J.D. Blackfoot

by John Bush & William RuhlmannJ.D. Blackfoot is a Native American-themed artist who was actually born Benjamin Franklin Van Dervort in Cleveland. The frontman for an Ohio band called the Ebb Tides (as Benny Van), he re-formed the group under his most famous name around 1969 and recorded a single for Mercury called "Who's Nuts Alfred." An album, The Ultimate Prophecy, followed soon after and found the group dabbling in acid rock and folk/country-rock. The group soon melted away after the LP's lack of success -- though it's still prized in prog/psych circles -- and Blackfoot went on to record the mid-'70s albums The Song of Crazy Horse and Southbound and Gone for Fantasy Records. He retired from music in the '70s, but returned in 1988 with a new company, Sisapa Records, which signed and recorded Marshall Tucker, Paul Cotton (Poco), and Crazy Horse, as well as Blackfoot himself on the 1991 album Tokala (a sequel to The Song of Crazy Horse). A popular artist in New Zealand, to where he often traveled for performing and recording, Blackfoot continued releasing albums during the '90s, including 1997's Ohio Dream EP and 1998's Footprints. In 2000, he issued Co-Dependent Dysfunctional You, and the career compilation Ultimate Years followed in 2002. Yellowhand appeared in 2005.