Post by BlueMonday on Nov 1, 2015 16:43:49 GMT -5
Yes, another Rickey interview. This one is old. I found it on the old Yahoo board. Rickey talks about Blackfoot, Gary's Skynyrd, his Native roots and other stuff.
There was no link.
#10275 – August 5, 2004
Rickey Medlocke Interview
Kenny Buffaloe, well known for his work in Japanese martial arts, had the rare opportunity of meeting with Rickey Medlocke of Lynyrd Skynyrd recently before a sold out performance in Norfolk, Virginia. Rickey Medlocke is the Guitarist and vocalist of the popular Southern Rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Medlocke's roots go way back in Lynyrd Skynyrd, beginning in 1971, when Rickey played drums for the band during their first recording sessions, which later became known as the Muscle Shoals Recordings that were subsequently released in 1978 by MCA Records titled as "Skynyrd's First and . . . Last". By that time Rickey had left Lynyrd Skynyrd to front his own band "Blackfoot", which produced such hit songs as "Train, Train" and "Highway Song". After Blackfoot disbanded, Medlocke returned to Lynyrd Skynyrd as one of three lead guitarists and vocalists. Rickey Medlocke is Native American and spoke at length on not only his musical career, but his Indian Heritage and culture as well. Lynyrd Skynyrd's new album "Vicious Cycle" released last year, is their best work since "Street Survivors". In support of this album, they hit the road with their "Vicious Cycle Tour" which is still in progress. Lynyrd Skynyrd released a new DVD of a show from Nashville, Tennessee on that tour last summer that was also released as a double live audio CD on June 22, 2004 by Sanctuary Records. Lynyrd Skynyrd along with the Allman Brothers Band will perform in October at the Alltel Pavillion in Raleigh, NC. marking the first time these two historic bands will play on the same bill in a series of concerts. In addition to Interviewing Medlocke, Kenny Buffaloe was given special permission to take photos up close of Lynyrd Skynyrd during this performance. The following is an exclusive Interview with Rickey Medlocke of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Kenny Buffaloe: It is an honor and pleasure to meet you. Thank you for consenting to this exclusive interview with me for the "Carolina Indian Voice" newspaper.
Rickey Medlocke: Michelle who does our publicity and handles our staff at the management office, asked if I would like to do an interview for a Native American Publication, I said, "Absolutely! I've done a lot of articles with Native American Magazines and Newspapers. I am very pro - active in Native American things, as you can tell. (He then shows me several tattoos, which include Crazy Horse, whom he says is his spirit guide.) My father lives in Northern Wyoming in the BigHorn Mountains. He was born on the Rose Bud Reservation in South Dakota. My mother and all her people were from the mountains of Northern Georgia. Her father and his wife raised me. My mother's mother (My grandfather's first wife) as full blood Creek.
KB: In addition to your late Grandfather, the legendary Shorty Medlocke, who were some of your musical influences and how did they, inspire you?
RM: Growing up I played in my grandfather's bands all the time. Elvis Presley was an early musical influence in that era that I first began to play guitar. As a teenager, the Beatles became popular and I was heavily into them. Then, there was European English music like Jimi Hendrix. Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck were a huge influence on me. Those three guitar players were my heroes. I have been playing guitar now for 45 years. Paul Rodgers, Robert Plant and Rod Stewart were vocal influences in my old days. My granddaddy had that Mississippi Delta Bluegrass music I grew up listening to. For me, you're taking someone else's influence and developing your own style.
KB: It's a great honor for me to do this interview with you. A lot of Native Americans know about you from the years "Blackfoot" was a band, hearing songs like "Train, Train" and "Highway Song" in particular. Did you have a Native American theme in mind when you formed this band?
RM: We had two other Native American guys in Blackfoot. Jackson Spires, who is Cherokee, Cheyenne, and French, he is the one who made reference to call the band Blackfoot, along with Greg Walker who is half Choctaw Indian. The name Blackfoot was picked because of the Native American blood as well as what the band sounded like. The music was very heavy, in your face. It was more than Southern Rock. It was heavy rock with a blues influence. The Europeans really took to our heavy rock style, although it took us a while to get noticed over here.
KB: The song "After the Reign" a song about Native Americans taking a stand against injustices that you recorded with Blackfoot is very special to a lot of people (including myself), Can you tell me how this song came about and the circumstances involved when you wrote it?
RM: A friend of mine Mark Woerpel played on that record. We wrote "After the Reign" together. Mark's family owns a trading post in the upper part of Michigan. Mark was heavily into the Indian Culture. I have always been outspoken when it comes to Native American rights, like my father. I have been able to do that since I have the podium. So Marks says to me, "Look, we're making a new record. Let's have our say in this." The song, "After the Reign" was pretty much written as a political stand. I was an A.I.M. member for many years back in the seventies. The American people, in general, do not know the things that have happened and then swept under the rug, right under their noses. I am a very spiritual person and believe in my heart that the spirit of Crazy Horse walks around with me all the time. (He shows me his Crazy Horse tattoo on his left arm.)
I have an actual tattoo of Crazy Horse's War Shield on my back that he used in battle. The actual war shield is hanging in the National Archives in Denver, Colorado. I have been a very spiritual person in the sense that, what you do, good or bad, is going to come back to you tenfold. And, if that is true, this earth is going to get a serious ass whipping before it is over. Our forefathers believed in this land. That this land fed you, took care of you, clothed you, put a roof over your head. Everything was right here that you needed a natural order of life. The Great Spirit was the one who did it all. I know there's a storm coming. I feel in my heart. I'm a pretty radical Native. I'm a volunteer Law Officer in Florida in Florida. I have an inter- state Peace Permit that allows me to carry a gun at all times. I carry it. I know how to use it. My grandparents always told me that part of you is a reflection of all your blood before you.
KB: Since you have been playing with Lynyrd Skynyrd, you seem to be genuinely happy and having a good time. What is it like being a major part of this legendary band?
RM: I am very happy being in this band. I am very blessed by the Great One. You start out in this business to play and make a living playing music. You have no idea you are going to have hit records. I am proud of that. I love the people I am with. They are like family. It's a funny thing . . . Gary Rossington a lot of times will say; "There are too many chiefs and one Indian in the band." (Laughs) I love being a part of this band's history. I wrote two songs that were on the first Lynyrd Skynyrd Album. "White Dove" and "The Seasons."
(Talk about spirit connections. Before I could ask the next question about his movie and TV career, he began telling me about it!)
I've been an actor for the last four years. I recently tried out for a part in an upcoming film "Thou Shalt Not Kill." It's about a Native American guy who used to be an alcoholic, who straightens up, falls in love with this girl who is really messed up with alcohol. He tries to help her get straight. He's a hard guy with a softer side. I auditioned but haven't heard anything yet.
I landed a role as a derelict rancher in a William Shatner sci-fi love story called "Groom Lake." I had a role in a major movie that will be coming out later this year called "Sweet Deadly Dreams."
KB: This is amazing. My next question was going to be about your acting career. You must have read my mind! (Laughs)
RM: Oh Yeah! (Laughs)
KB: While we are on the subject of your acting, could you tell me about your association with famous actor Billy Bob Thornton? Are you planning to work with him in the future?
RM: Billy Bob Thornton is a ver, very good friend of mine of about five years now. We have a friendship where I never ask anything of him and he never asks anything of me. Of course, he could get anything he wants from me. Billy and I at some point will work together in a movie sooner or later. I really feel that in my heart.
KB: I'll keep my fingers crossed for you on that one. That would be an interesting movie.
RM: I appreciate that.
KB: Music and the music business is very different today than 20 -30 years ago. A lot of bands with true talent never get recognized and get discouraged. In my own tribe (Lumbee) several hard rock bands were formed over the years and really struggled. What advice would you give young Native people trying to get started in the music business today?
RM: Well, for me personally, I think that the key to every successful band are three ingredients. . . great songs, perseverance within yourself to keep going, bonding together as a group and never letting that go. You have to keep that circle together. If you can do that, you stand a good chance at doing something. You can't let it discourage you if your tape and demos get turned downed. That's the nature of the business. Who knows? Maybe next year you would have gotten signed to a major record label and have a hit record. But, you wouldn't know that if you've already given up.
As a kid, I always just knew I was going to do something in music. I think my spirit guides were pushing me towards that direction. Today I still have that "passion" for the music. I sacrificed a lot for it, but we all make sacrifices along the way. Life is a sacrifice.
I've been telling a lot of Native American people for a long time that if something were to happen in this country all Native Americans should meet at a designated area. Make it the biggest in the country and hole out. We have to start somewhere.
KB: That would get everyone's full attention.
RM: Damn right. That would get BIG attention. I don't think there's any radical Middle Eastern Group or organization that could take us on our own land. No one knows this land like we do. Take the Apache, nobody knows that desert like those guys. Take the Sioux, Shoshone and Cheyenne . . . nobody knows the mountains like they do. For the Southeastern tribes, it's the marshes and swamps. Somewhere along the way the Indian Nations should meet and talk about the future and what we would do if something happens in this country. I think all Indians should have a place to meet. Somewhere we can go in, shut ourselves off, and dare somebody to come in. Because me, I would die for that. Fighting to retain our way of life is a real cause. That would be a good day to die.
KB: And lastly, could you give an inspirational message to the Native American people who read our paper weekly, many of whom are fans of yours and Lynyrd Skynyrd?
RM: I really get concerned about the younger Native generation, about losing their pride in who they are and what they are, where they came from. You have so many kids out here nowadays of both genders, under such peer pressure to be this way or be that way. The thing they have to learn is they have to retain some of the spirit of what their ancestors were. What a lot of the younger generation don't realize is that our Indian people were some tough warriors at one time. Nobody could beat us, nobody could win. Until it got to be to many of them over here and we got pushed right into oblivion. But, you had some great Indian leaders at one time. You had Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, and Geronimo. . . I have them right here on my arm and I wear them. You had a lot of guys who were warriors. The thing is our youth; our kids come from that blood, somewhere along the way, down through the ages. If the younger generation goes away, our people suffer. That's why, if we are the last, to go down fighting. It's worth fighting for. We started it. We were the first people here on this land. My Granddaddy always said, "Everybody came over here for dinner and never left." If it hadn't been for us, they would have starved to death. Plymouth Rock did not fall on those people; Plymouth Rock fell on us.
So, when the Native kids start questioning themselves, "what good is it to be Native?" or "Who cares if I'm a Native or not?" they should care because it is proud blood. We stay to ourselves. Our youth have to also figure out a way and make no excuses for their shortcomings. We Indians are a special people.
KB: Amen to that Rickey. Thank you very much for your time with this interview. I have really enjoyed it. We wish you the very best in all your future endeavors. We take a special pride in seeing one of our own up there being a success and an inspiration. We are proud of you.
There was no link.
#10275 – August 5, 2004
Rickey Medlocke Interview
Kenny Buffaloe, well known for his work in Japanese martial arts, had the rare opportunity of meeting with Rickey Medlocke of Lynyrd Skynyrd recently before a sold out performance in Norfolk, Virginia. Rickey Medlocke is the Guitarist and vocalist of the popular Southern Rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Medlocke's roots go way back in Lynyrd Skynyrd, beginning in 1971, when Rickey played drums for the band during their first recording sessions, which later became known as the Muscle Shoals Recordings that were subsequently released in 1978 by MCA Records titled as "Skynyrd's First and . . . Last". By that time Rickey had left Lynyrd Skynyrd to front his own band "Blackfoot", which produced such hit songs as "Train, Train" and "Highway Song". After Blackfoot disbanded, Medlocke returned to Lynyrd Skynyrd as one of three lead guitarists and vocalists. Rickey Medlocke is Native American and spoke at length on not only his musical career, but his Indian Heritage and culture as well. Lynyrd Skynyrd's new album "Vicious Cycle" released last year, is their best work since "Street Survivors". In support of this album, they hit the road with their "Vicious Cycle Tour" which is still in progress. Lynyrd Skynyrd released a new DVD of a show from Nashville, Tennessee on that tour last summer that was also released as a double live audio CD on June 22, 2004 by Sanctuary Records. Lynyrd Skynyrd along with the Allman Brothers Band will perform in October at the Alltel Pavillion in Raleigh, NC. marking the first time these two historic bands will play on the same bill in a series of concerts. In addition to Interviewing Medlocke, Kenny Buffaloe was given special permission to take photos up close of Lynyrd Skynyrd during this performance. The following is an exclusive Interview with Rickey Medlocke of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Kenny Buffaloe: It is an honor and pleasure to meet you. Thank you for consenting to this exclusive interview with me for the "Carolina Indian Voice" newspaper.
Rickey Medlocke: Michelle who does our publicity and handles our staff at the management office, asked if I would like to do an interview for a Native American Publication, I said, "Absolutely! I've done a lot of articles with Native American Magazines and Newspapers. I am very pro - active in Native American things, as you can tell. (He then shows me several tattoos, which include Crazy Horse, whom he says is his spirit guide.) My father lives in Northern Wyoming in the BigHorn Mountains. He was born on the Rose Bud Reservation in South Dakota. My mother and all her people were from the mountains of Northern Georgia. Her father and his wife raised me. My mother's mother (My grandfather's first wife) as full blood Creek.
KB: In addition to your late Grandfather, the legendary Shorty Medlocke, who were some of your musical influences and how did they, inspire you?
RM: Growing up I played in my grandfather's bands all the time. Elvis Presley was an early musical influence in that era that I first began to play guitar. As a teenager, the Beatles became popular and I was heavily into them. Then, there was European English music like Jimi Hendrix. Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck were a huge influence on me. Those three guitar players were my heroes. I have been playing guitar now for 45 years. Paul Rodgers, Robert Plant and Rod Stewart were vocal influences in my old days. My granddaddy had that Mississippi Delta Bluegrass music I grew up listening to. For me, you're taking someone else's influence and developing your own style.
KB: It's a great honor for me to do this interview with you. A lot of Native Americans know about you from the years "Blackfoot" was a band, hearing songs like "Train, Train" and "Highway Song" in particular. Did you have a Native American theme in mind when you formed this band?
RM: We had two other Native American guys in Blackfoot. Jackson Spires, who is Cherokee, Cheyenne, and French, he is the one who made reference to call the band Blackfoot, along with Greg Walker who is half Choctaw Indian. The name Blackfoot was picked because of the Native American blood as well as what the band sounded like. The music was very heavy, in your face. It was more than Southern Rock. It was heavy rock with a blues influence. The Europeans really took to our heavy rock style, although it took us a while to get noticed over here.
KB: The song "After the Reign" a song about Native Americans taking a stand against injustices that you recorded with Blackfoot is very special to a lot of people (including myself), Can you tell me how this song came about and the circumstances involved when you wrote it?
RM: A friend of mine Mark Woerpel played on that record. We wrote "After the Reign" together. Mark's family owns a trading post in the upper part of Michigan. Mark was heavily into the Indian Culture. I have always been outspoken when it comes to Native American rights, like my father. I have been able to do that since I have the podium. So Marks says to me, "Look, we're making a new record. Let's have our say in this." The song, "After the Reign" was pretty much written as a political stand. I was an A.I.M. member for many years back in the seventies. The American people, in general, do not know the things that have happened and then swept under the rug, right under their noses. I am a very spiritual person and believe in my heart that the spirit of Crazy Horse walks around with me all the time. (He shows me his Crazy Horse tattoo on his left arm.)
I have an actual tattoo of Crazy Horse's War Shield on my back that he used in battle. The actual war shield is hanging in the National Archives in Denver, Colorado. I have been a very spiritual person in the sense that, what you do, good or bad, is going to come back to you tenfold. And, if that is true, this earth is going to get a serious ass whipping before it is over. Our forefathers believed in this land. That this land fed you, took care of you, clothed you, put a roof over your head. Everything was right here that you needed a natural order of life. The Great Spirit was the one who did it all. I know there's a storm coming. I feel in my heart. I'm a pretty radical Native. I'm a volunteer Law Officer in Florida in Florida. I have an inter- state Peace Permit that allows me to carry a gun at all times. I carry it. I know how to use it. My grandparents always told me that part of you is a reflection of all your blood before you.
KB: Since you have been playing with Lynyrd Skynyrd, you seem to be genuinely happy and having a good time. What is it like being a major part of this legendary band?
RM: I am very happy being in this band. I am very blessed by the Great One. You start out in this business to play and make a living playing music. You have no idea you are going to have hit records. I am proud of that. I love the people I am with. They are like family. It's a funny thing . . . Gary Rossington a lot of times will say; "There are too many chiefs and one Indian in the band." (Laughs) I love being a part of this band's history. I wrote two songs that were on the first Lynyrd Skynyrd Album. "White Dove" and "The Seasons."
(Talk about spirit connections. Before I could ask the next question about his movie and TV career, he began telling me about it!)
I've been an actor for the last four years. I recently tried out for a part in an upcoming film "Thou Shalt Not Kill." It's about a Native American guy who used to be an alcoholic, who straightens up, falls in love with this girl who is really messed up with alcohol. He tries to help her get straight. He's a hard guy with a softer side. I auditioned but haven't heard anything yet.
I landed a role as a derelict rancher in a William Shatner sci-fi love story called "Groom Lake." I had a role in a major movie that will be coming out later this year called "Sweet Deadly Dreams."
KB: This is amazing. My next question was going to be about your acting career. You must have read my mind! (Laughs)
RM: Oh Yeah! (Laughs)
KB: While we are on the subject of your acting, could you tell me about your association with famous actor Billy Bob Thornton? Are you planning to work with him in the future?
RM: Billy Bob Thornton is a ver, very good friend of mine of about five years now. We have a friendship where I never ask anything of him and he never asks anything of me. Of course, he could get anything he wants from me. Billy and I at some point will work together in a movie sooner or later. I really feel that in my heart.
KB: I'll keep my fingers crossed for you on that one. That would be an interesting movie.
RM: I appreciate that.
KB: Music and the music business is very different today than 20 -30 years ago. A lot of bands with true talent never get recognized and get discouraged. In my own tribe (Lumbee) several hard rock bands were formed over the years and really struggled. What advice would you give young Native people trying to get started in the music business today?
RM: Well, for me personally, I think that the key to every successful band are three ingredients. . . great songs, perseverance within yourself to keep going, bonding together as a group and never letting that go. You have to keep that circle together. If you can do that, you stand a good chance at doing something. You can't let it discourage you if your tape and demos get turned downed. That's the nature of the business. Who knows? Maybe next year you would have gotten signed to a major record label and have a hit record. But, you wouldn't know that if you've already given up.
As a kid, I always just knew I was going to do something in music. I think my spirit guides were pushing me towards that direction. Today I still have that "passion" for the music. I sacrificed a lot for it, but we all make sacrifices along the way. Life is a sacrifice.
I've been telling a lot of Native American people for a long time that if something were to happen in this country all Native Americans should meet at a designated area. Make it the biggest in the country and hole out. We have to start somewhere.
KB: That would get everyone's full attention.
RM: Damn right. That would get BIG attention. I don't think there's any radical Middle Eastern Group or organization that could take us on our own land. No one knows this land like we do. Take the Apache, nobody knows that desert like those guys. Take the Sioux, Shoshone and Cheyenne . . . nobody knows the mountains like they do. For the Southeastern tribes, it's the marshes and swamps. Somewhere along the way the Indian Nations should meet and talk about the future and what we would do if something happens in this country. I think all Indians should have a place to meet. Somewhere we can go in, shut ourselves off, and dare somebody to come in. Because me, I would die for that. Fighting to retain our way of life is a real cause. That would be a good day to die.
KB: And lastly, could you give an inspirational message to the Native American people who read our paper weekly, many of whom are fans of yours and Lynyrd Skynyrd?
RM: I really get concerned about the younger Native generation, about losing their pride in who they are and what they are, where they came from. You have so many kids out here nowadays of both genders, under such peer pressure to be this way or be that way. The thing they have to learn is they have to retain some of the spirit of what their ancestors were. What a lot of the younger generation don't realize is that our Indian people were some tough warriors at one time. Nobody could beat us, nobody could win. Until it got to be to many of them over here and we got pushed right into oblivion. But, you had some great Indian leaders at one time. You had Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, and Geronimo. . . I have them right here on my arm and I wear them. You had a lot of guys who were warriors. The thing is our youth; our kids come from that blood, somewhere along the way, down through the ages. If the younger generation goes away, our people suffer. That's why, if we are the last, to go down fighting. It's worth fighting for. We started it. We were the first people here on this land. My Granddaddy always said, "Everybody came over here for dinner and never left." If it hadn't been for us, they would have starved to death. Plymouth Rock did not fall on those people; Plymouth Rock fell on us.
So, when the Native kids start questioning themselves, "what good is it to be Native?" or "Who cares if I'm a Native or not?" they should care because it is proud blood. We stay to ourselves. Our youth have to also figure out a way and make no excuses for their shortcomings. We Indians are a special people.
KB: Amen to that Rickey. Thank you very much for your time with this interview. I have really enjoyed it. We wish you the very best in all your future endeavors. We take a special pride in seeing one of our own up there being a success and an inspiration. We are proud of you.