I Stand Alone – Blackfoot
Originally released on "No Reservations" (Island 1975)
Also available as: CD (Rock Forever 2004)

I was already a fan of Lynyrd Skynyrd when I heard the haunting riffs and rhythms of Blackfoot’s “Railroad Man” and “Big Wheels” from the debut “No Reservations” and I was hooked! These guys were no run of the mill country rock band, this was the real deal with complex rhythms and bass/drum patterns with Charlie Hargrett and Ricky Medlocke’s earthy Gibson-through-Marshall type tone. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting all the guys, but at different occasions. Ricky with his revamped Blackfoot (i.e. Ricky plus Warpdrive) and with Skynyrd, Jakson with Southern Rock All Stars and I’ve also been acting guitar tech for Charlie and Bobby Barth at some later day’s Blackfoot shows in Sweden. “I Stand Alone” may not be the obvious choice for a Blackfoot cover, but it’s a great ballad that turns into pure up-tempo guitar twiddling mayhem. I extended the end part and got some great soloing courtesy of fellow southerners Point Blank’s guitarist Rusty Burns, blues rocker Craig Erickson, multifaceted virtuoso Tommy Denander and then I also got to join the game and finish it all of in the true three harmony southern rock manner. The lead vocals on this one are provided by my Locomotive Breath colleague Mattias Osbäck, plus and my Overdrive colleague Per provided some haunting high pitch backing vocals. Blackfoot is still alive and well, despite the sad loss of Jakson Spires and Medlocke’s returning to the Skynyrd (now as a guitarist/singer as apposed to his original drummer stint). They still ROCK!!

Line-up:
Mattias Osbäck: vocals
Per “PerilOz” Karlsson: bg vocals
Janne Stark: lead/rhythm guitar, bass
Rusty Burns: lead guitar
Craig Erickson: lead guitar
Tommy Denander: lead guitar
TrumPeter Svensson: drums