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Ozark Mountain Daredevils


Mark

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I saw them Friday night at O'Reilly Family Event Center. The show lasted from 7pm to midnight. They celebrated their 40th anniversary. Also on the bill was Big Smith and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. They said it was the first time the Event Center has sold out since they opened. It was a great show and on the final number all three bands played.

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A good true story from Michael Granda's book "It Shined - The Saga of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils".

Early in their careers, they were playing the county fair circuit in Southern California. A local fast food chicken place was having a promotion and had a guy dressed up as a chicken at this one particular county fair. When the band started playing Chicken Train, the chicken began dancing around wildly with the crowd and the band getting into his act. The chicken eventually made it up on stage with the band as the crowd erupted. Well, the next thing you know, this guy in a chicken suit began showing up at other Ozark Mountain Daredevils events in the area aroung Southern California, and to the band's delight, the chicken would get up on stage during Chicken Train for his dance. It just so happened that his dance became so popular that local radio and television stations ran a segment on their news. The owner of the San Diego Padres, Ray Kroc, heard about the chicken and invited him to a San Diego Padres game. Sure enough, the chicken would dance and go crazy in between innings and the crowd loved it. Being the businessman that he was, Ray Kroc hired the chicken full time to perform at Padres games, and thus, the San Diego Chicken became the first mascot in profession sports, all thanks to the Ozark Mountain Daredevils and their song Chicken Train.

One of the reasons the Ozark Mountain Daredevils never made it bigger in the music business was because of their agreement that they would not be on the road, and away from their wives and kids, for more than 3 weeks at a time and they always remained in SW Missour near their hometowns. They resisted moving to California and going on yearlong tours - which were both almost prerequisites to making it big time in the music business. They remained true to who they were at heart, simple country boys from the Ozark Mountains.

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Big Smith, NGDB, and the Daredevil's...bet that was one heck of a show!

Not sure how that one got past me, but I guess they didn't need me there if it was a sellout. Sorry I missed it!

"The problem with a politician’s quote on Facebook is you don’t know whether or not they really said it." –Abraham Lincoln

Tales of an Ozark Campground Proprietor

Dead Drift Fly Shop

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The first album, if I remember correctly, was just called "The Ozark Mountain Daredevils". It has the most real hits on it, including Jackie Blue, Chicken Train, and several other good songs. My other two favorites are "It'll Shine When It Shines"--the cover song is one of my absolute favorites--and "The Car Over the Lake Album".

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As with most bands the first album is usually the best, so, my first recommendation is the 1973 self-titled "Ozark Mountain Daredevils." I have been waiting for a reason to listen to some of their albums. So I now have a project and will report back.

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