Ram Jam

While these unruly ungulates are best known for the lead-off Ledbelly cover (which the NAACP didn’t find very amusing even back then), the entirety of their debut is sheer fun. Produced by Kasenetz and Katz, better known for their work with bubblegum bands like The Ohio Express and the 1910 Fruitgum Company, and masterminded by a former Lemon Piper (who was probably thrilled to be in another one hit wonder) it’s surprisingly hard-hitting considering that particular pedigree. Like other K&K productions, it leans heavily on rearranged covers, the second best of which — the psychedelic groove of “404” — indicates they were familiar with a different kind of fruitgum. This kind of snotty heavy blues was on its way out by ’77 but Ram Jam is wild and wooly enough to be worth tangling with.