Gary James' Interview With Michael "Supe" Grande Of
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils



They put their band together in Springfield, Missouri in 1972. It wasn't long before A&M Records came calling and signed them to the label. By 1973 they had their first hit record, "If You Wanna Get To Heaven". That record would be followed by an even bigger hit for the group, "Jackie Blue". Released in 1975, it went to number three on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart and number one on Cash Box and Record World charts. Those songs are regularly played on Classic Rock radio stations. Through the years they've shared the bill with the likes of The Beach Boys, The Doobie Brothers, Jeff Beck, Firefall, Kansas, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Brewer And Shipley and The Commodores. In 2022, to celebrate their 50^th anniversary together, they embarked on a year long tour, a documentary for Ozark Public Television, their Grand Ole Opry debut, and a set of performances with the fifty piece Springfield Symphony Orchestra.

To mark their 51^st year together they re-recorded "Jackie Blue", calling it "Jackie Blue 2", with Molly Healy doing the vocals. Molly has been performing with the group since 2012, providing fiddle, cello and backing vocals. The group we are talking about is The Ozark Mountain Daredevils. We spoke with Michael "Supe" Granda about his band.

Q - So, Michael...

A - Hey man, I'm not used to people calling me Michael.

Q - What do they call you then?

A - Supe. (laughs)

Q - Supe, you're actually the second guy from The Ozark Mountain Daredevils. I interviewed Steve Canaday way back when.

A - Yeah, he's been dead for twenty-four years.

Q - And he was an actual member of the band, was he?

A - Well, he was. Then he wasn't. Then he was. He was one of those kind of guys that came and went. Then he was on the record. Then the next record he wasn't. Then he came back. That's how we rolled over all these years. A very inclusive band and he was a very, very dear friend and an important cog in the wheel.

Q - I don't suppose you ever thought fifty-one years ago you'd still be in a band much less re-recording "Jackie Blue", did you?

A - No, not really. As a matter of fact, I don't think I ever thought of what I'd be doing fifty-one years later. Sometimes I have a hard time thinking of what I'm going to do fifty-one minutes later. But yeah, we've been very lucky. We're a lucky group of men and we're thankful every day.

Q - Last year you guys did an extensive U.S. tour. Did you also tour Europe?

A - No. We haven't been to Europe in a few years. Basically we have been able to make our living touring, I won't even call it the U.S. I'll just call it the Mid-West. The band is still based out of Springfield, Missouri, though I live in Nashville, Tennessee. The band is still out of Springfield, Missouri. That way we don't really get out to Phoenix. We don't get up to Philadelphia much anymore. We basically play around the Mid-West and we've been very lucky to be able to make a living in the Mid-West. But, we're still playing. We're still playing a lot. And to get back to your point earlier, yeah, we're a lucky group of guys to be able to still make our living with our music.

Q - But, why just the Mid-West? You had, at the very least, two hit records. People would recognize those songs. I would think you could tour anywhere. Or you don't want to?

A - Oh, no, no. That's not the point at all. I'd love to go to the Pacific Northwest. I'd love to go and play some other places. It just hasn't come up. I don't know why. I really don't know why. But if someone were to call and make us an offer, that would be great. But the offer just hasn't been there.

Q - I knew that The Ozark Mountain Daredevils had made it when I'm watching The CBS Evening News in 1975 and they ran a segment on the band. Do you know what I'm referring to? That's something they rarely did.

A - Oh, my Lord. I don't think I know what you're talking about. I don't think I've ever seen that. But then again, 1975 is almost fifty years ago, and like I said, sometimes I have a hard time remembering fifty minutes ago. (laughs) I don't remember that. I would like to see it. At one point in time we had a lot more coverage. We had a couple of hits out. People were going, "Hey man. Who are these hairy hillbillies?" And, "How come these these hairy hillbillies are really good? They're sitting on their porch, drinking some moonshine. These guys are really, really good. Really good songs, and they can sing like birds and the records are well produced."

Q - And, there's something else that I don't know if you ever thought about, but when your records were coming out, you had the support of Top 40 radio, which groups do not have today.

A - Exactly right.

Q - And that added to your success. If you play a record every day, every week, every month for so many years, people get familiar with it.

A - Exactly right Gary. We can get into that, but not only for us, but for the entire industry. Radio play has changed. At one point in time we had a couple of major hits. So, we were not on the underground FM radio stations, but we were on the big AM radio stations around the country. When that happens, you get a lot more opportunities.

Q - How long did it take Larry Lee and Steve Cash two write "Jackie Blue"? Do you know?

A - Yeah. "Jackie Blue" was written at the time period when we just started. At the very onset of the band. The first record was out and we started to make the second record. We pulled a mobile recording unit from Los Angeles into the Ozarks and parked it next to this old Civil War mansion that we used as a rehearsal hall. We had the room. We'd been in there for a couple years. We had the room sounding really, really good. Had some nice carpets on the floor. Some heavy drapes. The room sounded really good. When we asked A&M if we could record the album in our practice room, they agreed. We pulled the recording truck next to the house, ran the microphones through the open windows into our room and started to play just like we played for the last couple years. Songs were popping up left and right. A very creative time period. Songs were being written in the morning, recorded in the afternoon and mixed in the evening. I mean, it was very creative. I can't stress the word enough. So, songs were popping up. Larry was sitting at the piano, playing "Jackie Blue". Glyns John (record producer) walked by and said, "That's very nice. Let's record that." So, we sat down, played it, learned it, and recorded it. It happened very quickly. Now, I'm sure Larry had spent some time working on it, but we recorded it very quickly. Now, there's a phase two of the song. So, we laid down a very cool track, that's the track you hear now in the grocery stores. So, we get out to L.A. to mix and Larry hadn't put a vocal on it. All we had was the track. Larry went out to his studio and started singing the song. The song was about a guy named Jackie Blue. He was this. He went here. And he started putting the vocals on and Glyn Johns said, "Larry, come here. This is a number one song, but it must be about a girl. You must change the lyrics." So, Larry went, "Well, okay." We were a little bitty band from Springfield, Missouri. Glyn Johns was a famed producer making a suggestion. Of course we're going to take his advice. So Larry grabbed Steve Cash and they went off into an adjacent studio that had a piano, and I think it took Steve... Steve was a master word smith. Those lyrics are very cool in the song. I think it took Steve Cash maybe a healthy afternoon, that he could come up with stuff like that. So, they came back over. "Hey, we've got some new lyrics." Larry went out and sang the new lyrics about Jackie Blue. So, Jackie Blue had a sex change in mid recording. But yeah, it happened very quickly. Back then things could happen very quickly. One of my songs on the album, "Probably Always Will" was the same. Wrote it in the morning. Recorded it in the afternoon. Mixed it in the evening. Next song.

Q - That's the way record companies rolled in those days, isn't it?

A - Exactly right Gary. You could go hear a band and say, "We like these guys. We're gonna sign 'em. Let's go right into the studio. What are you doing next month?" "Well, we're recording." You make the record and put it out. It was just a different time back then. I'm not going to be one of these "Get off my lawn" old guys, but I much prefer the way things ran in those days.

Q - Then The Beatles came along and spoiled it with "Sgt. Pepper".

A - (laughs) Oh, Lord, there's all that, yeah. But, it was much more organic back then. We fit right into that organic style of making music, presenting music and the organic style of just creating art.

Q - When A&M Records signed the group in 1973, you were sent to London's Olympic Studios to record your first album. Couldn't you have recorded that album in the States? Or was that because your producer was from England?

A - Yes. You're exactly right. We got together. We were showing up, Glyn and David (Anderle, A&M's Artist and Repertoire head) were listening to songs we were playing and singing. We were drinking beer. We were having a great time. Glyn Johns said, "I want to work with this band, but I would like to work with them in a studio where I feel more comfortable." That's Olympic Studios. So, when they walked into Jerry Moss's office and presented the proposal, Glyn said, "I want to work with these guys." And who's gonna tell Glyn Johns "No!"?

Q - Not even Jerry Moss.

A - Not even Jerry Moss. Glyn Johns said, "I want to get them into the studio where I feel the most comfortable." And it was a very wise move because we didn't know what we were doing. We'd been working in little studios around Springfield, but oh My God! To be able to fly to London and work in Olympic Studios with Glyn Johns calling the shots. It was amazing. That was the reason why we did that. The second reason is that Glyn had worked with other bands before. He knew that we needed to get away from our everyday daily life bubble. We didn't want to be in the middle of an overdub and have one of our kids fall down the steps. "Oh, I gotta go to the hospital. I have a family member get sick, I had somebody's water heater bust." So, we got completely away from The Ozarks. That alleviated stress. That alleviated outside influence where our friends couldn't drop by with a case of beer. "You're here in the studio. Let's have a party!" It eliminated all of that extemporaneous distraction, which was another wise call on Glyn's part. For those two reasons, that's why we went to England.

Q - Alright. But when you went to England, you brought along roadies, girl friends, wives and family. Is that accurate? If I was Jerry Moss or Glyn Johns I would have said, "Fellas, we're in the studio. I want just the band. I don't want all these people."

A - Yeah, I understand. We didn't take family because we didn't have families yet. Three wives went and a couple of managers. We did all the equipment ourselves. We didn't take roadies. All we did was take three wives and a couple of our management team and that was it. Everybody knew to stay away from the studio. When we were working, we were working. When we were in the studio, we were in the studio. Everyone knew to stay away from the studio while we were working. So that was established up front.

Q - What were the wives doing while you were in the studio?

A - Shopping. (laughs)

Q - Spending the money that you didn't make yet.

A - (laughs) You said that. I didn't say that, but bang! That really hit the nail on the head.

Q - Your big break happened when Brewer And Shipley's managers came along and signed you to a production company and you were off and running. Is that right?

A - Yes. When we were in our very fledgling year, first couple years, Springfield, Missouri isn't anywhere near any kind of recording Mecca. We were just a bunch of guys hanging out, playing music, smoking pot, drinking beer. Now, the music we were listening to was The Dillards, who were also from The Ozarks. We were listening to Brewer And Shipley, who were also at the time living in Missouri. Those were the records we were listening to. We were listening to many other records, but those were the two that we said we kind of sound like these two bands, Brewer And Shipley and The Dillards. So, we got a Brewer And Shipley album and we flipped it over and on the back side of it said, "For correspondence write to Brewer And Shipley at Good Karma Productions, 4218 Main St, Kansas City, Missouri." So that's what we did. We had a little demo tape. We sent the demo tape to Kansas City, to Brewer And Shipley's management team. They listened to the tape and went, "Wow! This is really good." When their management team went out to L.A., Brewer And Shipley were on A&M. So, Stan Plesser and Paul Peterson went and conducted Brewer And Shipley business. Everything was fine. At the end of the meeting, Stan pulled our demo cassette out of his briefcase and said, "Oh, by the way, here's another band back in The Ozarks that we're representing." They handed the demo tape to David Anderle, who was the head of A and R at A&M. David Anderle heard three or four songs, stopped the tape and said, "Just a second." He picked up the phone and called Glyn Johns and said, "Glyn, you know that band we've been looking to produce together?" They wanted to do a project together because they were close friends first of all and they just wanted to work together. "Glyn, you know that band we've been wanting to produce together? I found them." David went to Jerry Moss's office and said, "Jerry, I found the band. We must sign them." Jerry Moss wrote up a contract and we signed it. But yeah, we kind of got our big break on the heels of Brewer And Shipley's success.

Q - Did you ever encounter Herb Alpert on the lot of A&M Records?

A - Well, we'd see him pass by.

Q - But you never talked to him or interacted with him?

A - No. There was never a lot of interaction with Herb. Our liaison to the company was Jerry. Good Lord, how many acts did they have? A hundred? I don't know. So, I think Jerry worked with a portion of the acts. Herb worked with a portion of the acts on the label. So, we never had much interaction with Herb. Our man was Jerry.

Q - By the time of your third album, Jerry Moss asked the band to relocate to Southern California and nobody wanted to do that. Why?

A - Well, at that point in time we had started families. At that point in time we were making business decisions along with family decisions. I had a little daughter. She was swimming in a crystal clear creek. She was eating fresh strawberries and fresh tomatoes from the garden. We were breathing crystal clear, blue air. It was idyllic. And so, we had to make the decision, do we want to uproot our families and transplant them out to Los Angeles? So, our decision was not to do that. We decided to stay in The Ozarks with our small families, with our young families, and continue to live the life we had lived, which is what we were used to, and we thought that life contributed to our music. So, we said if we move to L.A. it may get a little off track. So, we stayed in The Ozarks and stayed true to our roots. We would've made a lot more money and we could have been a lot more successful had we moved to L.A. and gone on The Sonny And Cher Show and The Mike Douglas Show, but you make your decisions. I don't really regret it.

Q - Couldn't you have split your time between The Ozarks and California?

A - Well, that's what we tried to do. We would fly out there and do our work and then we would fly back to The Ozarks. It was maybe 70/30. We split our time between The Ozarks and Hollywood. I think A&M wanted 90/10. Flip the percentage. If we had been in Los Angeles they could have called us on Tuesday and said, "Hey, you want to open up for somebody at the Hollywood Bowl on Thursday?" Had we been more accessible to the industry back then, who knows what would have happened?

Q - And you guys didn't like to tour?

A - Well, once again we get back to families.

Q - The record company was leaning heavily on you guys to come up with another song like "Jackie Blue" and you didn't want to go that route?

A - Well, we didn't have it.

Q - But, could you have come up with another catchy song like that?

A - Yeah. We could have gone in and recorded "Jackie Green". Then we could have recorded "Jackie Brown" and "Jackie Grey".

Q - I'm guessing they were looking for a song with a catchy melody and some catchy lyrics.

A - Exactly right.

Q - If you wrote a song that becomes a hit, can you catch lightning in a bottle twice?

A - There you go.

Q - Could you have done it?

A - We could have chased it. We could have tried 'cause we had a handful of writers in the band. Every song was different. If you didn't like "Jackie Blue" on the record, just play the next track. You didn't hear "Jackie Blue". You heard a banjo and a mandolin. And if you didn't like that, go to to the next track and you heard a stomping harmonica. Now with half a dozen singers, the song that made the most impact just happened to be Larry's voice. Larry, on each album, had two or three songs. So, we could have gone in and tried to record "Jackie Red", but instead we said, "Well no, we've got these others songs. They're just as good. Maybe not as catchy." Well, we didn't really feel like chasing that formula. So, maybe there's another decision on that point and maybe I'd be in a mansion in Beverly Hills instead of a house in Nashville. Now, a lot of guys do that. They'll uproot and they'll go to Hollywood and say, "What shirt do you want me to wear sir?" But we didn't do that.

Q - Let's not forget, if you didn't have a powerhouse manager, we most likely didn't hear about those people.

A - Yeah.

Q - Some made it through and some didn't.

A - Exactly right. It was a wise decision as much as a business decision to stay in The Ozarks. Here I am. We're in our seventies now and I can't really get pissed about the decisions I've made or not made along the way. Hey! You make your bed, you sleep in it. I gotta a pretty nice, comfortable bed I'm sleeping in.

Q - That's important to get a good night's sleep.

A - Exactly right.

Q - That's something Michael Jackson wasn't able to do.

A - Exactly right. Those kinds of things were and are still important to us.

Q - In September of 1978, The Ozarks appeared on The Midnight Special. He wasn't so impressed with the band's performance and consequently didn't pick up the option to have you record another album. Why did he drop the band from the label?

A - Probably for several reasons. First of all, he would call and say, "Well, we found you a tour. You can go on tour with Fleetwood Mac for four and a half months. We said no. He said "No?" What do you mean, no? There are guys in this industry that would kill to go on a Fleetwood Mac tour for four and a half months." "Naah. We don't want to be away from our homes and families that much." What?" So, he went and found somebody else that would. He saw the show. We had become a rough, tumble bunch instead of the smooth operators that we were. Because of the combination of things, he said, "Well, if you guys want to stay in Missouri, if you guys just want to hang around Springfield, Missouri, you know what? I'm gonna let you guys do that." So, he didn't pick up the option. He didn't even pick up the phone. So, he didn't pick up the option for our last two albums. That ended our relationship with A&M Records.

Q - How did you hear you guys were dropped from the label?

A - Well, in the contract is says when you turn the album in, standard contract lingo, ninety days they must contact you one way or another. So, we waited ninety days. Then we waited one hundred, twenty days. Then we waited one hundred, eighty days and we just said, "Move on."

Q - Is it true that Jerry Moss thought you rushed through the song on The Midnight Special?

A - Oh, yeah.

Q - And maybe some of the guys in the group had one too many?

A - Me. (laughs) There were several of us.

Q - And that may have contributed to A&M Records not picking up your option?

A - It may have. But I think Jerry was just tired of putting up with us.

Q - Maybe Herb would have been more of the guy to deal with?

A - Hadn't thought about that, Gary. Maybe.

Q - He seemed to be an easy going guy who understood musicians.

A - Well, he was a musician.

Q - And Jerry was a businessman, the lawyer.

A - Correct.

Q - So, you would have been better off with Herb then.

A - Herb was the music half. Jerry was the business half. Jerry would say, "Here's what we want you to do. We want you to go out for a seven month tour with the Eagles. We would like you to move to L.A. We would like you to go on The Sonny And Cher Show." And we said, "Naah."

Q - You did what you felt was right and that's what happened.

A - That's what happened. You're right. Like I said, I really don't regret any of the decisions we made 'cause I've had a wonderful life. We're all doing very well and it's all good.

Q - Why do you believe Country Rock groups like The Ozarks, Poco and Firefall had a more difficult time selling records in the 1980s? Was it because of people like Michael Jackson or Madonna or the MTV videos that were coming on, or the Hard Rock groups, or a combination of all of the above?

A - A combination of all of the above. See, we made a lot of friends back in those days. Pure Prairie League, New Riders Of The Purple Sage, Amazing Rhythm Aces. We all had the same problem. We're not from L.A. or New York. We were pretty ragtag. No, we didn't come out with sparkling suits on. The music industry got pretty slick in the '80s. MTV. I've got a face for radio. I wasn't going to make it on MTV. For the photo shoot I'd probably go and buy some new blue jeans and that was about it. We didn't really fit in. So, instead of trying to reach back and help Poco and The Ozarks and The New Riders, instead of helping them come into the new day, they just went out and got new guys. Got some new acts. People don't want to hear that pedal steel guitar anymore. They want to see some flash and whatever was hot, hip and happening in the '80s.

Q - (the) Eagles never dressed up. They just walked onstage and the people came.

A - That's one in a million. For every Eagles there's 270 other bands that played well, sang well. Now, the Eagles did have really good songs and they were in L.A. So, they just had a different attitude towards things than a lot of the other groups. See, I'm still not interested in an eighteen month tour. I know I can go sell seven million records, but I don't want to live out of my suitcase for four and a half months and at the time I didn't want to be away from my family for that amount of time. You see, family plays a big part in all of this. I didn't want to be away from my family, so I drive a pick-up instead of a Maserati. That's fine with me. There are some people out there who will brush their families aside for fame, brush their families aside for success. Not everybody's like that.

Q - You wrote a book about your band called It Shined. What shined? I'm not familiar with that book.

A - Well, if you're familiar with our discography, the second album was called "It'll Shine When It Shines". And it has a picture of Lydia, the lady on the front cover. So, I used that same photo that's was on "It'll Shine When It Shines" on my book. The book is called It Shined.

Q - You probably wrote about some of the same things we talked about today, didn't you?

A - Yes. That's what the book is about, brother.

Q - I appreciate you telling me everything I asked in your book. Not everyone is like that.

A - Once again, different attitudes from different people. That attitude has been with the entire Ozark Mountain Daredevil band. You ask us a question, we're gong to answer it. If we're at the hardware store and you ask us what screwdriver should I use, we're going to answer the question. Being forthcoming is part of our DNA. So no, I don't have a problem with your questions. And that's kind of how we've lived our lives. One of the the things about The Ozark Mountain Daredevils is we were down to earth guys, playing down to earth music. We stayed true to ourselves and true to our roots. Consequently, we've had wonderful lives.

Q - And in the end, isn't that what it's all about?

A - I think so. (laughs)

Official Website: www.TheOzarkMountainDaredevils.com

© Gary James. All rights reserved.



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