 - (4:51) Hero To Zero
03 - (5:42) Thames Delta Blues
04 - (4:11) Flat Busted (And Out Of Gas)
05 - (3:14) I Feel Fine
06 - (5:39) I'm A Rock 'N Roller
07 - (4:08) Hit The Ground Running
08 - (4:46) Looking For You
09 - (3:40) Long Time Coming
10 - (4:20) Sex With The Ex
11 - (7:35) Self-Medicated
12 - (4:16) Mean Voodoo Woman
13 - (1:23) Voodoo Woman Blues