Black Oak Arkansas, the southern hillbilly psycho-boogie band with over 40 years of history returns with a new release from Atlantic/Atco Records, Back Thar N’ Over Yonder, out October 15. The album is a goldmine of new and undiscovered Black Oak, containing five new songs from a 2013 reunion and 10 previously unreleased 1970’s tracks produced by the legendary Tom Dowd (Eric Clapton, Allman Brothers).
The band met Dowd after Ahmet Ertegun, founder of Atlantic Records, signed the band to the label in 1970. Between 1972-75, the band found themselves in and out of Criteria Studios in Miami. “In those days, we was doing over 250 shows a year, every year,” says lead singer and washboardist Jim “Dandy” Mangrum in his speed-rap drawl, “On top of that, we was giving Atlantic 2 albums a year, every year. So, anytime we would get a few days off, we’d hightail it to Miami and lay down a few tracks with Dowd. After a while, we couldn’t keep up with which songs was going on which albums. So, when these songs showed up, it took me and Rickie awhile to even remember cutting them.”
