The follow-up to High on the Hog , 1974’s Street Party (featuring

The follow-up to High on the Hog , 1974’s Street Party (featuring “Son of a Gun”, “Brink of Creation”, “Hey Ya’ll” and “Dixie”, as well as a cover of the Motown classic “Dancing in the Street”), failed to maintain the momentum, but another 1974 release entitled Early Times , a shelved Stax recording by The Knowbody Else (now released on the back of their success and under the BOA banner), kept the band in the public eye. Guitarist Harvey Jett left the band after Street Party and was replaced by Jimmy “Soybean” Henderson in 1975 and he debuted on the band’s final studio album for Atco Records, Ain’t Life Grand . This album included a remake of George Harrison ‘s Beatles classic ” Taxman “, as well as new originals like “Fancy Nancy”, “Rebel”, “Good Stuff”, “Cryin’ Shame”, and “Let Life Be Good to You”. The band signed a contract with MCA and promptly released X-Rated in 1975, which marked the beginning of Black Oak Arkansas’s decline. In 1976, they released two nondescript and unsuccessful albums for MCA, Balls of Fire and 10 Yr Overnight Success , the latter as a five-piece band with the departure of Rickie Reynolds, who was replaced on tour by keyboardist Marius Penczner during this period. Also in 1976, Atco released a final BOA contractual-obligation album, the poorly-recorded but high-spirited Live! Mutha , recorded on Mother’s Day, 1975, in Long Beach, California. This recording saw a reappearance of Ruby Starr.