Special Deluxe Collector s Edition / Fully remastered sound shaped from 24 BIT digital technology / Classic Southern Rock / 12 page full colour booklet 3,500 word essay, enhanced artwork, rare photos and new interview with front man Rickey Medlocke. REGIONAL MUSIC has always been the backbone of rock & roll. Chicago blues, Nashville country, Appellation bluegrass and Memphis soul are just a few examples. However, it wasn t until the early 70s that, what was termed, Southern rock, first gained a foothold in the public s wider conscience. It was a highly stylised sound that hailed exclusively from the American South leaning heavily on several influences giving rise to a number of lauded acts such as the Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet and... Blackfoot. Hailing from Jacksonville by way of Gainesville, Blackfoot s rise to prominence was like, so many others, both slow and painful. Front man and leader Rickey Medlocke had himself been struggling for years as a drummer, most notably with an early incarnation of Lynyrd Skynyrd, before forming Blackfoot and being signed to Island Records before moving over to the Epic label for this, their second, release. With three Native American Indians in their line-up, Blackfoot s sound was part Lynyrd Skynyrd and part Led Zeppelin helping to consolidate a sound that would later springboard them to international acclaim in the 80s. Recorded at the famed Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama, with notable session musicians David Hood and producers Jimmy Johnson, Flyin High was originally released in 1976 and remains a terrific example of a band finding not only their sound but also their direction.
