The Ozark Mountain Daredevils were, amazingly enough, a bunch of guys from the Ozarks, hippie longhairs who grew up in Missouri and started jamming together in the early 1970s. They had a couple of major hits, the funky "If You Want To Get To Heaven" and the alluring "Jackie Blue," and came up with a mix of '70s pop, light Southern rock and hillbilly twang that gave them a distinctive sound amid the glossy pop of the time. Only one of their singles grazed the Country charts, but they are generally seen as part of the country-rock movement of the era. Here's a quick look at their work...
Discography - Best-Ofs
Ozark Mountain Daredevils "Time Warp: The Very Best Of The Ozark Mountain Daredevils" (A&M Records, 2000)
Although they're best known for their monster '70s soft-rock radio hit, "Jackie Blue" (which I love, by the way...) and its companion single, the slightly more rugged (but equally catchy) "If You Want To Get To Heaven," the Daredevils had a few other tunes that hold up okay as well. For twang fans, "Chicken Train" will always exert an irresistible pull, and lesser tracks such as "Homemade Wine" and "I'll Shine When It Shines," while maybe not super-great music, are still far better country-rock than most Poco albums. (Unfortunately, I'm old enough to also remember when their other radio single, "Spaceship Orion" also got some airplay -- a drippy but inoffensive ballad that evokes the possibility of what Gram Parsons might have sounded like if he'd been able to make it as a commercial singer, and not OD'd in the desert...) Y'all can laugh, but the Daredevils weren't so bad.
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils "The Lost Cabin Sessions" (Varese Sarabande, 2003)
Early demos from a band that would go on to become a pillar of the commercial country-rock scene. These are mainly pretty low-key performances, made while the band was still a loose collection of friends, living in Missouri, jamming on the front porch and all. This set demonstrates that they had a pretty broad range very early on, from traditional country to spacey folk and experimental mixes of boogie-rock and twang. Ultimately, I found this underwhelming, but it's definitely worth checking out. Includes "Chicken Train," which was always one of my favorite Daredevils tunes, though no secret demo of "Jackie Blue..."
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils "The Millennium Collection" (Universal Records, 2002)
Discography - Albums
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils "The Ozark Mountain Daredevils" (A&M Records, 1973)
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils "It'll Shine When It Shines" (A&M Records, 1974)
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils "The Car Over The Lake Album" (A&M Records, 1975)
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils "Men From Earth" (A&M Records, 1976)
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils "Don't Look Down" (A&M Records, 1978)
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils "It's Alive" (A&M Records, 1978)
A live album...
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils "Ozark Mountain Daredevils" (Columbia Records, 1980)
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils "Archive Alive" (1997)
A live album...
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils "13" (New Era Records, 1997)
Links
Randle Chowning "Hearts On Fire" (A&M Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Ron Bacchiocchi & Paul Leka)
The first solo album by Randle Chowning, a founding member of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, and one of the pillars of the 1970s Missouri rock and country-rock scene. Methinks this is more of a pop/soft-pop set, but still worth having on our radar because of the Daredevils connection. Chowning plays guitar and mandolin (see? there is some twang!) and is backed by guitarist Ken Shepherd, a fellow Missourian returning the favor from when Chowning played on Shepherd's album of the previous year, Ken Shepherd And The Kenfolk. Randle Chowning apparently also performed and recorded under a couple of aliases, including "Ozark Joe" and "R. C. And The Keys."
Links
Hick Music Index
