Black Oak Arkansas

They just came through Little Rock a week or so ago. They played one of the clubs in downtown.

I saw them at a different venue in Little Rock a couple of years ago. The band was good, but the sound - particularly on the vocals - SUCKED. You could barely hear Jim. Not the band's fault - the sound man didn't appear to know what the hell he was doing.

 

Need to get the new album (and the new Knowbody Else archival release as well). I hope the new tracks will be better than than "The Wild Bunch" cd.

One of my fave albums by them is "Ain't Life Grand". Not quite as wild and wooly as earlier efforts but a great record nonetheless.

 

The first self-titled BOA album is hard to beat. That one really put them on the map - especially here in Arkansas.

 

My favorite albums by them are (in chronological order)...

"self-titled"
"Raunch-N-Roll Live"
"High On The Hog"
"Street Party"
"Ain't Life Grand"

I also really like the Knowbody Else album and Ruby Starr and Grey Ghosts's first one. Worst is probably the eighties album "The Black Attack Is Back".

 

I agree on that Ruby Starr And Grey Ghost album.....an overlooked classic album.

 

Both '72 albums were played frequently but moved on. Still have my favorites played via CD, though.

 

My wife and I went in a driving rainstorm to see him in Houma a few weeks ago. Luckily, by the time we got to the site, it stopped raining. She met Jim before the gig and got an autograph and picture with him. The original guitarist played about 4 songs with Jim and Dash Rip Rock. She was happy after the set was over. Needless to say, the ride home was a pleasant one

 

You really need this if you're a B.O.A. fan. It's like finding a long lost BOA album from the classic Tom Dowd era. I can't believe some of these tracks were never released. What were they thinking? Maybe to political or something but I'm just diggin it. It's a 3 panel fold out digipack (similar to the 2009 beatles stereo packaging unfortunately), but includes a 36 page booklet with tons and tons of photos, 99% of which I've never seen before. Great package. I got mine for $9.99.

 

I wish they would have dicussed BOA in the Tom Dowd documentary that came out a few years ago. Can't wait to check out the new cd. I might have time to go get it this week.

 

I saw them as the opening act for Grand Funk in 1971: 2nd row. Talk about loud.

 

In the booklet from the new CD there is a picture of Jim Dandy talking to a white-haired bearded dude in the dressing room. That's my Dad! He was their tour bus driver. My girlfriend, my Dad, and my brother all worked for Black Oak Arkansas, who lived next door. I drank a LOT of whisky with Ruby Starr!

 

Seems like BOA is best appreciated on stage:



I had not heard of BOA until the 2000s, discovering that the song Jim Dandy was not in my top 40 collection.

 

Black Oak Arkansas' new documentary 40 YEARS OF HEAVEN, HELL N' HIGH WATER will air on VH1's HD Channel Palladia tonight at 6pm.
I saw them a bunch of times in the early to mid 70s, Very good in concert band.

 

Caught the documentary last night on VH1 Classic. It mixes 70's live footage from the Royal Albert Hall performance with current interviews.

It's basically an hour-long infomercial for the new album, but it was still a good program.

 

I saw them twice back in the very early seventies, once as an opening act for the original Allman Brothers Band. Musically they were very good live, but Jim Mangrum's voice was definitely an acquired taste.

 

Saw Black Oak Arkansas at Cal Jam 74 from what I remember very good show. Never bought any of there albums.

 

Happy Hooker is a fun song

 

I understand it and it still gives me the willies.
I heard an interview once on a Christian radio station with some dude that said he had been a member of the band and was on stage when that happened. He claimed, if I remember right, that the band was playing and suddenly felt like they had been taken over by something spiritual, and went into simultanious convulsions, only to come back out of it and keep on playing.
That part of the album always made my balls melt, gave me the creeps big time well before I heard the guy tell that or I realized what "dogsi natas" meant.

And, to answer the original post, the band was not hugely popular, and I suspect was a bit more popular regionally in the south, but they definitely were well promoted and heard of and at least for a couple of albums got a lot of exposure.

 

VH1 Classic will be airing it again tonight. Even though it's a promo piece I still can't wait to check it out. Who would have ever guessed BOA would get an hour long show on VH1? Not me!! Hopefully the new album sells well. It's a very nice package.

 

More than likely the interview you heard was with original guitarist Harvey Jett. He became a Christian and left the band after the "Street Party" album.

 

Thanks for posting that, I am going to see if there are any interviews with him online.

 

This is how she'll always look in my memories.

 

I saw that show too, March 30, 1973. I saw a lot of great bands at the HP (Savoy Brown, Fleetwood Mac, Faces, Spirit, Zappa, Jeff Beck, Jo Jo Gunne, Kinks, Johnny Winter, Nazareth, Mott, Marshall Tucker, Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash, Robin Trower, ELO, ZZ Top, Alice Cooper, T-Rex, Humble Pie, Elvin Bishop, Foghat, Steve Miller, TYA, Rare Earth, Lynard Skynard, many more).

Really liked the first (S/T) BOA. I was on summer vacation up at Lake Arrowhead when it was released and the one FM station I could get good reception for had "Lord Have Mercy On My Soul" in heavy rotation.

Never cared much for what came after, mainly because of Jim Dandy's voice. But the band sure could play. Most everyone I knew hated them though, called them "Black Joke Arkansas".

 

Just watched the VH1 program. I loved the new interviews. Cool to see Jimmy Henderson interviewed. I highly recommend the Rhino dvd http://www.amazon.com/Black-Oak-Ark...934860&sr=8-1&keywords=black+oak+arkansas+dvd (even though it is now rather pricey). It also has the Royal Albert Hall footage that was on the program.

 

One of the things that is cool about BOA is that Jim Dandy always sounded like an old bluesman. An unholy cross between Howlin' Wolf and a good ole boy growling.

Forty years later, as a whole bunch of other singers struggle to hit the high notes of their youth, Jim Dandy sounds the same. It just makes me laugh.