Blackfoot
1984 - 1997
The second, re-recorded version of the "Vertical
Smiles" album was released later in 1984.
It was Blackfoot's 8th album, and the first one without me.
I received a phone call several weeks after
I quit, asking me
if I would go back overseas with the band one more time,
to play at a festival in Helsinki, Finland.
I was told that after the show I could just go back to what I was
doing.
That didn't sound like the guys' feelings toward me had changed,
so I declined.
Ken Hensley left Blackfoot
suddenly in mid-tour, about 6 months after my departure,
and was replaced on one day's notice by our longtime friend, "AXE"
frontman/guitarist Bobby Barth.
Bobby and AXE were also managed by Al Nalli.
By the end of December
1985, Greg T. and Jakson were out of the band.
Rickey continued performing and recording
as Rickey Medlocke & Blackfoot
with several different lineups from 1986 until 1997.
In 1997 he was invited to play guitar with Lynyrd
Skynyrd,
and Blackfoot essentially stopped touring, until...
