Richard "Dick" Flood (November 13, 1932[1] – January 9, 2023),[2] also known as Okefenokee Joe, was an American country music singer-songwriter, entertainer, and environmentalist.
In the mid-1950s he was part of the duo The Country Lads and made regular appearances on CBS' The Jimmy Dean Show.
In 1959, Flood's cover version of "The Three Bells (The Jimmy Brown Story)" reached number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.
His songs have been recorded by other artists, including Roy Orbison, Anita Bryant, Billy Grammer, Kathy Linden, and The Wilburn Brothers.
In 1981, Flood changed his name to Okefenokee Joe, and in 1989 he hosted and narrated the Emmy award-winning documentary Swampwise on Georgia Public Broadcasting.
[4] Richard Flood was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States,[1] and began playing music while working as a counselor at a YMCA summer camp in the Blue Mountains.
After serving in Korea with the U.S. Army, Flood organized his first country music band, The Luzon Valley Boys.
The Luzon Valley Boys played at the various military clubs on Clark Air Force Base in the Philippine Islands.
[5] A few years later, Flood and army buddy, Billy Graves, auditioned for The Jimmy Dean Show.
[1] In 1956, The Country Lads were given a regular spot on The Jimmy Dean Show, which aired on CBS every weekday morning.
Like most of the Jimmy Dean Show performers, The Country Lads participated in a USO tour of Europe and Africa.
The Country Lads split up in 1958, and in 1959 Flood moved to Nashville to pitch his songs to the popular recording artists he had met on The Jimmy Dean Show.
However, because the lyrics included references to drunkenness, hell, and the devil, the song was banned from radio stations.
In 1958, Flood and Fred Foster co-wrote the Billy Graves' single "The Shag (Is Totally Cool)" (Monument Records -#45-MN.401) which reached number 53 on Billboard's Hot 100.
Flood's songs were often found on the B-side of popular singles, such as "Only the Lonely" by Roy Orbison, and Billy Grammer's "Gotta' Travel On" / "Chasing a Dream" (Monument #45-400)[18] which led his friends in the music business to nickname him ‘Flip Side Flood’.