How a Producer’s Suggestion Unlocked the Potential of The Ozark Mountain Daredevils’ Biggest Hit in 1975

They were lumped in with country rock groups when they arrived in the early 70s. But The Ozark Mountain Daredevils had something else up their sleeve with their breakthrough song, one that offered a slinky musical feel that was more akin to R&B.

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The song was “Jackie Blue”. Very nearly overlooked by the band and given a lyrical overhaul before it saw the light of day, the song earned the Missourians a No. 3 hit in 1975.

Daredevil Doings

The name of the band could have been an even bigger mouthful had wiser heads not prevailed. They shortened the moniker down from the original idea of Cosmic Corn Cob & His Amazing Ozark Mountain Daredevils.

Formed in Springfield, Missouri, the band nearly fumbled their first big chance. A demo tape brought the attention of A&M Records, who saw dollar signs in their country rock sound, considering the success of countryish rock bands like Eagles.

But the band played tentatively during a live showcase in front of label execs. Only when they retreated to an informal setting and played acoustically did A&M realize their potential. The band immediately returned something positive on the investment, hitting the Top 25 in 1974 with the debut single “If You Wanna Get To Heaven”.

Recasting “Jackie”

In the middle of making their second album, It’ll Shine When It Shines, in an old Missouri farmhouse, producer Glyn Johns heard the band’s Larry Lee fooling around on piano with a song called “Jackie Blue”. Johns heard a potential hit in the making and asked Lee to flesh out the lyrics, which were only placeholders at the time.

When the band was adding overdubs in Los Angeles, Lee played “Jackie Blue” for Johns with words relating to a male drug dealer. Johns insisted that such a song couldn’t be a hit. With fellow band member Steve Cash, Lee went back to the drawing board and came up with new lyrics.

At Johns’ suggestion, they changed Jackie’s gender and removed the drug dealer storyline. Upon its release in 1975, “Jackie Blue” surged to No. 3 on the pop charts. Although the band continued to release albums with regularity throughout the 70s, they never again scored a pop hit of that magnitude.

Behind the Lyrics of “Jackie Blue”

“Jackie Blue” tells the story of a girl who lives so reservedly that she misses out on life’s greatest pleasures. “You’d take an inch but you’d love a mile,” Lee sings of how her tentative nature robs her of her true desires. “What’s a game, girl, if you never lose,” he ponders. “Ask a winner and you’ll probably find/Ooh, Jackie, they’ve lost at some time.”

Lee and Cash keep coming up with similes to describe the damage done to Jackie, such as “Like playing music, but you never sing.” “Making love is like sifting through sand,” the narrator advises. “Ooh, Jackie, it slips through your hand.”

We’re guessing that the drug dealer version of “Jackie Blue” would have been quite compelling as well. But even in this reconstituted form, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils’ signature song delivers a pointed character sketch that hits home in a major way.

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