We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago…….
They came from Champaign Illinois….the most successful band from that progressive college town…and and one of the biggest bands to blast out of the Midwest. REO Speedwagon was a bunch of guys who met at the University of Illinois plus guitarist Gary Richrath who joined later and became a big part of their signature sound.
Leading the way for other bands like Styx, Cheap Trick, Kansas and others to move out of Midwest clubs and beer bars and hit the stadium circuit.
REO’s debut record featured most of the lineup that would be around through the 70’s including founding members Neal Doughty on keyboards and Alan Gratzer on drums. Gregg Philben played bass and Richrath rocked it on guitar.
The band was fronted by Terry Luttrell who replaced Mike Blair on vocals in 1968 while the band was still at the university. Luttrell had a classic “rock” voice but soon after this album was recorded he had a falling out with Richrath and left the band to be replaced by Kevin Cronin. A few years later he was fronting a Champaign based prog band called Starcastle that released a number of solid “Yes” inspired LPs.
So why did Luttrell leave REO…well, his Wikipedia page has this…..
“Luttrell has said he co-wrote the REO Speedwagon song “Golden Country” with Richrath before leaving the band in 1972. Richrath is listed as the sole writer of the song and vehemently denied that Luttrell was a co-writer. The subject matter of “Golden Country” is actually one of the main issues that led to Luttrell being let go from the band. Luttrell thought that Gary Richrath was writing songs that were too politically motivated, and wanted to focus on less controversial material. Tensions came to a head one night. REO Speedwagon had a gig that was a significant drive from their home in Champaign, Illinois. During the performance, Luttrell became agitated and refused to continue singing. The band was forced to cut the show short. This angered the club owner, and he refused to pay the band for performing. On the drive back, Richrath and Luttrell argued over this for costing the band their performance money, as the money they had left would be spent on gas getting home and they would be completely broke. Luttrell became combative and Richrath ordered the car to be pulled over so he could fight Luttrell. When the car stopped, Luttrell fled into a cornfield. At Richrath’s suggestion, the band drove away and left Luttrell to find his own way home.[citation needed]” As you might expect, Luttrell says it didn’t happen that way.
I’m told that “Sophisticated Lady” was the first song that was played when WWSP 90FM, the student led radio station at UWSP switched to a rock music format. The album also includes concert favorites like “157 Riverside Avenue” and “Lay Me Down”
And, for something a little bit different….an acoustic tune called “Five Men Were Killed Today” (Cannot find the source of subject matter for this one)…and a long extended, almost prog rock cut called “Dead At Last”…that’s really good.
This isn’t your 80’s REO Speedwagon. It’s a rock and roll album and a nice introduction to a style of music that would define ‘America’s Heartland” for a generation.
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