Chicken Train Stomp Standing On The Rock Ozark Mountain Daredevils

Chicken Train Stomp Album: The Ozark Mountain Daredevils (1973) track 4
Standing On The Rock Album: The Ozark Mountain Daredevils (1973) track 6
by Ozark Mountain Daredevils

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils are an American band formed in 1972 in Springfield, Missouri. They are most widely known for their singles "If You Wanna Get to Heaven" in 1974 and "Jackie Blue" in 1975.

Bassist Michael "Supe" Granda has also written a book about the band, It Shined.

The band name was derived from "Cosmic Corn Cob & His Amazing Ozark Mountain Daredevils", a name that John Dillon came up with at a Kansas City "naming party" after the band was told that the name they had previously been using, "Family Tree", was already taken ("Burlap Socks" and "Buffalo Chips" were two other monikers that had been considered). The band shortened the name because none of the band members at the time wanted to be called "Cosmic Corn Cob", and they did not want the name to sound similar to the Amazing Rhythm Aces.

In 1971 Randle Chowning formed a band which included himself, Steve Cash, John Dillon, Elizabeth Anderson, Larry Lee, Rick Campanelli, Bill Jones and Michael Granda.

The band recorded a demo at Springfield's Top Talent Studios (soon to be renamed as American Artists) and that demo, containing such early songs as "Rhythm of Joy", found its way to New York music executive John Hammond via the hands of band friend Steve Canaday, co–owner of the New Bijou Theater. In July 1972 Hammond sent a producer, Michael Sunday, to the band's Ruedi-Valley Ranch in Aldrich, Missouri, the house rented from Randle Chowning's Southwest Missouri State University teacher Mrs. Ruedi, where the band rehearsed and where Chowning and his brother Rusty lived. Sunday offered the group $500 to make another demo tape at American Artists but ultimately decided to pass on offering them a contract. Many of the songs on this demo appeared thirteen years later as the record The Lost Cabin Sessions.

The band later sent a tape to the team who managed fellow Missourians Brewer & Shipley, Kansas City's Paul Peterson and Stan Plesser (who also owned the Vanguard, a popular coffee house, and ran their own Good Karma Productions). The pair gave the band a chance and became their managers as well in October 1972. The band then changed their name to the Ozark Mountain Daredevils (see "Name") and saw the departure of Campanelli and Jones along with the addition of Buddy Brayfield, a friend of Granda's, as the piano player. Anderson, though still romantically involved with Dillon, retired from the stage. Campanelli left on his own to pursue a master's degree in music; Jones rejoined the Daredevils briefly later and would continue to appear as a guest player on some of their shows and recording sessions.

The band began playing out in 1972 and 1973. On February 8, 1973 they played at Cowtown Ballroom in Kansas City, Missouri. Later that month, on February 21, they played a concert at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School in Shawnee, Kansas. Two weeks after that, on March 9 and 10, they played at Kiel Opera House in St. Louis and Cowtown Ballroom again, this time with Brewer & Shipley, accompanied by Loudon Wainwright III. Performances from both those March shows later turned up on a CD called Archive Alive in 1997.

The group's demo tape eventually caught the attention of A&M Records staff producer David Anderle, who was looking for an Eagles country rock type of band to place on the label. Anderle and the Eagles' first producer, Glyn Johns, flew to Missouri to catch the band's aforementioned performance at Cowtown Ballroom on March 10, 1973. But the band, nervous about Johns and Anderle being in the audience, did not play their best. Later on, Paul Peterson invited the two men back to his place to hear the band give an unplugged performance by candlelight. This time Anderle and Johns were blown away and they were signed to A&M on May 1, 1973, and sent to England to record their first record at Olympic Studios in London with Johns at the helm during that June and July.

The first record, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils (also referred to as "The Quilt Album"), was released in December 1973 and spawned the Top 30 hit "If You Wanna Get to Heaven" in the summer of 1974. The album introduced the band's unique mixture of rock, country, bluegrass and pop to the world and is still the favorite of many of the group's fans.

Chicken Train
Runnin all day
Chicken Train
Runnin all day
Chicken Train
Runnin all day
Can't get on
Can't get off
Chicken Train take the chickens away

Lazer beam
In my dream
Lazer beam
In my dream
Lazer beam
In my dream
Lazer beam like a sawed off dream

I been standin' on the rock, waitin' for the wind to blow
I been standin' on the rock, waitin' for the wind to blow
I been standin' on the rock, waitin' for my seeds to grow
I been walkin' on the ground, waitin' for the guns to quit
I been walkin' on the ground, waitin' for the guns to quit
I been walkin' on the ground, waitin' for the pieces to fit
HARP SOLO (1 Harp)
HARP SOLO (2 Harps)
HARP SOLO (3 Harps)
Better get back to the country, look around and find you ahome
Better get back to the country, look around and find you ahome
Better get back to the country, that's where we all come from
I been standin' on the rock, waitin' for the wind to blow
I been standin' on the rock, waitin' for the wind to blow
I been standin' on the rock, waitin' for my seeds to grow(whew!)
I been standin' on the rock, waitin' for my seeds to grow
I been standin' on the rock, waitin' for my seeds to grow