Crownover played guitar for the group until the summer of 1969 when Bill Fiorio (ex- Lothar and the Hand People ) replaced him. Around the same time, Neil Crownover and Gregg Philbin were brought in to replace the graduating Joe Matt and Mike Blair. Terry Luttrell was the one chosen to assume this position. In the spring of 1968, the group decided to recruit a permanent front man to handle most of the singing. Sometimes the members would switch around on their instruments(with Doughty even playing drums on one song, etc.). In the beginning, Gratzer handled about 95 percent of the lead singing, with occasional turns by the others. The first line up consisted of Neal Doughty on keyboards, Alan Gratzer on drums and vocals, Joe Matt on guitar and vocals and Mike Blair on bass and vocals. REO Speedwagon was formed by students attending the University of Illinois in Champaign in the fall of 1967 to play cover songs in campus bars. ) In 1971, GM gave the band rights to the name and logo.
('R.E.O.' are initials of the company's founder, Ransom Eli Olds, who also founded Oldsmobile, once a division of General Motors. REO Speedwagon took its name from the REO Speed Wagon, a firetruck manufactured by the REO Motor Car Company.
