Album review: FOGHAT – Road Fever – The Complete Bearsville Recordings 1972-75 (6 CD boxset)

Cherry Red/HNE [Release date 24.03.23]

Britband Foghat clocked up a considerable number of tour miles after relocating to the USA in 1970, road testing their material, looking to kickstart their career. It worked a treat. It’s on the road that you establish the body of each song, then adapt and refine it, adding the details. Subsequently, all five of the band’s seventies’ albums went gold.

Their deceptively simple boogie has its roots in the American south. It’s basically delta blues with its serial number filed off, then turned up to eleven, and Foghat neatly underline the result by adding rhythmic gear changes and foot stomping slide guitar.

A solid line up helped: “Lonesome” Dave Peverett, Rod Price and Roger Earl were in the band from the beginning. Musician/producer Nick Jameson came on board for the fifth album.

Astute US label, Bearsville, snapped up the band and fast forwarded them through 5 albums. Every one went gold.

CD1: Foghat (1972)
CD2: Rock’N’Roll (1973)
CD3: Energized (1974)
CD4: Rock’n’Roll Outlaws (1974)
CD5: Fool For The City (1975)
CD6: The Singles (1972-75)

The band didn’t know it at the time, but the first four albums were simply preparing the way for 1975’s Fool For The City. This platinum selling album would stake their claim on eternal rock’n’roll fame.

The title track and ‘Slow Ride’ were career peaks, high energy, head bobbing rock, each displaying as much a foot stomping stamp of authenticity as genre giants, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Canned Heat.

But we shouldn’t minimise the quality of the earlier material.

The Dave Edmunds’ produced debut Foghat made a blistering version of Willie Dixon’s blues classic, ‘I Just Wanna Make Love To You’ into a fan and FM Radio favourite. Two special edits also lead off the Singles on CD 6.

From that moment on the band were knocking out mainly self penned albums like there was no tomorrow. Their exhausting tour schedule had two upsides. One, the opportunity to test out new material, and two, to maintain a high profile for the latest album when FM Radio was still in its infancy.

Rock & Roll, (so-called to differentiate from the debut), Energized and Rock N Roll Outlaws all squeezed their moments in the sun into a frantic 3 albums in 2 years release schedule. A fuller, more considered take on Big Joe Turner’s sexually suggestive ‘Honey Hush’ gave Energized a huge chart boost, and according to Allmusic, “‘Chateau Lafitte ‘59 Boogie’, from Outlaws, is one of the most exhilarating rockers in the Foghat catalogue”.

Then there was Fool For The City. That’s where we came in.

On CD6, for lifelong Foghat enthusiasts, there are a dozen or so mono and stereo edits of the band’s single releases. ‘Fool For The City’ and ‘Slow Ride’ get pride of place, but there’s room too for Rod Price’s classic blues boogie,’What A Shame’ and their cover of Buddy Holly’s ‘That’ll Be The Day’. From one class act to another. *****

Review by Brian McGowan

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REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

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