Black Oak - I'd Rather Be Sailing

You know what i haven't done in a while? Record roulette. That's where we grab a record i know absolutely nothing about, and hope it isn't terrible.

Black Oak's I'd Rather Be Sailing. They look like Southern Rock to me, and they're fully committed to The Lonely Island's I'm On A Boat schtick. It's 1978, so there's not going to be a T-Pain guest spot, but there's "syndrums" and glockenspiel, and everyone plays guitar (some with e-bows). I won't know if they are actually from Arkansas until two or three paragraphs from now, but Capricorn Studios is the "birthplace of southern rock" so i feel somewhat vindicated in my judging of the cover photo. Time to walk the plank, i guess.

Sweet baby buddah, i choked on my drink trying not to laugh. It was just shock, and I'm still getting used to his voice, but Jim Dandy Mangrum is unique. I just wasn't expecting the opening at all. The electronic toms are ridiculous, but yeah this is perfectly great southern rock, four tracks in.

You probably suspected it wouldn't be about boats at all (i wouldn't mention a SNL sketch if i took it serious), didn't you? It reminds me of other stuff, but not explicitly enough to give it a name. Oooh, that's a nice sax intro on "You Can Count On Me (I'll Be There)."

So, first half impressions: it is in fact southern rock, but there is also the unmistakable influence of disco and soul. Eureka! I know what i'm hearing. It sounds like a disco remix of drunken Blood, Sweat & Tears leftovers. That sounded insulting. I didn't mean it that way, these are just my tasting notes, to borrow that metaphor. I probably wouldn't want to drink it on a regular basis, but i'm not dreading side b. See you on the flipside...

... aw maaaan. They went soft rock. That blows. I expected the e-bows to be lap steel imposters, but i didn't want easy listening. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad at all. Underwhelming, but not unlistenable. Side 1 had so much potential, and then they just James Sealsed the second half. The first half is almost so close to the edge of prog territory, but then you get rick-rolled into a Gerry Rafferty concert. It's like a Georgia Satellites concert where they don't play Keep Your Hands To Yourself, or Greg Allman refusing to play I'm No Angel. Why did i even put pants on for this?

This one gets a green participation ribbon, and a "thanks for actually being from the town you named your band after." See, i told you i'd look it up eventually. I'm the one who's disappointed, you guys did fine.

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