Customer Reviews

Keep the Faith

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I was a sophomore in high school(1971), I went to see my very 1st concert-my Rock N' Roll heroes,Grand Funk R.R.Well,this unknown band called Black Oak Arkansas (cool name,we thought),opened the show.You would have thought that Metallica had hit the stage(for you youngsters)'cuz 'back in the day' these guys were MONSTERS in concert!Back then,really long hair(guys)was the coolest & all 6 of these guys hit the stage 'moshing'their long lox with this never-before mix of hard rock,bluegrass & country with the forerunner to Diamond Dave on lead vocals-the one & only Jim 'Dandy' Mangrum!These guys were totally original sounding, and nobody compares to them,even today. We heard a great bunch of tunes from their debut album(awesome-even 'live'& never heard before!)and two from an 'upcoming 2nd album-"Fever In My Mind"(the opener!!) & "White-Headed Woman". Let me tell you-we RAN out & found their debut and became instant fans! Then we waited for what seemed like forever(ah,youth) for the release of this,their 2nd l.p. to hear the other 2 aforementioned tunes we saw them play 'live'. This entire album, along with the next 3 or 4, are a great'slice of Americana'raunch 'n' roll!!'-as they later called their raucus brand of hillbilly metal.BOA-a 'one-of-a-kind' original!

This record is a good follow up to their first self titled album. Two songs are extreemly good "Fever in My Mind" and "Short Life Line". The other songs are good as well, but these two are outstanding! However BOA do not manage to make songs as good and catchy as Hot and Nasty on their first album. But who cares? "Keep the Faith" is sadly starting to be difficult to find. I bought mine 2nd handed through Amazon UK. Definitively worth it! However the cover is slightly different from the one pictured here (without the yellow border). My favourite BOA album are "Ain't Life Grand" and is probably easier to find.

Keep The Faith is an Excellent album yet its mostly unknown. BOA merges Sex, Religion and Rock N Roll on this one and they do it well. With Jim Dandy's unique vocals and 4 excellent musicians BOA was on of the 70s best rock bands. I love every song on Keep The Faith, the lyrics are BOAs best and the music is outstanding. Keep The Faith is a nice catchy pop/rock song with a spiritual flavor. Fever In My Mind is one of the fastest sang songs in rock n roll history and a very good song. The Big One Is Still Coming hits close to home for me, I was born and raised in Southern California. White Headed Women and Short Life Line are two fine Love (sexual) songs. Don't Confuse what You Don't Know, We Live On Day To Day (an Excellent song), Feet On Earth- Head in Sky are all songs bordering on the spiritual and/or religious. Every song on Keep the faith is very good to excellent. If you gonna get one BOA album (CD) get this one if your gonna get two get this one and Raunch N Roll Live.

This is in my opinion Blacks Oaks definitive album that sealed their brand of sound.
Even better than the first. this to me is the best. Between album 1,2 and 3 which has
gravel roads on it that is all you need of Black Oak because it is the best.
Keep the faith should be played more on rock stations but I do not think it is.
This is a great piece of work. Very underated if you ask me.

I had owned this album in the early '70's & didn't really appreciate it then, but now realize it is possibly their best album before they lost an original member. Squeezebox Evans was an under appreciated drummer upon hearing this in CD format. I remember the album cover being very unique & impressive for the time. Their next album is very good also, & features their new drummer, who rocks as well.
Another great thing about this album is that they used Doc Siegel as their engineer, who worked with Buffalo Springfield & others bands such as BOA at Gold Star Recording in Los Angeles. Doc really made this album kick some serious butt. Their some great guitar interplay between Harvey Jett & Stan Knight with one guy using quite alot of Leslie, which I can't get enough of. Great songs & stellar playing throughout. Thanks Quality Discs.

This is BOA's second LP, and its real good, kind of an extension of the first LP. I'd recommend it after you get the 1st LP simply called Black Oak Arkansas. The 3rd LP, If an Angel Came to See you, Would you make her feel at home is great, except I've never seen it on CD.

I was there when Black Oak played the University of Alabama in Huntsville and still have the poster/flyer. 1971 If I remember correctly. It was my first exposure to a rock band and I will never forget it. Ever. And I'm 54. It was a small venue of 100 people maybe and it rocked big time. And yes we were there right at "420".
I bought the Black Oak Arkansas Album and was hooked!. I still love it today.
I have the very first rare album too. With "When I Smoke I Like to Sleep". LOL.
But this album was the lame. Boring. Sorry...but it is just isn't any good. Blah...
They did a few songs after that album that were fine...but they were not on this disk. I give it a thumbs down. But then remember that is just this goobers opinion.