SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FOGHAT – ROAD FEVER: THE COMPLETE BEARSVILLE RECORDINGS 1972-1975

Foghat
Road Fever: The Complete Bearsville Recordings 1972-1975
HNE/Cherry Red Records

I remember watching an MTV awards show, many, many years ago. Jim Carey, dressed as a hippie,  made the joke “would it kill you to play some Foghat?” He was onto something. Foghat is a band that ruled the FM airwaves in the 1970s and had AM hits as well. Five songs from the albums represented in this box set were top forty hits.

Foghat is a band that is fondly remembered by a few and best known today for “Slow Ride”, which was included on the video game Grand Theft Auto. But, Foghat was so much more, as Road Fever: The Complete Bearsville Recordings 1972 – 1975 so clearly demonstrates. This box set is exactly what it states in the title, everything they recorded and released for the Bearsville Records label from 1972 to 1975. Foghat formed in London in 1971 when former  Savoy Brown members “Lonesome” Dave Peverett (guitar and vocals), Tony Stevens (bass), Roger Earl (drums) joined forces with Black Cat Bones’ Rod Price (guitar). The band relocated to the United States and got Dave Edmunds to produce their debut album, Foghat.

Foghat is the first CD in this new box set. The album kicks off with the bluesy and bass-driven “I Just Want To Make Love To You”, their cover of the classic Willie Dixon song. It earned them a great deal of airplay on FM and the band started fainting their audience. Their debut is a strong album featuring classic blues-rock.

Their second album, also named Foghat is featured on the second CD. Former Cyrkle member Tom Dawes is at the producer’s helm for this album. This album is more rockased and in some ways even more radio friendly. It is famous for the cover art, featuring a photo of a rock and a dinner roll (‘rock ‘n’ roll’, get it?).  The album did very well in the charts in America and paved the wave for their classic Energized. Energized features some very interesting cover versions particularly “That’ll Be The Day” and Presley’s “Honey Hush”.

Energized was released in 1974 and the band actually released a second album that year, Rock And Roll Outlaws. Although a very successful album at the time, it is not their strongest. There are some terrific songs on it but overall it sounds more rushed than their earlier albums. Finally, the last album found in this box set is 1975’s Fool For The City, their highest charting album. This is the album that most associate with Foghat. It is classic 1970s heavy rock. It contains their hit, “Slow Ride” and many other signature tunes, such as the title track and “Drive Me Home”. It was also the first album with new bassist Nick Jameson, who also produced the album. It is a strong, consistent album that has aged extremely well.

The sixth and final CD of the set is a collection of rarities. There are many single edits and stereo mixes. Diehard fans will enjoy this bonus disc of goodies, but the casual fan may find little of interest or differences between the stereo and mono mixes. Still, it is well put together and does fulfill the promise of giving the fan everything Foghat record for Bearsville from 1972 through to 1975.

This is a well put-together box set and it allows the world to revisit a band that were at the top of their game while at the same time establishing themselves as a main contender for rock royalty. It is nice to revisit the music in 2023 and enjoy their hard blues-rock sound. Foghat was not entirely original, but what they did, they did extremely well. This was a band of talented musicians who could bend songs to fit their style and genre. It is nice to see Foghat receive the respect they so deserve.

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