Rickey Medlocke
Encyclopedia
Rickey Medlocke is an American
musician best known as the frontman/guitarist for the southern rock band Blackfoot
and, more recently, as a guitarist
for Lynyrd Skynyrd
. He was a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd briefly in 1970 as a drummer
before he left to pursue other musical interests but rejoined the band in 1996 after Gary Rossington
asked him to join.
Being of Blackfoot ancestry, Medlocke was inducted into the Native American Music Hall of Fame
in 2008.
musician and he taught Medlocke how to play a miniature banjo
. From there on his musical abilities grew and he had taught himself how to play guitar
by the age of five and he was playing drums
in Shorty's band at the age of eight. Medlocke was raised by Shorty and his grandmother. Over the next several years Medlocke mastered the banjo, guitar, drums, mandolin
, dobro
and keyboards
. He had a melodic singing voice and had taught himself to sing and play guitar at the same time. After graduating high school, Medlocke formed his first band, Blackfoot
, where he was lead vocalist and lead guitarist.
and New Jersey
weren't successful enough for him, he called up Ronnie Van Zant
and was asked to play drums for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Medlocke very briefly played the drums and sang lead on a few songs for them in 1970, sometimes playing alongside the band's original drummer Bob Burns
but came to feel that sitting behind a drum kit
could never satisfy his energetic personality, so in 1971 he reformed Blackfoot and began touring incessantly with them, producing hits like "Train Train" and "Highway Song" until he finally decided to disband the group in the early 1990s.
inviting him to rejoin Lynyrd Skynyrd as a lead guitarist and primary songwriter. Rossington asked Medlocke if he remembered how to play "Free Bird", "Tuesday's Gone", and "Workin' For MCA", among others. Medlocke rejoined Skynyrd and has been a member since. Occasionally, Medlocke will step away from Skynyrd briefly to join musicians like Shooter Jennings
on stage. He joined American Idol
finalist Bo Bice
on stage for a rendition of "Sweet Home Alabama" when the top three finalists from season four
returned home.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician best known as the frontman/guitarist for the southern rock band Blackfoot
Blackfoot (band)
Blackfoot is a Southern rock musical ensemble from Jacksonville, Florida organized during 1970. Though they are primarily a Southern rock band, they were known also as a hard rock act....
and, more recently, as a guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
for Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...
. He was a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd briefly in 1970 as a drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
before he left to pursue other musical interests but rejoined the band in 1996 after Gary Rossington
Gary Rossington
Gary Robert Rossington is a founding member of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He plays lead and rhythm guitar. He is also a founding member of The Rossington-Collins Band along with former Lynyrd Skynyrd bandmate, the late Allen Collins...
asked him to join.
Being of Blackfoot ancestry, Medlocke was inducted into the Native American Music Hall of Fame
Native American Music Awards
The Native American Music Awards , commonly known as the Nammys, are an awards program presented annually by The Native American Music Association & Awards, which recognizes outstanding musical achievement among Native Americans...
in 2008.
Early life
Medlocke started performing onstage at the age of three. His grandfather, Shorty Medlock, was a well-known delta bluesDelta blues
The Delta blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, a region of the United States that stretches from Memphis, Tennessee in the north to Vicksburg, Mississippi in the south, Helena, Arkansas in the west to the Yazoo River on the east. The...
musician and he taught Medlocke how to play a miniature banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
. From there on his musical abilities grew and he had taught himself how to play guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
by the age of five and he was playing drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
in Shorty's band at the age of eight. Medlocke was raised by Shorty and his grandmother. Over the next several years Medlocke mastered the banjo, guitar, drums, mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, dobro
Dobro
Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
and keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
. He had a melodic singing voice and had taught himself to sing and play guitar at the same time. After graduating high school, Medlocke formed his first band, Blackfoot
Blackfoot (band)
Blackfoot is a Southern rock musical ensemble from Jacksonville, Florida organized during 1970. Though they are primarily a Southern rock band, they were known also as a hard rock act....
, where he was lead vocalist and lead guitarist.
Drummer
Medlocke grew up with the founding members of Lynyrd Skynyrd. When Blackfoot's attempts to move north and play New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
weren't successful enough for him, he called up Ronnie Van Zant
Ronnie Van Zant
Ronald Wayne "Ronnie" Van Zant was an American lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and a founding member of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd...
and was asked to play drums for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Medlocke very briefly played the drums and sang lead on a few songs for them in 1970, sometimes playing alongside the band's original drummer Bob Burns
Bob Burns
Bob Burns was an American radio and film comedian during the 1930s and 1940s. Burns, who early in his career was billed as Robert Burns, coined the word bazooka.-Early years:...
but came to feel that sitting behind a drum kit
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
could never satisfy his energetic personality, so in 1971 he reformed Blackfoot and began touring incessantly with them, producing hits like "Train Train" and "Highway Song" until he finally decided to disband the group in the early 1990s.
Guitarist
For a while in the 1990s, Medlocke thought about pursuing other careers until he received a phone call in 1996 from Gary RossingtonGary Rossington
Gary Robert Rossington is a founding member of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He plays lead and rhythm guitar. He is also a founding member of The Rossington-Collins Band along with former Lynyrd Skynyrd bandmate, the late Allen Collins...
inviting him to rejoin Lynyrd Skynyrd as a lead guitarist and primary songwriter. Rossington asked Medlocke if he remembered how to play "Free Bird", "Tuesday's Gone", and "Workin' For MCA", among others. Medlocke rejoined Skynyrd and has been a member since. Occasionally, Medlocke will step away from Skynyrd briefly to join musicians like Shooter Jennings
Shooter Jennings
Waylon Albright "Shooter" Jennings is an American singer-songwriter active in the country music and Southern rock genres as well as making his first foray into psychedelic rock in 2009...
on stage. He joined American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
finalist Bo Bice
Bo Bice
Harold Elwin "Bo" Bice, Jr. is an American singer and musician who placed second to Carrie Underwood in the fourth season of American Idol. He has recorded three studio albums, including one on RCA Records...
on stage for a rendition of "Sweet Home Alabama" when the top three finalists from season four
American Idol (Season 4)
The fourth season of American Idol premiered on January 18, 2005 and continued until May 25, 2005. It was hosted by Ryan Seacrest. Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell also returned to judge. It was won by Carrie Underwood, who has gone on to become a five-time Grammy-winning country megastar...
returned home.
Vocalist
Medlocke sang vocals on Lynyrd Skynyrd songs White Dove, Ain't Too Proud to Pray, The Seasons, and You Run Around.With Blackfoot
- No ReservationsNo Reservations (Blackfoot album)No Reservations is the first album by southern rock band Blackfoot, released in 1975.- Track listing :# Railroad Man # Indian World # Stars # Not Another Maker # Born to Rock & Roll # Take a Train...
(1975) - Flying High (1976)
- StrikesStrikes (album)Strikes is the third album by Southern rock band Blackfoot, released during 1979. That album has received from the RIAA a platinum certification in April 1986.-Track listing:# "Road Fever" – Medlocke/Spires...
(1979) - TomcattinTomcattinTomcattin' is the fourth studio album of Southern rock band Blackfoot, released in 1980. The album found Blackfoot continuing its roll down the rock highway, spawning crowd-pleasers like raucous "Gimme Gimme Gimme," and the rowdy "Fox Chase" the latter of which features granddad Shorty Medlocke...
(1980) - Marauder (1981)
- Highway Song Live (1982)
- Siogo (1983)
- Vertical Smiles (1984)
- Rick Medlocke And Blackfoot (1987)
- Medicine Man (1990)
- After the ReignAfter The ReignAfter the Reign is a Blackfoot album released on May 24, 1994 through Wildcat Records. It has so far thus proved to be the final Blackfoot studio album.-Track listing:All songs by Rickey Medlocke and Benny Rappa except where noted...
(1994) - Live On The King Biscuit Flower Hour (1999)
With Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Skynyrd's First and... LastSkynyrd's First And... LastSkynyrd's First And...Last was the original name of the album, first released in 1978, by the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. The original 1978 version of the album is now out of print. In 1998, it was renamed and re-released as Skynyrd's First: The Complete Muscle Shoals Album, which was expanded to...
(1978) - Twenty (1997)
- Lyve from Steel TownLyve from Steel TownLyve from Steel Town was a live album by the "post-crash" lineup of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. This live album has two discs, the last two tracks on the second disc are exclusive interviews with Lynyrd Skynyrd. The concert was also released as a live VHS and DVD. The tracks were recorded in...
(1998) - Edge of ForeverEdge of ForeverEdge of Forever is the tenth studio album from Lynyrd Skynyrd, released in 1999.-Track listing:All tracks by Rick Medlocke, Gary Rossington, Hughie Thomasson & Johnny Van Zant except were noted#"Workin'" - 4:53#"Full Moon Night" - 3:44...
(1999) - Vicious CycleVicious Cycle (album)Vicious Cycle is the eleventh studio album by Lynyrd Skynyrd, released in 2003. It was the first album by the band following the death of original bassist Leon Wilkeson, the song Mad Hatter being a tribute in memory to him. He died during recording, but does appear on two songs, "The Way" and...
(2003) - Lynyrd Skynyrd Lyve: The Vicious Cycle TourLynyrd Skynyrd Lyve: The Vicious Cycle TourThe Vicious Cycle Tour was a live tour celebrating Lynyrd Skynyrd's 30 years of being a group, .The initial releases were a 2-CD edition, featuring the whole live concert, and a corresponding DVD...
(2004) - God & GunsGod & Guns-Personnel:*Johnny Van Zant – lead vocals*Daniel Maguire - guitars*Gary Rossington – guitars*Rickey Medlocke – guitars, backing vocals*Mark Matejka – guitars, backing vocals*Ean Evans – bass, backing vocals*Robert Kearns – bass, backing vocals...
(2009)