Skip to content

BLACK OAK ARKANSAS: BACK THAR ‘N’ OVER YONDER

(ATCO RECORDS/ATLANTIC RECORDS/WARNER MUSIC GROUP; 2013)

2013_Back_Thar_n_Over_Yonder

Those wild men from the hills of Arkansas are back. Well… sorta! Half of the original Black Oak Arkansas have reunited (with a few old friends and more current members) to record five new tracks for BACK THAR ‘N’ OVER YONDER. The album also features 10 unreleased tracks, produced by the legendary Tom Dowd and recorded during the band’s hey-day of 1972-1974. That means that the most successful and well-known incarnation of the group (with Harvey Jett playing guitar and Tommy Aldridge on drums) is featured prominently in the final two-thirds of the disc. Of course, what would BOA be without the vocal stylings of Jim “Dandy” Mangrum? I gotta tell ya, boys and girls, the man can still deliver that distinctive gutteral growl, nearly 45 years after the band’s debut album!

Black Oak Arkansas (uncredited photo)
Black Oak Arkansas on stage in 2013 (uncredited photo)

The new tracks are rather reminiscent of the group’s three MCA albums (the awesome X-RATED and better-than-average 10 YEAR OVERNIGHT SUCCESS and BALLS OF FIRE), eschewing the raunchier sounds for a more balanced, more streamlined sound. Think “Strong Enough To Be Gentle” (the band’s last single to chart, in 1975) or “Fistful of Love” (a duet with Ruby Starr, featuring members of BOA, as well as Starr’s Grey Ghost, including the dominating – some would say “over-bearing” – keyboards of Marius Penczner). If all you know of Black Oak Arkansas is HIGH ON THE HOG and RAUNCH ‘N’ ROLL LIVE, this newer, gentler version may take some getting used to, but the band’s MCA output ranks among my all-time favorite albums and are well worth checking out. But… you’re not here to read about the distant past (except for the unreleased early ’70s material featured on this new release). So… back to those new songs, huh?

Black Oak Arkansas, 2013 (George Hughen, Johnnie Bolin, Jim "Dandy" Mangrum, Rickie Lee Reynolds, Hal McCormack) (uncredited photo)
Black Oak Arkansas, 2013 (George Hughen, Johnnie Bolin, Jim “Dandy” Mangrum, Rickie Lee Reynolds, Hal McCormack) (uncredited photo)

Plugged In and Wired” is reminiscent of and references one of the band’s best tunes, “When Electricity Came To Arkansas.” Track two, “Sweet Delta Water,” is one of those swampy ballads that Mangrum and co-founding guitarist Rickie Lee Reynolds do so well. “15 Million Light Years Away” is in the same vein, but kicks up the tempo a bit. The band (original members Mangrum, Reynolds, and bassist Pat Daugherty alongside longstanding guitarist Jimmy Henderson and current members, former Grey Ghost bassist George Hughen, drummer Johnnie Bolin, and guitarists Buddy Church and Hal McCormack) mashes the raucous and melodic styles together to fine effect on “I Ain’t Poor.” The “reunion” closes (a deluxe downloadable version of the album features one more new tune, the rather disposable instrumental, “G Wiz”) with a nice cover of Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.” It should be noted that original guitarist Stanley “Goober” Knight was planning to be a part of the reunion, but died before the recording sessions began.

Black Oak Arkansas, circa 1976 (Stanley Knight, Pat Duagherty, Tommy Aldridge, Jim "Dandt Mangrum, Rickie Lee Reynolds, Jimmy Henderson) (publicity photo)
Black Oak Arkansas, circa 1976 (Stanley Knight, Pat Duagherty, Tommy Aldridge, Jim “Dandy” Mangrum, Rickie Lee Reynolds, Jimmy Henderson) (publicity photo)

As cool as the new material is, it’s the archival stuff that will most excite die-hard BOA fans. Here’s how these lost tracks found their way out of the void: Upon the death of producer Tom Dowd in October of 2002, his daughter came across what amounted to a holy grail of unreleased material. These 10 tracks (13 on the deluxe edition) were part of that stash. So, in no particular order (other than chronologically), let’s look at what coulda been. For me, studio recordings of three of the group’s most-loved live tunes make BACK THAR… a must have. “Gigolo” is the first and is every bit as loud and snotty as the well-known RAUNCH ‘N’ ROLL version. Later on, we have “Hot Rod” and, like “Gigolo,” it sounds as good as the live version. The final piece of this triumvirate is “Up, Up, Up,” which somehow has gained a couple of “Up”s since 1972. Again, the studio version rivals the live version, even to the point of featuring a three minute plus Tommy Aldridge drum solo. I know it’s been done before, but an in-studio solo by the guy at the back of the stage is a pretty ballsy move! The fact that it’s interesting and listenable is certainly a testament to the talents of both Aldridge and Dowd.

Black Oak Arkansas, 1976 (Pat Daugherty, Rickie Lee Reynolds, Jimmy Henderson, Jim "Danady" Mangrum, Stanley Knight, Tommy Aldridge) (publicity photo)
Black Oak Arkansas, 1976 (Pat Daugherty, Rickie Lee Reynolds, Jimmy Henderson, Jim “Dandy” Mangrum, Stanley Knight, Tommy Aldridge) (publicity photo)

Jim Dandy and the boys were never afraid of a challenge and prove it by covering one of the Glimmer Twins most well-known songs, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” It ain’t Devo, but it is an enjoyable romp through a classic (as it was, even in 1972). The last of the five 1972 recordings is a song called “Evil Lady,” a tune that has a bizarre bubble gum kinda vibe. When the harpsichord starts a-pumpin’ at the beginning (provided by Harvey Jett?), all I can think of is “Sugar, Sugar” by the Archies. It ain’t bad, though… just a little weird coming from the Black Oak guys, especially Mangrum.

Black Oak Arkansas with Ruby Starr, 1976 (screen capture from THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL)
Black Oak Arkansas with Ruby Starr, 1976 (screen capture from THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL)

Well, the band must not have found the sound too weird for them, because one of the two holdovers from 1973, “Dance To the Music” has the same type of groove going, with some really cool backing vocals and a nifty slide guitar featuring throughout. This is a song that Reynolds really wanted to use back then and was excited to be able to add it here. I fully understand his excitement; the song isn’t standard BOA fare (at least, it wasn’t for that era), but it shows a promise of things to come, as well as highlighting the fact that the guys were not the lunkheads that most members of the press made them out to be. As much of a genius as Tom Dowd was, I can’t believe that he didn’t push for the inclusion of this song on HIGH ON THE HOG or STREET PARTY. It had “hit single” written all over it. The song that did become the band’s biggest hit, the LaVern Baker cover, “Jim Dandy,” has been re-mastered to isolate the vocals of Mangrum and Ruby Starr at the beginning. It’s a cool concept, but the vocals sound compressed and Ruby’s voice is way down in the mix. The full band kicks in after a minute or so and the vocals seem to even out. Had Atco Records followed this one up with “Dance To the Music,” the band’s career may have taken an entirely different trajectory.

Black Oak Arkansas and Ruby Starr, 1976 (Tommy Aldridge, Pat Daugherty, Jim "Dandy" Mangrum, Marius Penczner, Ruby Starr, Jimmy Henderson, Stanley Knight) (publicity photo)
Black Oak Arkansas and Ruby Starr, 1976 (Tommy Aldridge, Pat Daugherty, Jim “Dandy” Mangrum, Marius Penczner, Ruby Starr, Jimmy Henderson, Stanley Knight) (publicity photo)

The three remaining tunes are from 1974 sessions for, I would assume, the STREET PARTY album. “The Snake” has a swampy, creepy-crawly Jim Stafford thing happening. This is classic Jim Dandy, all snide innuendo and tongue-in-cheek wordplay. “Legal ID” is a tune that could well be the precursor to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “What’s Your Name,” though it’s subject matter has been written about by more artists than you can shake an angry parental fist at, including Uriah Heep, Jim Croce, Sam Cooke, Aerosmith, Angel and the Police, to name a few. “Summer Swing” is a gentle little number that really does evoke the images that the title implies. Over all, there are far more hits than misses on BACK THAR ‘N’ OVER YONDER, and not just for all of us nostalgic old farts with fond memories of DON KIRSHNER’S ROCK CONCERT, THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL and AMERICAN BANDSTAND. The music presented here – both old and new – is every bit as good as much of what the latest batch of rockers has to offer. I’d go for the standard version, though, as the four “bonus” tracks really don’t add anything necessary to the album (although the eight minutes of insanely politically incorrect studio banter-cum-embryonic song “Arby’s (I Want a Woman With) Big Titties” did have me giggling like a 12 year old).