RICKEY MEDLOCKE - Open Doors, Closed Doors
by Martin Popoff

Rickey Medlocke has done many cool things with his career, or should we say careers. With his Blackfoot past, and his current status as a big part of Lynyrd Skynyrd's ongoing success (got see them - you'll see what I mean), Medlocke also acts and wants to do more of it. "The last film I did, which was about a year and a half ago, is called Sweet Deadly Dreams (see www.sweetdeadlydreams.com), and I played a homeless guy," says Rickey. "That's due to come out this year. And of course, I did Nash Bridges for this season, the final season that it was on, and enjoyed that a lot. I like the whole prospect of it; I really enjoy the challenge of doing it. Because it's like a one-on-one situation. And I just think, that for somebody such as myself, I love to keep active, and I love to keep busy in whatever I'm doing. And if the band is off at the time, then I go to look for things to do."

But those who are out there, supposedly fronting some sort of petition for his legendary Blackfoot band to get back together, well, it may all be in vain.

"Well, I'll be honest with you, Martin, here's my analysis of it," begins the rattlesnake rock 'n' roller. "When four guys, five guys, get together, you get into something and a magic is born about it. I think what happened was, is that we had a magic about ourselves, back in the late '70s, into the early '80s. It carried over to the middle '80s and things got in the way of it, breaking the original band up. I think that through the years, since people have seen it, you know as well as I do, in your mind, how bigger anything usually is, and usually gets, over a period of time. I think what has happened is that people have remembered the band - and it was a great band - and the magic that we shared, the four guys, myself, and the three other guys, Jakson, Greg and Charlie. And I think what's happening is that people really want to see the rebirth of that magic again, just to see it come off and remember when. My problem with it is, I would really hate to see it get back together and all of a sudden, you step up on that stage... of course, people don't look the same anymore, they don't have the same spirit about them anymore, and I'm not really sure the same camaraderie would even be there anymore."

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