The Blazers

Blue Ridge, GA-based garage combo the Blazers formed in 1962, originally comprised of guitarists Danny Davenport and Johnny McKinney, the latter's brother Skip on bass, and Roger Mull on drums. Over time, only Davenport remained, with the group soon featuring singer/multi-instrumentalist Eddie Queen, guitarist Ronnie Foster, bassist Tony Matthews, and drummer Ted Christopher. Staples at teen clubs on both sides of the Georgia/Tennessee border, the Blazers opened for both Paul Revere & the Raiders and Brian Hyland, and built enough of a local following to travel to Atlanta's Master Sound Studios to record an acetate, "Don't Pick on Me" -- the single was never commercially released, however, and another wave of lineup changes followed. Now consisting of Davenport, Queen, guitarist Danny Postell, bassist Bobby Ferguson, and drummer Larry Patterson, the Blazers recorded their lone LP, 1966's On Fire -- funded by the local Jaycees -- and pressed an edition of 1,000 copies; the album is now a Holy Grail for garage collectors. Although the band dissolved soon after, Davenport continued his music career as an executive at Warner Bros., later founding his own Atlanta recording studio, Firstake. In 1982 he produced a demo for a then-unknown singer named Travis Tritt, later one of the biggest country stars of his era. Davenport also reissued On Fire on CD, available through his website at www.firstake.com. ~ Jason Ankeny