- British rock band formed in 1971 from London England. The band members during their most popular period were Dave Peverett (rhythm guitar, lead vocals, songwriting), Rod Price (lead guitar, backing vocals, songwriting), Tony Stevens (bass guitar, backing vocals, songwriting), and Roger Earl (drums, backing vocals, songwriting). Earl is the only remaining member of the band today, and he owns the name of the band.
- Peverett, Stevens and Earl all were members of the band Savoy Brown until 1970. Price was performing with the band Black Cat Bones, and he left his band at about the same time as the others left Savoy Brown. They decided to create a new band, and they chose the name Foghat – the word was from a childhood game that Peverett used to play with his brother. Given their experience with their other bands, they were quickly signed to a record label.
- Their debut album was the self titled Foghat, in 1972. It contained 2 cover songs of old blues classics that were released as singles – I Just Want To Make Love To You and Maybelline, along with 7 original songs written by the band. The album barely made the charts, and the singles did not sell.
- Their next album released the following year also was titled Foghat, and became known as The Rock and Roll album, since the album cover had a picture of a rock and a roll on it. Two more albums followed in 1974 – these albums managed to get into the top 40 of the album chart, but singles still were not successful.
- Their breakout happened with the fifth album, 1975’s Fool For The City. It contained their biggest single and their signature song, Slow Ride, which peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album sold over 1 million copies. Slow Ride was big at my high school dances – aah, memories!
- In 1977, Foghat released a live album that became their biggest selling album, going double platinum. A live version of I Just Want To Make Love To You was released, and it managed to reach #33 on the Hot 100 chart.
- Between 1978 and 1983, the band released 6 studio albums. None sold very well – one single, Third Time Lucky (First Time I Was A Fool), cracked the Top 40 briefly in 1979. The later albums showed a shift away from their blues boogie sound, evolving to more of a new wave sound.
- The group split up in 1984. Earl reformed the band in 1986 with new members and toured into the early 90s. In 1993, the original members reunited and toured for 6 years, releasing one studio album and several live albums. Price retired permanently in 1999, and died in 2005 after falling down steps after a heart attack. Peverett died in 2000 from kidney cancer.
- Earl continued the band, with studio albums released in 2003, 2010 and 2016. They continue to pay homage to blues rock – their most recent album has a cover of Heard It Through The Grapevine. They continue to tour today – 35 concert dates are planned for 2018. Bass player Craig MacGregor, who joined the band in 1976, died on February 9, 2018, of lung cancer.
- To me, Foghat was a typical 70s hard rock band – predictable songs with 3 chords, guitar solo half way through, emotional lead vocals. But that’s OK – that’s 70s rock and roll! Check out Fool For The City – double dose guitar solo here for you! Sorry for the “BBC – Viewing Copy Only” scrolled on the screen of this clip.
We are going to Foghat on Friday night at the Desert Diamond Casino near where we are visiting in Green Valley AZ!! 2nd row! $30 each!! I saw them last at the old St. Paul Civic Center in 1978 with Starz and Wet Willie! Now they are Fools For Green Valley!!! Gonna be fun though! Thanks Mark! Jim