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Sailcat was an American rock band that was signed with Elektra Records in the early 1970s, and best known for the hit song "Motorcycle Mama".
Creation of the band
The band, an early Southern pop/rock setup, was the innovation of John D. Wyker (March 14, 1945 – December 8, 2013)[1] and Court Pickett, who formed the group in 1971 near Decatur, Alabama.[2] Wyker was a veteran of the Muscle Shoals, Alabama, rock music scene who had been in The Rubber Band with John Townsend (later of the Sanford-Townsend Band). Pickett was the vocalist and bass player from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who had just moved from Macon, Georgia, where he had been playing and singing for Sundown, a band that also had Chuck Leavell (formerly of the Rolling Stones and the Allman Brothers), Charlie Hayward (of the Charlie Daniels Band), and Lou Mullenix (from the Alex Taylor Band and Dr. John). Court was also the brother of Ed Pickett of The Rubber Band. In the 1960s, Ed played with other musicians in Granny's Gremlins in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; that included Hal Holbrook, Marvin Rust, and Bruce Stewart.
"Motorcycle Mama" success, and their breakup
An early demo tape of an album, cut by the duo (and including the song "Motorcycle Mama"), was initially discarded by the band but, after it was presented to Elektra Records, led to a recording contract and 1972 album release also titled Motorcycle Mama.[2] The resulting album, produced by Pete Carr, was a concept album with a biker theme. The cover art and drawings inside the gatefold cover were drawn by Jack Davis, featuring motorcycles, predominately the Harley-Davidson with a series of drawings for each song on the album. The concept album's songs loosely tell the story of a motorcycle vagrant who apparently bums for a living, meeting a woman and settling down to start a family. However, he apparently keeps some of his selfish lazy behavior, as the last drawing shows him reclining on his porch, while his wife hangs the laundry and his child hoes the garden.
In 1972, the single "Motorcycle Mama" hit number 12 on the Billboard singles chart,[3] and the album went to number 38 and led them to appearances on American Bandstand and at Carnegie Hall. In Canada, the single reached number 14.[4] John D. Wyker and Sailcat performed both "Motorcycle Mama" and "Walking Together Backwards" on their first televised appearance on August 26, 1972.[5] Sailcat toured to promote the album and released two more non-LP singles, "Baby Ruth" and "She Showed Me" / "Sweet Little Jenny". However, soon after releasing the album, the band broke up.[2] (The album was officially re-released on CD in 2004.)
After the breakup
Sailcat leader Wyker, who had been a member of the Rubber Band who recorded the original version of "Let Love Come Between Us" (later a hit for James & Bobby Purify), went on to play with many of the great Southern rock musicians like Eddie Hinton, Dan Penn, Delaney Bramlett, among others. Wyker worked on a benefit project called The Mighty Field of Vision Anthem, a group dedicated to raising funds for musicians who have fallen on hard times. Wyker died at his home on December 8, 2013, at the age of 68.[1][6]
As for Pickett, he later issued a solo album, Fancy Dancer, on the Elektra label in 1973.[7]
On the 1990 Elektra compilation album Rubáiyát, the song "Motorcycle Mama" is covered by the band The Sugarcubes featuring Björk.
Album
Sail Cat (Motorcycle Mama)
| Motorcycle Mama | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by Sailcat | |
| Released | May 1972 |
| Recorded | Between October 1971 and February 1972 Widget Recordings Muscle Shoals, Alabama |
| Genre | Southern rock Country blues |
| Producer | John Wyker, Pete Carr |
Track listing
Side one:
- "Rainbow Road" John Wyker - 4:00
- "The Thief" Court Pickett - 3:30
- "Highway Rider/Highway Riff" John Wyker & Court Pickett - 5:40
- "The Dream" Court Pickett - 2:45
Side two:
- "If You've Got a Daughter" Court Pickett - 1:33
- "Ambush" John Wyker, Clayton Ivey, Pete Car - 3:06
- "B.B. Gunn" John Wyker - 2:48
- "It'll Be a Long Long Time" Court Pickett - 2:12
- "Motorcycle Mama" John Wyker & Court Pickett - 2:06
- "Walking Together Backwards" John Wyker - 3:19
- "On the Brighter Side of It All" John Wyker - 2:23
Album production credits
- Robert L. Heimall - art direction, design
- Faye Sanders (tracks: B1, B6, B7), Laura Struzick (tracks: B6, B7), Terry Woodward (tracks: B1, B6, B7) - backing vocals
- Tom Russell - banjo
- Bob Wray, Court Pickett - bass
- John Wyker - concept
- Fred Prouty, Lou Mullenix - drums
- Al Lester, Scott Boyer - fiddle
- Joe Rudd, John Wyker, Pete Carr - guitar
- The Memphis Horns (Andrew Love, Ed Logan, Jack Hale, James Mitchell, Wayne Jackson - horns
- Jack Davis - illustration
- Art Schilling, Chuck Leavell, Clayton Ivey - keyboards
- Bill Connell - extra percussion
- Frank Bez - photography
- Pete Carr - producer, remix engineer
- Brenda Hagan, Marlin Greene - sound effects
- Jesse Gorell - spoons, buck dancing etc.
- Charles Chalmers - strings
- Court Pickett (tracks: A2, A3, A4, B1 B4, B5), John Wyker (tracks: A1, A3, B3, B5 to B7) - vocals
- Written By – John Wyker (tracks: A1 to A3, B1 to B3, B5 to B7), Pete Carr (tracks: A3b, A4, B2, B4)
Album
| Year | Title | US Top 200 | Can Top 100 | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Motorcycle Mama | 38 | 46 | Elektra |
Singles
| Year | Title (A-Side) | Billboard Hot 100 | AUS[9] | Canada[10] | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | "Motorcycle Mama" | 12 | 64 | 14 | Elektra |
| "Baby Ruth" | — | — | — | ||
| 1973 | "She Showed Me" | 115 | — | — |
(The latter two singles were non-album cuts.)
- Muscle Shoals, Alabama
- The gafftopsail catfish, known as the sailcat or sail cat
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