The race for most famous global musician with Wyomissing ties goes to the Swift, but there’s something to be said for a slow ride.
Craig MacGregor, longtime bassist for classic rock band Foghat, has called the town home since the mid-’90s. He and his wife, Lisa, initially lived in Fleetwood after moving from New York’s Long Island in 1991.
“My wife had family here,” MacGregor said over a recent meal in the borough. “I was on the road, she was pregnant, she really didn’t know anybody in Long Island, and her mother and stepfather lived here, so we ended up moving down here. And a little while later she called and said ‘Honey, we bought a house.’ “
MacGregor joined Foghat in 1976, performing with the quartet through the mid-’80s. A few sporadic stints followed over the ensuing decades before he rejoined for good in 2005.
Founded in 1971, the slide-guitar-heavy blues-rock quartet built a following as road warriors; its biggest-selling album is 1977’s “Foghat Live,” with domestic sales topping 2 million.
Its tour itinerary isn’t as robust as it was during its heyday, but MacGregor estimates the band plays around 60 to 80 dates a year, encompassing the globe.
“Touring is just, you come home, you do your laundry, you leave your suitcase out, you get a couple errands done, and then you go right back out,” said MacGregor, 66.
Lisa usually stays behind, with some notable exceptions.
“Cruises are a lot of fun; I tend to go on those,” she said, laughing. “It’s like a little vacation.”
The current iteration of Foghat also includes original drummer Roger Earl, guitarist/vocalist Charlie Huhn (Ted Nugent, Humble Pie) and lead guitarist Bryan Bassett (Wild Cherry, Molly Hatchet).
“We live all over: New York, Florida, Detroit, Cleveland,” MacGregor said. “We all fly into one airport and meet, and then we go from there.”
The band is finishing up work on “Under the Influence,” a new album marking the 40th anniversary of its anthem “Slow Ride” hitting as a single.
“People say, ‘Don’t you get tired of playing ‘Slow Ride?’ I say no, and I’ve played it every night, every show I’ve ever played for 40 years,” said MacGregor, who cites the band’s arrangement of blues legend Robert Johnson’s “Terraplane Blues” as his favorite song to play live. “I don’t get tired of any of them. We always throw different stuff in. Everything evolves.”
“Easy Money”
MacGregor evolved into a blues-rock bassist in a roundabout fashion. Due to his musical upbringing, he didn’t have the foggiest idea who Foghat was when he was asked to try out for the band’s vacant bass seat.
“I didn’t grow up on the blues, I grew up on R&B,” the Connecticut native said. “People like (Motown studio bassist) James Jamerson, who played everything. I mean, he’s the man. Bernard Odum, who is James Brown’s bass player, Francis ‘Rocco’ Prestia of Tower of Power, people like that.”
In 1975, Foghat was gaining steam. But it was missing something.
The band’s fifth album, “Fool for the City,” included “Slow Ride,” the rocker that would become its trademark hit, but didn’t include a full-time bass player. Original bassist Tony Stevens exited the band the previous year, leaving producer Nick Jameson to supply the low frequencies on the album. A permanent replacement was needed.
At the time, MacGregor was experiencing regional success with Swan, a group he formed with a few of his mates.
“A friend of mine was program director for radio station WDRC in New Haven,” he said. “He was friends with Foghat because WDRC had put on all the shows in New Haven. And he told me that they were looking for a bass player, and asked if I would mind if he gave them my name. I said, ‘Yeah, sure, go ahead.’ I didn’t even know who they were, quite honestly.”
While he was playing at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, MacGregor received the call that would change his life. The band asked if he’d be interested in auditioning, and offered flights to and from Long Island and limousine transport to the airport.
“And I went, ‘There’s money there.’ So I went up about a week later,” he said. “And we played for about five hours. I had never even heard the material before. We just went in and cold played. And about four weeks later they called me and asked me if I wanted the job.”
Despite Foghat’s growing popularity, MacGregor said he didn’t feel any pressure from his new bandmates, who simply told him to do his thing. And he, in turn, injected a new dimension to the band’s sound.
“My style was a little different than the blues,” he said. “It’s spacing, it’s where you put the notes, it’s where you leave the notes out. I think that made a difference.”
“Drive Me Home”
The road has been good to MacGregor, and he enjoys reminiscing: getting star-struck when he met legendary promoter Bill Graham after joining the band, playing for roughly 80,000 fans at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan in a 1976 show headlined by Aerosmith, watching in the wings during a late 1970s show as then-unknown guitarist Eddie Van Halen blew everyone away.
And, of course, all the good food.
“This is sick, but I remember shows by food,” he said. “I have a list on my phone. My tour manager and I are foodies, big time. And I have a list of probably 40 and 50 restaurants, where they are and what I had there.”
An accomplished cook, MacGregor owned Pumpernickels, a deli in West Reading, during one of his breaks from the band.
“Our son was just born and I came off the road because I wanted to be home and help raise him,” he said. “And we said, there are no delis here, let’s open a deli. And then I chefed for the next 10 years, Third and Spruce, Cafe Unicorn, just all over.”
When he’s off the road, MacGregor enjoys training dogs, doing things around the house and spending time with Lisa.
“She keeps me on track,” he said.
Added Lisa, a consultant: “There’s not too much togetherness. I work. That’s how we’ve been together 20-some years.”
When he’s not with his actual family in Wyomissing, MacGregor said he feels blessed to be able to hit the road with bandmates who feel like family.
“You go through everything,” he said. “You go through good times and bad times. You go through a whole lot of crap, airports to get there.
“But once you’re there and you walk out on the stage, oh, it’s so worth it.”
Contact Jon Fassnacht: 610-371-5017 or jfassnacht@readingeagle.com.
