ORLANDO, Fla. – In 1971, the English rock band Foghat formed in London, quickly becoming known for its use of electric slide guitar and it’s hard rocking blues hits.
Over the last 51 years, the band has attained eight gold records, one platinum record and one double platinum record for some of the greatest anthems in classic rock.
Roger Earl is one of the original founding members, and the only one to still rock on the drums and tour with the band.
“Originally, three-quarters of band was in a band called Savoy Brown in the ‘60s, which I joined in 1968,” Earl said. “We left Savoy Brown, myself, Lonesome Dave and Tony Stephens, who was the original bass player, in 1971.”
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In 1976, Linda Arcello (later Arcello-Earl) entered as the office manager during some of Foghat’s busiest years. Arcello-Earl parted ways with the manager at the time, and pursued a career in computers. This wasn’t the end of Arcello-Earl’s career in music, though, just a brief pause.
Fast forward to 1997, after years of friendship and living their own lives, Roger Earl and Linda Arcello-Earl became a couple after years of friendship.
“I wanted nothing to do with the music business at the time,” said Arcello-Earl, smiling. “I said, ‘I’ll be your girlfriend.’ I was doing really well as a computer consultant setting up hardware and software and networks and everything.”
Then, tragedy stuck the band. Dave Peverett, aka Lonesome Dave, lost his battle with cancer and passed away February 2000.
Peverett and Earl had been friends and played together for over 30 years.
“It was hard to envision carrying on without him, but Dave told us to carry on, and that it was all ‘about the music’ anyway,” Earl said.
(You can view a tribute to Lonesome Dave and Rod Price by clicking here.)
Arcello-Earl soon became the likely candidate to manage the band, given her history managing the office for the band in 1976 and then managing Rod Price, the slide guitarist, when he left the band. Plus, she shared such a bond with the band members already.
“We talked about it and I was a little bit reluctant working with my husband, you know, because we love each other,” recalled Arcello-Earl, of not wanting to bring the business side of the band into their relationship.
After much discussion, Arcello-Earl became the new Foghat band manager.
“So it’s been, it’s been 22 years of rebuilding Foghat because at the time, they were pretty heavily in debt, doing clubs and stuff, you know, and it’s been great,” the band manager said.
Despite lineup changes, the group continues to rock on today, recording new albums and touring across the nation. Earl is still drumming away, Bryan Bassett is on lead guitar, Scott Holt is on lead vocals, and Rodney O’Quinn is on bass guitar. The sound of Foghat is still rocking hits like “Slow Ride” and working on new music for their next album while making amazing memories along the way.
Hear more about Foghat, Earl’s childhood and career experiences, and Arcello-Earl’s journey through computers, along with memories they have cherished throughout the years, on Episode 21 of Riff On This.
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