The Rockologist: Jim Dandy And Black Oak Arkansas
Published January 07, 2007
Welcome to "The Rockologist," my new feature column for Blogcritics.
So who or what exactly is "The Rockologist" you may ask? The Rockologist is the latent music wonk I've nurtured deep within myself ever since about the time I first time saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. Note I said "wonk" and not the more derogatory label of "nerd."
You see because a nerd is a guy who lives with his Mom and never gets laid. A wonk on the other hand is a guy who simply soaks up every bit of knowledge on his particular subject like a sponge. A wonk is the guy who can give you precise dates, places, and names within his area of expertise. Simply put, a wonk is a guy who "wonks the wonk" (or in this case "wonks the rock").
So with "The Rockologist" I am embracing my inner music wonk. Just don't call me Al Gore okay?
What we are going to do here is go into the deepest corridors of what I like to call "rockology." Now you may have noticed that I've written a lot about the reissued recordings of so-called "classic rock" artists this past year. So just to disspell any rumors that may get started, your resident Rockologist here and now denies that he quit listening to new music somewhere around the time Kurt Cobain died.
Quite the opposite. The Rockologist is happy to report that he will be attending a My Morning Jacket concert this Monday night and that the last CD he bought was the latest release by the Decemberists (based on something I read here on Blogcritics I might add).
However, there were an unusually great number of those "remastered" versions of albums by what you would call "classic rock" artists last year. And a significant number of them were really good (the ELO and Cure reissues spring immediately to mind here).
So here's the thing.
For those of us who grew up in the classic rock era, what is most frustrating is that the classic rock stations out there continue to feed us a steady diet of Zeppelin, Skynyrd, Floyd, Boston and Styx. All fine bands of course (well except maybe for Boston and Styx). But there are many equally great bands from that period who've largely become forgotten.
That's where "The Rockologist" comes in. Some of these bands have been resurrected through the efforts of those fine folks putting out all those "Critical Review" DVDs you may have seen at the record store (assuming you live in one of the few towns who still have actual record stores). You know the DVDs I'm talking about. The ones where a bunch of aging rock critics discuss the finer points of somebody like say, T. Rex, Mott The Hoople, or Uriah Heep.
- The Rockologist: Jim Dandy And Black Oak Arkansas
- Published: January 07, 2007
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Classic Rock and Oldies, Music: Live Concerts, Music: Recording, Music: Rock
- Part of a feature: The Rockologist
- Writer: Glen Boyd
- Glen Boyd's BC Writer page
- Glen Boyd's personal site
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No thank YOU Tink.
Yeah Foreigner do belong there. 3rd rate Bad Company in my book (although "I Wanna know What Love Is" is a pretty damn good song) I'm gonna hold off on Jouney though, they were always sort of a guilty pleasure.
Thanks so much for commenting.
-Glen
Looking forward to more in this series, Glen. As for BOA, I never saw them live or bought an album, but they seemed to be a mainstay on those old "Midnight Special" and "In Concert" (I think that's what that ABC show was called) TV shows. As prevalent as when I would see Malo (anyone remember them?) seemingly opening for all concerts I went to, later to be supplanted by Oingo Boingo seemingly opening for all live shows in L.A.
i like the idea of this series glen. cool stuff.
BOA flew completely underneath my radar. never owned a single record. not a one! woa though, i bet ya David Lee Roth owned a few.
side note: Foreigner is 3rd rate Bad Company. interesting comparison, as there isn't a shred of blues in Foreigner. i kinda liked Foreigner, the first two records anyway.
A wonk is guy who bores you with his knowledge to distract you from finding out that he lives with his Mom and never gets laid.
Looking forward to more in the series, Glen. I never saw BOA live or bought an album, but they were seemingly on every "Midnight Special" or "In Concert" (if I have the right name) TV show way back when.
Can't wait for Uriah Heep, though I think one of their main "finer points" for me back then were the album covers.
Clever Nerd, Clever. Now go back to Mom.
Mark: Thanx for the encouraging words. I always thought Foeigner's Lou Gramm was kind of like Bad Co's Paul Rodgers without anywhere near the soul. But as I said, "I Wanna Know What Love Is" is a damn fine song nonetheless.
Gordon: Of course I remember Malo (fronted by Carlos Santana's brother Jorge). You'll like my upcoming installment on Uriah Heep I think. Gary Thain (their bassist during the classic incarnation ---Demons to Wizards to Wonderworld ---) is one of the best ever in my opinion.
So I just got back from seeing My Morning Jacket tonight. If you haven't seen them, run...don't walk to do so. They are about as good as it gets as far as live bands go right now.
Thanx all for the comments.
-Glen
I think this series is potentially a winner, Glen. I'd question starting with BOA, though. Most people think of them as a caricature of southern rock (y'all), like the village idiot, or maybe the village idiot's younger brother. I once had an album of theirs - I bought it for their cover version of the Beatle's Taxman - the whole thing was.... just average, really.
Foreigner as second rate Bad Co? Sure, I'll buy that... what about Bad Co as second rate Free? And I even like Bad Co heck, I even liked Paul Rodgers singing with Queen (but not the Firm). Which brings me to the queston - aren't they all second rate Led Zeppelin?
Uriah Heep? THERE'S a good choice. Gary Thain was a great rock bass player - wasn't he electrocuted?
How about Iron Butterfly? Not just InAGaddaDaVida, but their other fine(r) stuff?
Vern,
Thanks for the comments. I actually think BOA was the perfect choice to start this column off with since my focus is going to be bands which were popular at the time but are virtually forgotten now. And I think the people who dismissed BOA basically got it wrong. True, they were not your typical southern rock band in the Allmans/Skynyrd sort of sense. And they were not that great a studio band. But they were amazing live. As I said in the article, Jim Dandy pretty much created the prototype for the character David Lee Roth made famous. And Tommy Aldridge was one of the best drummers out there. Ozzy Osbourne, who always had a great eye for spotting talented musicians, snapped that boy up pronto for his solo group.
Oh and yeah, the Heep piece is gonna be a keeper for sure.
Thanx for commenting Vern.
-Glen
One more thing -- Thain ODed, though the electrocution rumor would've been far more appropriately Spinal Tap-ish.
-Glen
Actually Ozzy snapped up Lee Kerslake for his first two solo albums; as I recall, Tommy Aldridge was still with Pat Travers at the time. Lee Kerslake had been the drummer in some band with cool album covers.
Touche JR. I must have gotten my timeline screwed up there. Aldridge did play with Ozzy, but it was later. And you are also correct about former Uriah Heep drummer Lee Kerslake (no slouch behind the skins himself).
Ozzy sure has a way of finding the good ones doesn't he?
Thanx for the comment.
=Glen
Evidently Wolfgang's Vault just put up a Black Oak Arkansas concert from 1976.
See? Uriah Hippie - great lost band. The Mick Box / Lee Kerslake guitar & drum battle in The Magician's Birthday still makes me happy.
Touchez!
Great site!!! Close my eyes and its 1975 again!!!Freedom Hall Civic Center,Johnson City,Tn. 8:oo P.M. SHOWTIME!!Lights dim,crowd roars,ahh,that smell!!Bang!!Stage lights up,band is crankin'here comes Jim Dandy,runnin'cross the stage with a giant Rebel Flag!!Pre-David Lee Roth look!! Jim's the man!!Met him 20 years later in Memphis,invited him up on stage to get Hot and Nasty!!What a thrill!!14 year old Shawn Lane,Greatest guitarist of all played with him too!!R.I.P.Shawn.Thanx for the site,DUDE!!!I will be back with more short stories!! FATE
BOA is still performing gigs here in Memphis... Jim Dandy is a really nice guy too... He used to be one of my neighbors
Hey Brad!Fate here(right above you),longtime Memphis musician.I'm missing good old Beale St.Man, ya gotta love the blues!!Jim Dandy for a neighbor!! Man that is a hoot!! The original wild man of the stage!!My band was playing the Stage Stop, when in walked Jim. I cornered him, told him how 20 years earlier him and his boys played my hometown and absolutely blew the doors off of EVERYTHING!!He LOVED that!! Then I invited him onstage and we rocked WAY out on Jim Dandy to the rescue!! One of a bunch of cool and unforgettable moments I'd love to share.I'm homebound now and new to the whole computer world!! Kid in a candy shop....that's me!!Thanx y'all!!
Thanx for the comments Brad and Fate. Great story too Fate. Since you two guys seem to know Jim Dandy so well, let him know about this article/column okay? There will be more to come from The Rockologist too so stay tuned...
Appreciate the comments.
-Glen
I gotta disagree here, going back to the Youtube vids from Don Kirshner, In my opinion BOA was a shit kickin band that presented a stage presence that Skynrd and the Allmans only wish they had. Caricature my ass, based on whos opinion, Rolling Stone ?, The magazine who now worships Justin Timberlake and " I cant take anymore pain" losers like Cobain ?
I think it was a good start using BOA, matter of fact after hearing "Back Door Man" on HBO Entourage a couple of weeks back, Im hoping for a BOA comenback of sorts..hopefully the Kirshner footage will see the light of day and these friggin CDs will get remastered !!! And yes the Heep rules !!!
Sorry Glen, Im disagreeing with some of the comments calling BOA "not a good choice" for this column (which is very good BTW) and one who referred to them as some kind of caricature. This band always had a tongue in cheek approach to their "rednickiness" as opposed the the pseudo serious contemporaries like Skynyrd and the Allmans (Both of whom I love), But BOA was helluva lot more fun, and live, they were much more visual..Having spent my early teens in the 70s, I remember it all to well.."village idiots" as someone called them, they we not !!!!
BLACK OAK ARKANSAS KICK MAJOR ASS..!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I HAVE SEEN THEM 7 YEARS IN A ROW THEY EARNED THEIR PLACE IN THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME..!
FOR HARDCORE BLACK OAK ARKANSAS FANS A BRAND CD CD IS ABOUT TO BE RELEASED..!
Excellent job. I saw Black Oak twice back in the day - around 74 or 75 - in Boston. Excellent shows. You might also have mentioned the wondrous Miss Ruby Starr, who did the backing vocals on "Jim Dandy" and occasionally lent her HOT presence to the BOA stage shows.
Just recently started listening to their albums again, thus my searching out stuff such as this. They still sound pretty good, especially the live stuff, as you point out. Ages MUCH better than a lot of their more famous contemporaries.
Suldog
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Yes...yes...YES!!!!!!!!! I'm wonkin' your wonking...but wondering why you left off Foreigner from your list of bands that classic rock radio cram down your throat.
Great stuff...THANKS!!!