Black Oak Arkansas

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by 905, Aug 26, 2006.

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  1. vinyl diehard

    vinyl diehard Two-Channel Forever

    They weren't a big radio staple in the 70's, but the song "Jim Dandy" was probably their one big radio score. If you've heard that song, that about sums them up. However, they were a good, hard rocking band with their own flavour of music. Kind of raw and high powered. High on the Hog was always my favorite.
     
  2. Doug Sclar

    Doug Sclar Forum Legend

    Location:
    The OC
    Gosh Mike,

    How many concerts did we see totether? IIRC there were quite a few. :righton:
     
  3. Backsasser

    Backsasser Forum Resident

    They were a great rock band!There heyday was 72-75.Also check out thier dvd rhino released called the first 30 years it has a rare concert from Royal Albert Hall in 1974.
     
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  4. Tony Caldwell

    Tony Caldwell Senior Member

    Location:
    Arkansas
    Somewhere in Arkansas, a lightbulb just lit up for the first time...;)
     
  5. KenJ

    KenJ Forum Resident

    Location:
    Flower Mound, TX
    When I think of BOA I think of the album HIGH ON THE HOG....I own it mostly for the cover...one of my fav covers from the day.... I also think of the song "Jim Dandy" which is on that lp.
     
  6. Casino

    Casino Senior Member

    Location:
    BossTown
    I still have this LP from way back when (still in mint condition) and I kinda dig their remake of Guy Mitchell's old 50's hit, "Singing the Blues."
     
  7. 905

    905 Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Midwest USA
    There is a two disc BOA comp that came out recently... It's called the Definitive Collection and I was wondering if anyone knows how it sounds?
     
  8. Mike

    Mike New Member

    Location:
    New Jersey
    :laugh: Me too, although I was only about 12 when I was cranking Raunch 'N Roll. David Lee Roth stole his entire schtick from Jim Dandy Mangrum - check out some vids on YouTube.
     
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  9. scotto

    scotto Senior Member

    Being an Arkansas native and attending junior high and high school in the '70s--and being from roughly the same neck of the woods--being a Black Oak Arkansas fan was something of a requirement.

    Hasn't anyone mentioned Ruby Starr yet? She was something of an added, um...draw to my adolescent musical interest in BOA.
     
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  10. OE3

    OE3 Senior Member

    Rhino Handmade

    today, i found a used copy of the Complete Raunch 'n Roll Live, which was released last year on Rhino Handmade. this is a must-own if you're a big BOA fan or just love Raunch 'n Roll. Inglot/Hersch really bring out the power of this band at the peak of their mayhem. the two-disc package is comprised of complete shows in Portland and Seattle in 1973, the best takes of which were put on the orig. Raunch 'n Roll LP. sounds like there were minimal or no overdubs; at least, i can't hear any. check it out!
     
  11. rockclassics

    rockclassics Senior Member

    Location:
    Mainline Florida
    Their first album and Raunch and Roll are the two to get when starting out. I have most of their albums - even a Jim Dandy solo album called "Ready as Hell" and autographed.

    Since moving to Arkansas in the mid-80s, I have seen these guys in concert more times than I can remember. Each time they were quite good. The best was at a small club that held about 300 people in 1988 or so. The wife and I had front row center seats - about 10 feet from Mr. Dandy. That was an experience.

    These days Jim Dandy and BOA is still playing some live shows. Instead of the white spandex he is wearing black leather and he still has the long blonde hair to his shoulders.
     
  12. Tubeman

    Tubeman New Member In Memoriam

    Location:
    Texas
    Yeah he was awesome back in those days.
    Hey didn't he date Linda Blair for a long time?
     
  13. flashdaily

    flashdaily Active Member

    What, exactly, is the meaning of "Black Oak Arkansas"? I mean, besides three words strung together that don't form any coherent meaning? I presume that these guys were from Arkansas, that much I can gather. But what's the black oak bit? Is there a tree that grows in Arkansas called a black oak? And if there is, wouldn't it have made more sense to name the group "Arkansas Black Oak", or maybe just "Black Oak"? Kansas is famous for its tornadoes, so shouldn't the group Kansas have named itself "Tornadoe Kansas" instead?
     
  14. mcow1

    mcow1 Sommelier Gort

    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    Ruby Starr was great. I love her albums with Grey Ghost and still play them occasionally.
     
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  15. mcow1

    mcow1 Sommelier Gort

    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    Believe it is a town in Arkansas.
     
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  16. Larry L

    Larry L Senior Member

    Location:
    Allen, Texas
    I would love to find a used copy of this. The new ones are a bit expensive for me.
     
  17. OE3

    OE3 Senior Member

    yes, i admit i would not pay the $39.95 Rhino Handmade list price, but i couldn't pass it up for $20. btw, it is a non-numbered promo with some minor flaws to the digipak.
     
  18. janschfan

    janschfan Senior Member

    Location:
    Nashville, Tn. USA
    I saw them open for Iron Butterfly in (I think) 1971 at Illinois Wesleyen University. They absolutely KILLED!!!!!! When Iron Butterfly ( with Rhino & Pinera) came out, they had to work REALLY hard. This was a couple of monthes before BOA's first S/T album came out. Man, Three giutars, bass, drums, & Mr. Mangrum. Whew!!
     
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  19. OE3

    OE3 Senior Member

    Rhino Handmade redux

    here is the tracklist for The Complete Raunch 'n Roll Live:

    Disc 1: Paramount Theater, Portland, Ore. 12/1/72

    1. Gettin' Kinda Cocky *
    2. Fever In My Mind *
    3. Uncle Lijiah *
    4. Keep the Faith *
    5. Mutants of the Monster *
    6. Hot Rod *
    7. Lord Have Mercy On My Soul *
    8. Full Moon Ride *
    9. When Electricity Came to Arkansas
    10. Dixie *
    11. Hot and Nasty
    12. Up
    13. Movin' *

    Disc 2: Paramount Theater, Seattle, Wash. 12/2/72

    1. Gettin' Kinda Cocky
    2. Fever In My Mind *
    3. Uncle Lijiah *
    4. Gigolo
    5. Mutants of the Monster
    6. Hot Rod
    7. Movin' *
    8. Full Moon Ride *
    9. When Electricity Came to Arkansas *
    10. Hot and Nasty
    11. Up *

    songs marked by an asterisk are previously unissued; master takes are bold-faced. Fever In My Mind, Uncle Lijiah, Full Moon Ride, and Movin' were played both nights but never saw official release. why Fever In My Mind didn't make the final cut is beyond me. this is one of the best cuts of the set, easy. awesome guitar interplay! the more i listen to this set, the more i think, yes, i would pay $40 for it. great music here.

    i concur.
     
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  20. cwitt1980

    cwitt1980 Senior Member

    Location:
    Carbondale, IL USA
    I remember my mother having an album. She would never let me listen to it. It had a backwards devil message in it.
    Eventually I did listen to it. It didn't do much for me. But I was only 12 then. So what did I know?
    A group I should consider listening to, I guess.
     
  21. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    They used to crash two Les Paul Sunburst guitars together as a climax to their live act. Specially made ones to be busted up!:D

    But they were not so hot the night I saw them in 74, as they had to follow Montrose's electrifing set. A no-win deal for them.
     
  22. andy749

    andy749 Senior Member

    I saw them in about 1972. I had just seen Deep Purple, which was my first concert, less than a year before and compared to DP, BOA were really bad...the drum solo was the best part.
     
  23. kentb47

    kentb47 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hot Springs Ark.
    Funny, I just bought a 2-disc BOA comp and that Rhino Handmade live reissue detailed above. I was surprised at how many of their songs I remembered. As Memphis was the nearest big town to me (being a Delta boy), I saw 'em play back then who knows how many times. Always a really ace and fun live band. I think I've finally gotten over being embarrassed by 'em when they got huge (let's face it, Ozark hillbillies are NOT what you want people to think about when you're from the south and people talk about southern music) and come back around to appreciating what a flippin' great (and terrifically silly in a very entertaining way) band they were.

    Without Jim Dandy Mangrum you would never have had David Lee Roth or Axl Rose. They learned everything they know from Mangrum. Yet you can't 'blame' Mangrum for Van Halen or Guns'n'Roses.

    Jim Dickinson always used to rave about 'em when they were the Knowbody Else (recorded at Ardent IIRC). He still says that they ruined his voice and his uniqueness when he got signed to a label, had hits, and could afford to get his teeth fixed. You see, in the early days, he had this huge gap between his two top incisors, and when he sang, there's be this unearthly and unsettling whistling song as the air went thru the gap into the mic.

    My favorite, for what it's worth, has always been the self-titled first album. Still holds up really well.
     
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  24. Ski Bum

    Ski Bum Happy Audiophile

    Location:
    Vail, CO
    I used to listen to Black Oak Arkansas in the early 70s, and saw them live once at the old Academy of Music in NYC. Jim Dandy was the only person I ever saw play an electric washboard (I can't imagine why it didn't become more popular ;) ). I tried putting on Keep the Faith a few months ago and found that I just couldn't get into it. Oh well....

    Some observations:

    1. Does anyone else think that Jim Dandy might actually be Axl Rose's father?
    2. In one of their albums, BOA gave away fractional interests to a piece of land in Black Oak Arkansas. Did anyone go visit it?
    3. John Grisham's best seller "A Painted House" takes place in Arkansas in a town called Black Oak.
     
  25. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    BOA definitely had two sides (and sounds) to 'em. One being the high energy rock 'n roll they did live, and the other being varied musical interests they carried into recordings. Their debut album, much like High On The Hog a few years later when they became big, are replete with country rock. They had an acoustic side which few outside their fan base knew of. The follow up to Hog was Street Party, which again show cased a more mellow southern side to them, and one they never seemed to show live. I cannot imagine seeing them doing Swimmin' In Quicksand or Everybody Wants To See Heaven as they sounded on the records.

    Not being from the south, all I can say is I never (nor did my friends) think of BOA as being hillbillies, although I can see now they played that image up a bit in interviews, etc. i.e. the poor back woods boys who made it.
    Instead they were, to me, the quintessential rebellious, long haired partying '70's dudes who were not into the urban or city scene. They were a sort of 'alternative' band of the early to mid-seventies in that they weren't played a lot on radio, were a bit brash, and people tended to either love 'em or hate 'em. At shows that I went to (never saw them at a large festival) I noticed a fair contingent of bikers and other outlaw types, which cemented the image for me then as well. Curiously, for a hard rock band, a lot of girls I knew then seemed to get into them to a higher degree than say Montrose or Deep Purple.

    Ironically, Keep The Faith and If An Angel Came To See You (their 2nd & 3rd albums) are their two albums that have a certain influence today - from what I ascertain from younger people in the record & music scene. Both lack any of their country rock feel, and are hard edged, psych-y, and even punk-ish (dare I say) both in energy & attitude. They're more like country hippie punk - if one can picture that! They were my least favorite LPs on first listen back when, but now, think these are their best.
     
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