Black Oak Arkansas ( B3 )

Vocalist Ruby Starr (future vocalist Grey Ghost) also toured intermittently with Black Oak during this period, and her raspy voice can be heard on the group's remake of LaVern Baker's 1957 hit "Jim Dandy," which reached number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. Baker's song was recorded at the suggestion of Elvis Presley, when he invited them to Graceland. 'Hog' also included perennial favorite "Happy Hooker" and the instrumental "Moonshine Sonata", as well as edgier songs like "Red Hot Lovin'" and "Mad Man".

The band was riding high on the concert trail as well by this time, headlining large venues like Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium and Charlotte Motor Speedway, and even Royal Albert Hall in London, England. Black Oak Arkansas also played at the famous California Jam festival in Ontario, California on April 6, 1974. The massive concert attracted over 200,000 fans, and BOA appeared alongside 1970s rock giants Black Sabbath, Eagles, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Deep Purple, Earth, Wind & Fire, Seals and Crofts and Rare Earth, and portions of the show were telecast on ABC Television in the US, exposing the band to a wider audience.

The follow-up to High On The Hog, 1974's, Street Party (featuring "Son Of A Gun", "Hey Ya'll" and "Dixie", as well as a cover of the Motown classic "Dancing In The Street"), may have failed to maintain the momentum, but another 1974 release entitled Early Times, a shelved Stax recording by The Knowbody Else (now released on the back of their success and under the BOA banner), made up for lost time. Guitarist Harvey Jett left the band after Street Party and was replaced by "Little" Jimmy Henderson in 1975 and he debuted on the band's final studio album for Atco Records, Ain't Life Grand. Grand included a snarly remake of George Harrison's Beatles classic "Taxman", as well as new originals like "Fancy Nancy", "Rebel", "Good Stuff", "Cryin' Shame" and "Let Life Be Good To You". The band signed a contract with MCA and promptly released X-Rated later in 1975, which marked the beginning of Black Oak Arkansas' decline.

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