Reflections on... Foghat

In 1990 (give or take a year) I saw Foghat do a show at the Chestnut Cabaret in West Philadelphia. Back in the 1970s there was a brief period when I was really into Foghat, and I leapt at the chance to see Foghat in a small club. "Lonesome Dave" Peverett was the only member of the classic Foghat lineup on stage that night; indeed, if I recall correctly the band was billed as either "Lonesome Dave's Foghat" or "Dave Peverett's Foghat".

I own five Foghat albums: Energized, Fool for the City, Night Shift, Foghat Live, and Stone Blue. Looking back at those records, it is clear to me that Foghat was a band whose energy greatly surpassed its songwriting chops. (But hey, if you're not such great songwriters, then the least you can do is crank up the energy level, right?) My very favorite Foghat song is Energized's "Step Outside", a funky, atypical-for-Foghat track with a James Brown influence - "loosen up baby, 'cause time's getting tight" - it's a shame Foghat didn't do more songs like that.

Anyway, back to the show. The band's regular set was highlighted by (of course) Willie Dixon's "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and Stone Blue's "It Hurts Me Too"; the encore included Chuck Berry's "Maybellene". I'm sure the band also did "Slow Ride" and "Fool for the City" but I just don't remember them.

IMO the real attraction was Lonesome Dave himself. Peverett was a true professional who could sing, play rhythm guitar, and play lead guitar with equal aplomb; it was a pleasure to watch him perform. And as I watched him, it occurred to me that the 'Foghat identity' began and ended with Peverett: Foghat was Peverett and Peverett was Foghat, with the other band members being a superfluity, an assessment with which, I have no doubt, Peverett would have vehemently disagreed.

The only disappointing thing about the show was the poor turnout - there couldn't have been more than 20-25 people there - this was a band that was playing large venues at the time of Foghat Live. The small crowd did not seem to dampen Peverett's spirits, however. Towards the end of the set he even said that the band had a new record coming out, but I wondered, "How many people are going to buy that record?"

Sadly, Peverett died of cancer in early 2000. There's actually a current version of Foghat, with original drummer Roger Earl, thrashing around out there; it tours and has even released a few records. It's anyone's guess what Peverett would think of the present-day Foghat: maybe he would want the show to go on, and maybe he would say, "Give it a rest, lads"; ultimately it is up to the fans to determine how long it keeps plugging away.