Raunch 'N' Roll Live

iTunes Review

Recorded at the peak of the band’s powers in December of 1972, Raunch ‘N’ Roll Live finds Black Oak Arkansas spreading their greasy Southern gospel to theaters in Portland and Seattle. Whether it was because they were in the liberal territory of the Pacific Northwest or because their sound was being brought to a white-hot boil, this live album takes what Black Oak did on record and makes it sharper and sleazier. Black Oak’s saving grace was that they never took themselves too seriously, and they never made pretensions to making high art. Their sound was dedicated to people who loved racing muscle cars and throwing keggers in the woods. Band leader Jim Dandy plays ringmaster, his Ozark twang jumping from Howlin’ Wolf’s growl to Robert Plant’s scream. A prowling, thrusting take on blues, “When Electricity Came to Arkansas” was the band’s anthem, but it's the blistering performances of “Getting’ Kinda Cocky” and “Hot & Nasty” on which Black Oak staked their reputation. For all of Led Zeppelin’s influence over the younger generation, the concept of swashbuckling big-arena rock’n’roll starts here.