Black Oak Arkansas

Black Oak Arkansas is an American Southern rock band named after the band's hometown of Black Oak, Arkansas. The band reached the height of its fame in the 1970s, charting ten albums. Their style is notable for multiple guitar players and the raspy voice and on-stage antics of vocalist Jim "Dandy" Mangrum.Black Oak Arkansas, originally named "The Knowbody Else", was formed in 1963 by some "high school pals" living in the area around Black Oak, Arkansas. Original members included Ronnie "Chicky Hawk" Smith (vocals), Rickie Lee (alternately "Risky" or "Ricochet") Reynolds (guitar), Stanley "Goober Grin" Knight (guitar), Harvey "Burley" Jett (guitar), Pat "Dirty" Daugherty (bass), and Wayne "Squeezebox" Evans (drums). At some point the band and Ronnie "Chicky Hawk" Smith agreed that a mutual friend named James "Jim Dandy" Mangrum would make a better front man, while Smith agreed that he himself would make a better stage production manager.The band's first PA system was stolen from Monette High School. The group cleaned out an old galvanized grain bin on the edge of town and began blasting out ear-piercing sounds that echoed their blend of music that came from rock, gospel, country and blues influences. Members of the group were subsequently charged in absentia with grand larceny and sentenced to 26 years at the Tucker Prison Farm, a sentence that was later suspended. That led to their retreat to the hills of rural north-central Arkansas where they lived off the land and refined their musical style. They also lived in Long Beach, Mississippi, and played at the local Loeb theater/dance hall and the short-lived venue, "The Black Rainbow". Some of their influences during that time were the Beatles and the Byrds.The Knowbody Else moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1969 and signed a record deal with Stax Records. Their self-titled debut album (Hip Records #HIS-7003 ) was largely ignored by the public. During that time the band became interested in psychedelia and Eastern spiritualism which, combined with their Southern Baptist upbringing, contributed to their sound.After several trips to Los Angeles, California, in 1970, the band was signed by Atco Records (whose parent label, Atlantic Records, once had a partnership with Stax) and rechristened Black Oak Arkansas. Their self-titled debut album Black Oak Arkansas was released in 1971. The record featured BOA classics such as "Hot and Nasty", "Lord Have Mercy On My Soul", "Uncle Lijiah" (written in pseudo-tribute to Harvey Jett's real-life great uncle) and "When Electricity Came To Arkansas", which fundamentalist religious groups claimed contained backward-masked "Satanic messages" (possibly from a live performance of the song in which Mangrum utters "dog si eh" and "natas" three times). The band toured extensively, gaining a reputation as a premier live act throughout the early 1970s across America, and later in Europe. Keep the Faith followed in 1972, featuring the concert staple "Fever in My Mind". Drummer Wayne Evans left the band and was replaced by drummer Tommy Aldridge on BOA's next release If an Angel Came to See You, Would You Make Her Feel at Home?, which featured another BOA concert favorite, "Mutants of the Monster" and expanded on the group's eclectic musical style.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.