black oak arkansas

• 180g vinyl

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 with ten charting albums released in that decade. Their style is punctuated by multiple guitar players and the raspy voice and on-stage antics of vocalist Jim "Dandy" Mangrum.

Their self-titled debut album Black Oak Arkansas was released in 1971, and is generally regarded by fans as the band's best. The record featured enduring BOA classics like "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 was wrongfully accused by fundamentalist religious groups of containing backward-masked "Satanic messages" (possibly from a live performance of the song in which Mangrum utters "natas" three times).

The band toured extensively, gaining a reputation as a premier live act throughout the early '70s all across America, and later even in Europe.

Track Listing:

SIDE A

• UNCLE LIJIAH
• MEMORIES AT THE WINDOW
• THE HILLS OF ARKANSAS
• I COULD LOVE YOU

SIDE B

• HOT AND NASTY
• SINGING THE BLUES
• LORD HAVE MERCY ON MY SOUL
• WHEN ELECTRICITY CAME TO ARKANSAS