Song Sung Blue: #12 "Jackie Blue" Ozark Mountain Daredevils (1975)
By John Roberts
@JohnRoberts (109846)
Los Angeles, California
March 9, 2017 8:37am CST
I can remember this song playing on the radio like it was yesterday. “Jackie Blue” has a distinct sound that has always stuck in mind but not in a bad way and who could forget a cool band name like Ozark Mountain Daredevils. From the album “It’ll Shine When it Shines,” this quintessential 70s tune was a pretty big hit reaching Billboard #3. “Jackie Blue” was written by drummer Larry Lee and keyboardist Steve Cash who also performed the vocals. The Ozark Mountain Daredevils began as country rock then became just country. Fourwalls would know more about the band’s country direction. They soldier on to this day albeit numerous personnel changes (Lee is long gone) with Cash an almost constant presence. The Smashing Pumpkins covered “Jackie Blue” in 1991.
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11 people like this
10 responses
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
13 Mar 17
A great song that got played a lot here in the UK but stopped just outside our top 50. The band came over to the UK at the time and played a TV concert on the Old Grey Whistle Test, which I watch a lot on YouTube.
The current line-up includes a fair few original members, including Steve Cash, who also became a successful science fiction author. Drummer Larry Lee, the lead vocalist on Jackie Blue, still joins them for the odd gig and seems moved by the fans' response.
I have a copy of It Shined, the story of the band written by member Michael 'Supe' Grande. Jackie Blue was a bit of a double-edged sword: a huge success but it meant the band were then subjected to record company pressure to come up with another big hit.
1 person likes this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
13 Mar 17
@JohnRoberts If I like an act I research a huge amount about them. There are very few who have come along in the past 15 years or so who I could say much about at all! The Ozarks are very unusual.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109846)
• Los Angeles, California
13 Mar 17
Wow, you know a lot about the band.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
9 Mar 17
I have always liked this song and remember when it came out. Sorry to hear the band went country, they had real potential.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (67380)
• United States
9 Mar 17
Love that song.
And no, they were never "country."
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109846)
• Los Angeles, California
9 Mar 17
Not country in the "pure" sense and labeled country rock? I always considered they went over to the other side.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (67380)
• United States
10 Mar 17
@JohnRoberts -- now that I'm home and can get to my Whitburn I can verify things. They had one "charted" country song..I say "charted," because it peaked at #84. Hardly a Country Music Hall of Fame career (but they'll still probably make it ahead of the Wilburn Brothers 
).
).1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43418)
• Denver, Colorado
9 Mar 17
I used to have this on one of those old K-Tel records. Listened to it all the time.
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (50080)
• United States
9 Mar 17
I have a record of that song somewhere 
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29413)
• Eugene, Oregon
9 Mar 17
I remember this one vividly too, heard it in my head when I read the title.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
9 Mar 17
I like this song, I love that you tell me who did the song as I can remember the name of the song but never the band.
1 person likes this
