Black Oak Arkansas

Fronted by the over-the-top antics of lead singer James "Jim Dandy" Mangrum, Black Oak Arkansas put a tough, gritty spin on the high-volume hard Southern boogie rock that was popular in the early to mid-'70s, scoring a hit single in 1973 with their version of LaVern Baker's "Jim Dandy." The band's raunchy sound and raucous stage show made them a popular attraction through most of the decade, but after the release of 1978's I'd Rather Be Sailing, the group stayed away from the recording studio, and health problems kept Mangrum out of the band during the first half of the '80s. They returned as Jim Dandy's Black Oak Arkansas with the 1984 LP Ready as Hell, and the band continued to record and tour periodically into the 2010s, releasing a fresh studio album, Underdog Heroes, in 2019.