Before Molly Hatchet flirted with disaster, Blackfoot took a left turn on a red light, Outlaws played to win, and Lynyrd Skynyrd begged for three steps, there was Black Oak Arkansas. One of the earliest practitioners of the southern rock sound, BOA was the band that put Arkansas on the map, and for good reason. There was no other band sleazier, filthier, rowdier, hotter, or nastier. Jim Dandy’s bourbon fueled antics inspired everyone from Steven Tyler to David Lee Roth. His crude odes to sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll were set to driving rhythms and southern fried riffage, the latter courtesy of Rickie Lee Reynolds who passed away this week at the age of 72. In honor of Rickie, we here at Defenders of the Faith present to you our Top 10 Black Oak Arkansas songs. Take out your pen, notebook, and washboard, because you’re about to be schooled southern style.
10. “Flesh Needs Flesh”
By the time BOA released their eighth album, X-Rated (1975), they were one of the top grossing live acts in the country. This album saw them attempt to expand that base even further with a foray into more polished, AM friendly territory. They were able to do so brilliantly without losing their rough rural edge. “Bump ‘N’ Grind” and “Fightin’ Cock” maintained the blooze n’ boogie of past releases, while “High Flyer” and our #10, “Flesh Needs Flesh”, attempted to recapture the Top 40 success of “Jim Dandy”. Unfortunately, this was not to be. It’s a shame because BOA’s unique southern spin on pop rock is far more exciting than your typical 70s pop rock fare.
9. “Keep the Faith”
A year after releasing their country tinged self titled debut, BOA capitalized on the the gritty hard rock side of things with Keep the Faith. The addition of a young drummer named Tommy Aldridge made quite the difference, with his hard driving drumming leading the charge on the leadoff title track. An all you can eat feast of heavy riffs, twin guitar harmonies, and the infamous barbed wire vocals of Jim Dandy, “Keep the Faith” is an optimistic rock n’ roll hymn. No matter how much life gets you down, you’ve gotta “Keep the Faith”. Why? Because you need it…no, “we need it”!
8. “Hey Y’all”
Any rock band worth diddly squat should have their own theme song. KISS has “Rock and Roll All Nite”, Cheap Trick has “Hello There”, and Black Oak Arkansas has “Hey Y’all”. This rowdy rock n’ roller is about as simple, straightforward, and southern as you can get. Its bone crunching riff and repetitive singalong refrain were the perfect way to start the sweat filled southern rock jamboree that was a 70s BOA concert. “Hey Y’all” is the antithesis of the lengthy, progressive pieces being penned by contemporaries Pink Floyd, Yes, and Led Zeppelin. It’s rock n’ roll stripped to its barest elements, although this can be said for much of BOA’s early output.
7. “Jim Dandy”
Yes, it’s a cover, but no BOA list would be complete without “Jim Dandy”. The song was originally recorded in 1956 by R&B singer LaVern Baker. It made such an impact on little Jim Mangrum, that he decided he’d live out the rest of his life as the song’s namesake character, even changing his name to Jim Dandy. When it came time for Dandy and his band of rebel rousers to take on the standard, he enlisted the lovely Ruby Starr to accommodate him on vocals. Starr would quickly become the first lady of southern rock. Her explosive vocals, glimmering eyes, and headful of red curls were enough to stop any yankee in his track. Although she passed away in 1995, her legacy lives forever in the grooves of “Jim Dandy”.
6. “When Electricity Came to Arkansas”
For the way BOA present themselves on their debut album, you wouldn’t think Arkansas was part of the USA, but rather a distant, primitive land where man was just discovering the miracle of fire. Okay, maybe they were a few steps past fire. Lucky for us, BOA was there to capture the moment the state discovered electricity through music. Could you name me any other song from 1971 that contained a washboard solo and tribal chanting? I think not. BOA were truly one of a kind. The proof lie within this electric (no pun intended) instrumental. 50 years on and “When Electricity Came to Arkansas” is still a staple of their sets, tending to be drawn out as an extended jam.
5. “Uncle Lijah”
Ladies and gentlemen, behold: The epitome of hillbilly music. I say this with the utmost respect. Somewhere between tripping on acid and moonshine, BOA must’ve been able to conjure the spirits of some long deceased ancestors to help them write “Uncle Lijah”. It sounds more like a bluegrass song dating back to 1871 than the opening track off a rock n’ roll album from 1971. On this cut, Jim Dandy tells the tale of his 105 year old “Uncle Lijah”. Once an outlaw gambler, Lijah changed his ways after an encounter with none other than the devil himself. And because the fallen angel has such a place in rock n’ roll mythology, this isn’t the only song on the list about him. More on that in a bit.
4. “Hot and Nasty”
If you asked me to describe Jim Dandy in three words, I’d say “Hot and Nasty”. More specifically, I’d say, “HAWT. AND. NASTAY.” Humble Pie would release a song entitled “Hot and Nasty” a year later on their classic Smokin’ (1972) album, but with all due respect to their “Small Face” frontman Steve Marriott, “Sweet and Soulful” would be a more fitting description. Jim Dandy was, is, and always will be “Hot and Nasty”. Also, how about that drum groove? It must’ve been sampled on hundreds, if not thousands, of hip hop albums. And I’m sure BOA saw every dime of royalties from its usage *sarcasm intensifies*.
3. “Mutants of the Monster”
Is If an Angel Came to See You, Would You Make Her Feel at Home? the best BOA album? Arguably so. At the very least, I’d make the case that it’s the most ridiculous BOA album. It’s ridiculously great, ridiculously rocking, ridiculously southern, and ridiculously ridiculous. “Mutants of the Monster” checks off all these boxes and then some. What starts as a relatively tame southern shuffle mutates into a beast of a psychedelic hard rocker, all while Jim Dandy bellows about man’s Cro-Magnon origins with the passion of a Baptist preacher. Can you say “Holy acid trip Batman.”?
2. “Hot Rod”
“Hot Rod” deserves a spot on this list if only for Dandy’s opening monologue alone. “Mama, I’ve got a hot rod.” is seldom mentioned in the list of great rock n’ roll double entendres, but that ends today with this Top 10. After a minute of 100 proof stage banter, BOA goes for the throat with this nasty hard rocker. I’m amazed it never made a studio album, but truth be told, I don’t know if a studio could contain the energy of this live recording. Stoner/doom squad Goatsnake would cover this classic for their 2004 EP, Trampled Under Hoof. In place of Dandy’s rant is a drug fueled tale of just how utterly insane BOA were in their prime. I HIGHly recommend you check it out.
- “Lord Have Mercy on My Soul”
I’d attempt to explain why “Lord Have Mercy on My Soul” is the greatest BOA song, but I think Jim Dandy’s opening sermon speaks for itself…
“Now there’s somethin’ I’d like to talk to you about at this particular moment
and that’s about the one thing that we won’t be able to do together unless we all become as one
And if we all become as one, then we can walk through it together
Now I ain’t walked through it all the way yet. But there was a time I walked into it, and I had to go into it alone
that’s this place called the Halls of Karma
Now when you go into the Halls of Karma the way I did, I don’t know, it might have been hallucination
but I think it was real. You see I felt the presence of the two energies, the positive and the negative; of God and the Devil, however you want it
And they were pullin’ and decidin’ and wondering what to do with my soul
and I couldn’t take this at this moment ’cause I had to come back to be with you people to do a thing and I proved to ’em, in bargainin’ with ’em that I had a thing to do for the good of all of us
Out of this bargain, the devil, he got my body for the good in his needs while I’m here on earth
and the Lord, he’s got my mind for the good of the universe and for the good of man
And they both got me in between ’cause they both got my soul
So the next time I come up, I want the Lord to, please have mercy, on my soul”
Lord have mercy on Rickie Lee Reynolds’ soul. God bless Black Oak!