After several trips to Los Angeles, California , in 1970, the band

After several trips to Los Angeles, California , in 1970, the band was signed by Atco Records (whose parent label, Atlantic Records , once had a partnership with Stax) and rechristened Black Oak Arkansas. Their self-titled debut album Black Oak Arkansas was released in 1971. The record featured BOA classics such as “Hot and Nasty”, “Lord Have Mercy On My Soul”, “Uncle Lijiah” (written in pseudo-tribute to Harvey Jett’s real-life great uncle) and “When Electricity Came To Arkansas”, which fundamentalist religious groups claimed contained backward-masked “Satanic messages” (possibly from a live performance of the song in which Mangrum utters “dog si eh” and “natas” three times). The band toured extensively, gaining a reputation as a premier live act throughout the early 1970s across America, and later in Europe. Keep the Faith followed in 1972, featuring the concert staple “Fever in My Mind”. Drummer Wayne Evans left the band and was replaced by drummer Tommy Aldridge on BOA’s next release If an Angel Came to See You, Would You Make Her Feel at Home? , which featured another BOA concert favorite, “Mutants of the Monster” and expanded on the group’s eclectic musical style.