Black Oak Arkansas

Inspired by a recent article in Classic Rock magazine – those guys should get kickbacks from bands! – I delved into this until-now neglected-by-me band.  As the name implies, they are from Black Oak, Arkansas – probably the only major band from that state.  According to singer Jim “Dandy” Mangrum, the band has finally sorted out its myriad issues and is back in business.  In fact, they have a new album out.

I purchased “the Original Album Series”, as I did with Argent, a collection of the first five albums in mini-sleeves and nothing in the way of liner notes:  Black Oak Arkansas (self-titled), Keep The Faith, If An Angel Came To See You, Would You Make Her Feel At Home, High on the Hog, and Street Party.   Of these, the first three are poorly produced and not overly impressive.  High is their most famous album, and the production takes a huge step up to mainstream 70’s rock, with Street Party following closely behind.

Their 70s live album, The Complete Raunch’N’Roll Live [“Complete” being a recent re-issue which restored the collection to two full shows] showcases their live talent, mainly Jim Dandy’s tendency to talk between songs and ramble on.  He’s not as entertaining in that regard as Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) or Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden), but somewhat more coherent than Ian Gillan (Deep Purple).  For some reason he’s into getting the audience into deep breathing exercises.

The new album is Back Thar N’ Over Yonder, which includes 5 new songs – of comparable quality to High, and 10 previously unreleased tracks.  They can join Blue Cheer as yet another band covering the Stones’ “Satisfaction.”

Finally I had to top this off with the live DVD, Live at the Royal Albert Hall, filmed in London at their peak in the 1970s.   Dandy slithers across the stage with lusto and gusto, and even pulls out his washboard prop (with practically no musical contribution therefrom) amidst a set that even includes a cover of the Beatles’ “Taxman”.  The overall impression is “Lynyrd Skynyrd fronted by David Lee Roth…hold on, is that Ozzy’s drummer?”

David Lee Roth.  When Gene Simmons tried to get Van Halen a record deal, he noted that one problem the band had was being confused with Black Oak Arkansas due to Roth’s resemblance to Jim Dandy.  Listening to  studio albums and a live album, I hear ZERO resemblance, vocally, between the two.   Jim Dandy has an exaggerated backwoods growl he uses for most every song – sorta like Billy Gibbons’ sing-talk at the beginning of “La Grange”.  It’s also reminiscent of Doug “The Greaseman” Tracht’s way of talking.  Like Geddy Lee and Burke Shelley, it’s a unique and distinctive vocal style that definitely has to be an acquired taste.  By comparison, both David Lee Roth and Ronnie Van Zant have far more accessible and mainstream vocal styles.

But visually?  This is where the DVD comes “to the rescue” indeed.  Long, straight, blonde hair?  Check.  Bared hairy chest?  Check.  Flashy bell bottoms?  Check.  Sorry, but style-wise, David Lee Roth owes Mr. Dandy some serious royalties, if a singer’s image could be copyrighted.   Then again, on “Dancin’ In the Streets”, which both bands covered, the difference in their vocal styles can be directly compared.  So long as we keep our eyes closed and ears open, listening but not seeing, Roth is in the clear. 

Notable songs.  “Lord Have Mercy On My Soul”, “Fever in My Mind”, “Jim Dandy” (obviously the inspiration for the Greaseman’s “Redneck” song), “Moonshine Sonata” (an excellent instrumental), and “Dixie” (yes, the theme song of the CSA).  Dandy’s style is half “I’m a hopeless, horny loser, always on the prowl for pussy” and half, “God, Jesus, please forgive me” overtly religious praying and/or sermonizing, e.g. “Everybody Wants To See Heaven, Nobody Wants to Die”. 

Miscellaneous.  Tommy Aldridge, the drummer for Ozzy between Lee Kerslake and Randy Castillo (Diary of a Madman era) was the drummer for BOA at their peak and shows up in the RAH DVD.   Also, “You’re Crazy”, from G’N’R’s Appetite For Destruction, shows that Axl Rose can do a de facto BOA tribute song.  As the most famous band from Arkansas in the 1970s, BOA was friends with the governor, Bill Clinton.  On the new album, Dandy even remarks that, “me and a President, we didn’t inhale.”  Finally, BOA was on the bill at the famous California Jam in 1974 which featured Black Sabbath (Tony sans mustache), Deep Purple (Mark III) (Blackmore kills the TV camera with his Strat), and ELP, the headliner.