Monday July 4, 2022 “Jackie Blue” Ozark Mountain Daredevils
I have mentioned before that I keep many ongoing lists of tunes in a variety of categories as a go-to for song of the day themes and yeah, I definitely need to get out more. So this week we will be hearing some of the tunes from my ‘stuff’ list, whis is composed of cool tunes that I just wasn't clever enough to find a category for.
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils would start out as a six piece unit but over their history there would be more than twenty five members that would pass through the group. The band was among the more popular mid-'70s country-rock outfits, fitting in chronologically and stylistically between the Eagles and Firefall…and yeah I realize there is a huge artistic stretch between those two groups.
Today’s song, “Jackie Blue” was written by Ozark Mountain Daredevils drummer/guitarist/singer Larry Lee and it was originally written as a song about a mysterious friend of his who sometimes dealt drugs on the side. Their producer Glyn John loved the melody and thought it could be a smash hit but suggested that the lyrics should be altered to be about a girl and the drug references downplayed.
Lee made the changes and the song, “Jackie Blue” became the Daredevils’ signature song and a top five hit in the spring of 1975. The song would be their highest charting song and their only real hit.
Stay safe and well…and don’t be like Jackie Blue who takes the world but doesn’t take time.