In 1971 Randle Chowning formed a band with Steve Cash, John Dillon, Elizabeth Anderson, Larry Lee, Rick Campanelli, Bill Jones and Michael Granda.

Campanelli left on his own to pursue a master's degree in music; Jones rejoined the Daredevils briefly later (in 1974-1977) and would continue to appear as a guest player on some of their shows and recording sessions.

Two weeks after that, on March 9 and 10, they played at Kiel Opera House in St. Louis and Cowtown Ballroom again, this time with Brewer & Shipley, accompanied by Loudon Wainwright III.

The group's demo tape eventually caught the attention of A&M Records staff producer David Anderle, who was looking for an Eagles country rock type of band to place on the label.

[3] The first record, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils (also referred to as "The Quilt Album"), was released in December 1973 and spawned the Top 30 hit "If You Wanna Get to Heaven" in the summer of 1974.

During the sessions, Johns overheard Larry Lee sitting at a piano playing and singing a song about a mysterious friend of his who sometimes dealt drugs on the side.

[3] The Ozark's third release, The Car Over the Lake Album (September 1975), recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, and produced by Anderle alone, featured their old compatriot Bill Jones joining them to play and arrange their songs.

In 1976 Dillon, Brayfield, Lee and Chowning also appeared on Hoyt Axton's A&M LP Fearless, contributing back-up vocals on the album's opening song, "Idol of The Band."

But by the time the exhausted troupe hit Copenhagen, Denmark, in early May, for their final show at Daddy's Dance Hall, they were confounded by a horrible sound mix at the venue.

An angry Randle Chowning responded by turning up his amplifier all the way, which upset the other band members and resulted in a huge shouting match at the end of the night.

Walle's first show with the group was at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City on July 23, 1976, on a bill that also included the Beach Boys, the Doobie Brothers, Jeff Beck and Firefall.

Anderle was once again in the producer's chair and Evergreen, Colorado resident Jerry Mills joined the band on mandolin and also served as the group's advance publicist.

Another face from the past, Steve Canaday, also came back into the group's life in 1975 as road manager and opening act before joining the band during the making of Men From Earth.

[3] In the fall of 1976, Buddy Brayfield departed to study medicine and Ruell Chappell (vocals, keyboards), from the popular Springfield group Spillwater Junction, came in.

Granda was not available since he was at home with his wife after the birth of their second child, so Springfield bassist Larry Van Fleet (from the Randle Chowning Band) sat in for these dates.

But when A&M's Jerry Moss witnessed the inebriated band members race through their set on the show, he decided not to pick up the option on their record deal and the Ozarks found themselves without a home in 1979.

[3] In 1980 Walle left the Daredevils to be replaced by Springfield guitarist Terry Wilson (who had been playing with Granda in a side project created for fun called the Dog People).

[3] This new grouping only lasted about a year and a half before Chowning left again, Hicks took a job with Kerry Cole & the Lefty Brothers and Joe Terry joined a new band, the Morells.

At this point, Dillon and Cash agreed to rejoin and Gary Smith stayed around a few months more before relocating to Branson, Missouri, so the mid-1983 Ozarks lineup was: John Dillon, Steve Cash, "Supe" Granda, Steve Canaday and Gary Smith, the latter soon succeeded by Jason LeMasters (guitar), before LeMasters departed to work for Kris Kristofferson and was replaced in 1984 by Chowning, back for his third stint with the Daredevils.

[3] In the meantime, the Daredevils continued on with The Morells guitarist Don Clinton Thompson joining in the spring of 1986 after Chowning left yet again after the aforementioned Nashville album had initially failed to land them a new contract.

[3] At the end of 1989, Thompson quit to reform his old band, the Skeletons, and Davidson moved to Branson to take a job as sound mixer at Ray Stevens' theater.

Also in 1991, Granda, like Lee and Canaday before him, decided to uproot himself and settle in Nashville where he peddled his songs, searched for a deal for his side band, Supe & the Sandwiches, and became involved in other projects, including a stint as bass player in Michael Clarke's Byrds.

This was recorded in Nashville with producer Bob Wright with only Dillon, Cash and Granda (Larry Lee and Steve Canaday guested on backup vocals) playing on this project accompanied by session players.

Also that year came Archive Alive, a CD containing performances from their March 1973 shows at Cowtown Ballroom in Kansas City and Kiel Opera House in St Louis.

On October 16 of this same year, the group and several other Springfield bands appeared at the Abou Ben Adhem Shrine Mosque in a memorial show for Brown and benefit for his family.

Starting in 2005, Lee and Chowning re-teamed in a new group, Beyond Reach, that formed in Nashville but has since moved its base back to the two men's hometown of Springfield, Missouri.

In 2006 and 2007 Lee and Chowning began appearing as special guests at some of the Daredevils shows, including Revival (Live at the Gillioz), but haven't done so in recent years due to personal differences.

A brand new live album by the Daredevils, a two-disc set featuring 21 tracks, including old favorites, rare songs and a couple of new ones, titled Alive & Wild, was made available in October 2011.

[7][8] Bobby "Lloyd" Hicks, the group's 1982 drummer, died on February 19, 2017, after suffering extensive lung damage stemming from double pneumonia, just three weeks shy of his 70th birthday.