Editing REO Speedwagon (section)

===Formation===
[[File:REO half ton Speedwagon.jpeg|thumb|250px|Advertisement for an [[REO Speed Wagon]]]] 
In the fall of 1966, [[Neal Doughty]] was just beginning an electrical engineering program at the [[University of Illinois]] in [[Champaign, Illinois|Champaign]], [[Illinois]], as a junior. On his first night of classes, he met fellow student Alan Gratzer. Doughty had learned some [[Beatles]] songs on his parents' piano, and Gratzer had been a drummer in local bands since high school. The two held an impromptu jam session in the basement of their [[UIUC Residence Halls|Illinois Street Residence Hall]] dormitory.<ref name="mtv.com">{{cite web| url= http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/reo_speedwagon/artist.jhtml#bio | archive-url= https://archive.today/20130129041658/http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/reo_speedwagon/artist.jhtml%23bio | url-status= dead | archive-date= January 29, 2013 |title=REO Speedwagon &#124; New Music And Songs |website= MTV.com|access-date=February 1, 2014}}</ref><ref name=NG2017>{{cite news |url=http://www.news-gazette.com/section/answerbook/famous-residents-former-residents.html |title=Famous residents, former residents |newspaper=[[Champaign News-Gazette]] |date=January 15, 2017 |access-date=January 15, 2017 |archive-date=January 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116184358/http://www.news-gazette.com/section/answerbook/famous-residents-former-residents.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Gratzer continued to perform with his band (which had a keyboard-playing lead singer), and Doughty began turning up at gigs. Doughty eventually began sitting in on a few songs. On the last day of the university's spring semester, guitarist Joe Matt called the band's leader and told him that he and the other members (Gratzer and bassist Mike Blair) had decided to start a new band with Doughty where everyone but Doughty would sing.

The new band made a list of songs to learn over the summer break. Doughty landed a summer job and bought his first organ. On his [[Farfisa]] organ, he learned [[The Doors]]' "[[Light My Fire]]". The members returned to school in the fall of 1967 and had their first rehearsal before classes started. They named the band REO Speedwagon, from the [[REO Speed Wagon]], a 1915 truck designed by [[Ransom E. Olds|Ransom Eli Olds]].<ref name="Larkin">{{cite encyclopedia |title= REO Speedwagono| encyclopedia= [[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor-first= Colin| editor-last= Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |date= 1997| edition= Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|page=1006}}</ref> Doughty had seen the name written on the blackboard when he walked into his History of Transportation class on the first day they had decided to look for a name. Rather than pronouncing REO as a single word as the motor company did {{nowrap|("''REE-oh''")}}, they chose to spell the word out, pronouncing each letter individually ("R-E-O"). An advertisement in the school newspaper produced their first job, a fraternity party that turned into a food fight. They continued to perform [[cover songs]] in campus bars, fraternity parties and university events.

In early 1968, [[Terry Luttrell]] became lead singer and Bob Crownover joined as the guitarist, replacing Matt after he graduated. When Mike Blair left the band in mid-1968, Gregg Philbin replaced Blair and Joe McCabe played sax until he moved on to [[Southern Illinois University]]. Marty Shepard then came aboard on trumpet, soon joined by a second trumpeter named Steve (last name unknown). Doughty joined them as a third horn player on some tunes. But Shepard left during the following year and horns were dropped from the group altogether by the summer of 1969.<ref>{{Cite book|title=REO Speedwagon: Every Album, Every song (On Track) |last=Romag |first=James |year=2023 |publisher=Sonicbond Publishing |isbn=978-1789522624 }}</ref>

Bob Crownover played guitar for the group until mid-1969, when [[Bill Fiorio]] replaced him. Fiorio then departed in late 1969, eventually assuming the name [[Duke Tumatoe]], and went on to form the All Star Frogs. Steve Scorfina (who went on to found the band [[Pavlov's Dog (band)|Pavlov's Dog]]) came aboard for over a year, composing with the band and performing live, before being replaced by [[Gary Richrath]] in late 1970.

Richrath had driven 100 miles (160&nbsp;km) to see the band and become a part of it, saying, "I'm going to be a part of that band whether they like it or not." He was a [[Peoria, Illinois]]-based guitarist and prolific songwriter who brought original compositions. With him on board, the band's regional popularity grew tremendously. The [[St. Louis]]-based radio station [[KSHE]], one of America's most influential rock stations, began supporting it, elevating the band's profile outside its Midwestern stronghold.

[[Epic Records]] signed the band to a recording contract in 1971 after [[Paul Leka]], an [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] record producer, saw them play before an enthusiastic outdoor crowd in Peoria during a rainstorm and brought the band to his [[recording studio]] in [[Bridgeport, Connecticut|Bridgeport]], [[Connecticut]], where it recorded original material for its first album.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://musicmoz.org/Bands_and_Artists/R/REO_Speedwagon/Timeline/ | title=MusicMoz - Bands and Artists: R: REO Speedwagon: Timeline }}</ref> The lineup on the first album consisted of Richrath, Gratzer, Doughty, Philbin and Luttrell.<ref name="Larkin"/>