Rick Medlocke (born February 17, 1950) is an American musician, best known as the frontman/guitarist for the
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals.
History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...
band
Blackfoot
The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'', or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bl ...
and a member of
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd (, ) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom ...
. During his first stint with Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1971 to 1972, he played drums and sang lead on a few songs that would initially be released on 1978's
"First and... Last." Medlocke would rejoin Blackfoot in 1972 and later returned to Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1996 as a guitarist with whom he continues to tour and record today.
Medlocke was inducted into the
Native American Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
Early life
Rickey Medlocke was born Rickey Lynn Green on February 17, 1950, in
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
. He was raised by his maternal
Rickey Medlocke of LYNYRD SKYNYRD and BLACKFOOT Shares his "ROCK SCENE" @YouTube.com
Retrieved 5-17-2015. grandparents. His grandfather, Paul "Shorty" Medlocke, was a bluegrass musician and taught his grandson to play a miniature banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin.
...
. Medlocke started performing onstage at age three, and his musical abilities increased over the years. He began teaching himself to play the guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
by age five and was playing drums
The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
in Shorty's band at age eight. Over the next several years Medlocke mastered the banjo, guitar, drums, mandolin
A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
, dobro
Dobro () is an American brand of resonator guitars owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar.
The Dobro was originally a gui ...
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, Fresh Garbage (inspired by the Spirit song), in which he was lead vocal
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...
ist and drummer. That band soon changed its name to Hammer, then to Blackfoot
The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'', or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bl ...
.
Career
Medlocke recorded briefly with the 1970s-era Lynyrd Skynyrd band as a session musician, occasionally playing drums or singing lead on a few songs for them in 1971: "One More Time", "Preacher's Daughter", "Lend a Helpin' Hand", "Wino", "White Dove", "Comin' Home", "The Seasons", "Ain't Too Proud to Pray", and "You Run Around". On occasion, Medlocke played alongside the band's original drummer Bob Burns but came to desire the energy of a guitarist at the front of the stage. This resulted in his 1972 decision to reform Blackfoot. The band began touring and producing hit songs
Hit means to strike someone or something.
Hit or HIT may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities
* Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super''
* Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...
that included "Train, Train
"Train, Train" is a song by American Southern rock band Blackfoot and the second single from their third studio album '' Strikes'' (1979). It was written by Shorty Medlocke, the grandfather of Blackfoot frontman/guitarist Rickey Medlocke, and pea ...
", which was written by his grandfather, and " Highway Song", lyrics and title were written by Rickey and Blackfoot drummer Jackson Spires. The songs music, backing vocals and solos were arranged by "Blackfoot" and appeared along with songs written by others. He disbanded the group in the early 1990s.
For a while in the 1990s, Medlocke thought about pursuing other careers until he received a phone call in 1996 from Gary Rossington
Gary Robert Rossington (December 4, 1951 – March 5, 2023) was an American musician best known as a founding guitarist of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, with whom he performed until his death. Rossington was also a founding member of the ...
inviting him to rejoin Lynyrd Skynyrd as a lead guitarist and primary songwriter. Rossington asked Medlocke if he remembered how to play "Free Bird
"Free Bird", also spelled "Freebird", is a song by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, written by guitarist Allen Collins and lead singer Ronnie Van Zant. The song was released on their 1973 debut studio album. Released as a single in Novembe ...
", "Tuesday's Gone
"Tuesday's Gone" is the second track on Lynyrd Skynyrd's debut album, ''(Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)''. It also appears on the band's first live LP, '' One More from the Road''.
History
"Tuesday's Gone" was written by vocalist Ronnie ...
", and " Workin' For MCA", among others.
Discography
With Blackfoot
With Lynyrd Skynyrd
*''Street Survivors
''Street Survivors'' is the fifth studio album by the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released on October 17, 1977. The LP is the last Skynyrd album recorded by original members Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins, and is the sole Skynyrd studio ...
'' (1977) (drums & chorus on ''One More Time'' recorded during 1971-1972)
*'' Skynyrd's First and... Last'' (1978) (contains early recordings from 1971 and 1972)
*'' Twenty'' (1997)
*'' Lyve from Steel Town'' (1998)
*'' Skynyrd's First - The Complete Muscle Shoals Album'' (1998) (contains early recordings from 1971 and 1972)
*'' Edge of Forever '' (1999)
*''Christmas Time Again
''Christmas Time Again'' is the eleventh studio album by American Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released in 2000.
Track listing
Personnel
;Lynyrd Skynyrd
*Johnny Van Zant – Lead vocals
*Gary Rossington – Guitar
*Billy Powell – Key ...
'' (2000)
*''Vicious Cycle
A vicious circle (or cycle) is a complex chain of events that reinforces itself through a feedback loop, with detrimental results. It is a system with no tendency toward equilibrium (social, economic, ecological, etc.), at least in the short ...
'' (2003)
*'' Lynyrd Skynyrd Lyve: The Vicious Cycle Tour'' (2003)
*''God & Guns
''God & Guns'' is the thirteenth studio album by the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released on September 29, 2009.
The single "Still Unbroken" was released on July 27, 2009 followed by another track, "Simple Life", on August 4, 2009. "St ...
'' (2010)
*''Last of a Dyin' Breed
''Last of a Dyin' Breed'' is the fourteenth studio album by American Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. The album was announced on May 2, 2012, for release on August 21, 2012, and September 17 in the UK. It is the first Lynyrd Skynyrd album to ...
'' (2012)
References
External links
Biography at IMDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Medlocke, Rickey
Living people
1950 births
American rock guitarists
American male guitarists
American lead guitarists
Lynyrd Skynyrd members
Musicians from Jacksonville, Florida
Guitarists from Florida
Blackfoot (band) members
20th-century American guitarists
American blues rock musicians