A ‘Fool’ for Foghat

A new reissue celebrates 50 years of a classic rock staple

October 5, 2025October 5, 2025 Ron Hart 0 Comments 1975, 2025, 50th anniversary, Foghat, Fool for the City, Nick Jameson, Rhino Entertainment, Roger Earl, Slow Ride

Foghat and friends on the back cover of *Fool for the City*. (Image: Rhino)

There wasn’t a more “American” band from England in the 1970s than Foghat.

And Fool for the City, the group’s platinum-selling fifth album, cemented their place on the AOR format with its hit title track along with the band’s signature tune “Slow Ride,” forever etched in the hearts of ‘90s kids thanks to its placement in Richard Linklater’s coming of age film Dazed and Confused. You can tell these cats most definitely felt more aligned with Lynyrd Skynyrd than Led Zeppelin, though they arguably rocked as hard as either one.

In honor of the LP’s 50th anniversary, our friends at Rhino have issued a deluxe edition of Fool, complete with new liner notes by drummer Roger Earl and producer Nick Jameson, both of whom tell the story of how these Brits sequestered on Long Island hid away in the Vermont mountains to make the record.

“The deep, mysterious Vermont woods,” writes Jameson. “A studio with a great-sounding room high on a hill. My favorite people to hang out and be silly with. Working all night and playing badminton as the sun rose.”

“We decided to take time off the road and make this record,” pens Earl. “Nick and I rented a station wagon with drums, bass, keyboards and guitar and drove up to Sharon, Vermont, to check out Suntreader Studios.

“We made drum, bass and guitar noises, and Nick decided that this was the place, so we all moved up to a farmhouse at the bottom of the mountain that Suntreader was perched upon. This was the first time we had taken three months off the road to record since we made our first album at Rockfield Studios in Wales.”

Foghat *Fool for the City*, Bearsville Records 1975

As for the iconic cover photo for Fool, Earl explains how it was Jameson’s idea to depict him fishing in a New York City manhole.

“We went into Manhattan early on a St. Mark’s Place in the East Village,” Earl writes. “I hadn’t slept much, but we had to get in early so there would not be too much traffic. We pulled up the manhole cover and started taking pictures when along comes a couple of New York’s Finest in their cruiser! They rolled down their window and said, ‘Hey! What are you doing? Do you have a license? You got a fishing license?’ Then they started laughing. They were great. They came out, and we took some pictures of them handcuffing me and carting me off — just pictures. We didn’t use them; I don’t know what happened to them. But those guys were great! New York’s Finest: They’re the best.”

This anniversary edition of Fool comes with a bonus disc that includes eight tracks recorded live from a two-night stand at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago on Nov. 28-29, 1975. And while the soundboard capture of this performance is slightly obstructed by a bit of monitor buzz or something, it nevertheless finds Foghat at the peak of their playing powers as they charge through such early cuts as their cover of Willie Dixon’s “I Just Want to Make Love to You” off their 1971 debut and “Wild Cherry” off 1974’s Energized. There’s also an audio clip from a 2008 interview where Jameson and Earl talk about creating “Slow Ride.”

If you missed out on owning a copy of this classic album in the past, you’d be a “Fool” not to grab this exceptional reissue.