There is
a wide range of artists in the country rock genre. Some artists such as The Flying Burrito Brothers,
and Poco straight country rock. Others artists like The Eagles started there and grew
into other areas. Then there are artists like Neil Young and Bob
Dylan that a journey to this genre for a project or two, in Neil Young's case
many stops. Then there are some southern rock bands that have some
country in them; Marshall Tucker, The Outlaws, and Charlie Daniels
are some of the bigger bands with great music in that genre, with
bands like the Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd just nibbling
there. Similarly, there are others bands like Loggins and Messina and CSN
that do not have a complete album of country rock, but have some
songs with those influences. Even bands like the Grateful Dead
ventured there. Some of
the artists have a folk roots as you can hear in Linda Ronstadt's
country laden early music. One of
the overriding characteristics of country rock is the pedal steel
guitar, not all of the band use it, but a good number do.
Below is
some of the best country rock music. We have some more to add so
stop back.
Brothers
and Sisters is the Allman Brothers most popular release. In fact,
it topped the charts and remained there for five weeks. It includes
their hit “Ramblin’ Man” that made it to #2 on the charts, and
their most enduring instrumental “Jessica.”
In my opinion,
this CD has the most welcoming sound the Allman Brothers ever
recorded. It is also unique in that it had only one guitarist, but
two keyboardist; this didn’t detract as Chuck Leavell fit in
perfectly.
Along
this theme, you may enjoy some of the Dickey
Betts solo material with The Great
Southern. A sampling is included on the box set Dreams.
Sweetheart of the Rodeo
brings Gram Parsons into The Byrds and they did an
excellent job of incorporating his strengths into their music.
Personally, I prefer other country rock more than this. I'd
rather hear Dylan sings his songs rather than the Byrds and
since they start with one of his songs it begins on a sour
note for me. Secondly, I prefer Gram Parsons solo albums. Nevertheless, this album is very strong
album that still gets
praise as I write this, 38 years after its
release.
The
re-mastered rendition includes several bonus tracks, many that
offer different takes of songs on the album with Parsons
singing.
Charlie Daniels' music meshes a combination of country,
blues, and rock, which is topped off with inferences of bluegrass to
yield a sound of its own.
With an
abundance of good music spread over so many albums we find that one
of the greatest hits collections is a great way to go. There are single, double, and triple disc options. Of
them, his two disc collection, The Ultimate Charlie Daniels Band,
offers a strong balance of
including Daniels' essential tracks without going beyond.
Perhaps better than The Ultimate Charlie Daniels Band is the three disc box-set,
The
Root Remain. It has been out since 1996 and second hand
copies can be purchased at reasonable prices.
Crosby
Stills and Nash music is not country rock throughout, but they offer
elements of it in their material so I included it on this
page. Besides, fans of country rock will generally enjoy their
music. In addition, the various band members side projects
offer country elements.
CSN did a superb job with their four disc box-set, it
basically covers most of their best material as a band as well
as their side projects, very well done. They used some nice pedal steel on
tracks like
If you are seeking a a single disc I'd go
with Déjà Vu.
In addition to "Teach Your Children," Neil Young's
country folk masterpiece "Helpless," is a treasure,
in its simplicity.
Nashville
Skyline is part of his Bob Dylan's country faze from the late
60's and early 70's, and his strongest output from that genre.
Dylan's voice is a bit different in tone, but it sounds great to me.
Many claim his voice tone is a result of the fact that he recently
quit smoking, while others theorize it is a result of Johnny Cash's
influence on Dylan from their1969
sessions, of which one song is included on this album. His back-up
band is made up of first-rate musicians that offer plenty of tasty
steel guitar as well as the expected piano and guitar fills and
solos. One way to characterize the writing style is a combining
folk, blues, and rock into a country feel.
The first
three tracks really define this output, a country theme with
excellent soloing, with a touch of rock. The album begins strong
emphasizing vocals with "Girl From the North Country," a
track featuring Johnny Cash as they trade off verses and harmonize.
Next, the band shows that they have musical chops as they perform an
instrumental and take turns trading licks with acoustic guitar,
piano, harmonica, steel guitar, etc. Next up, they switch to an
electric tone providing a more upbeat feel with "To Be Alone
With You."
"Peggy
Day" is a perfect example of Dylan's ability to write a
folk/blues track and give it a country feel with fine steel and
acoustic guitar soloing as well as strong vocals. The big hit from
the album, "Lay Lady Lay," with its mesmerizing rhythm and
catchy melodies and familiar steel guitar riffs debuted here, while
also appearing on numerous compilations and a rousing live version
with The Band on Before the
Flood.
The album
closes with two electric guitar based tracks where on both songs the
guitar, piano, and steel guitar delight the er. The latter
song, "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You" is more
developed and is every bit as good of the albums best known tune,
"Lay Lady Lay."The
guitar style on both of these tracks is reminiscent of Robbie
Robertson.
Nashville
Skyline may not have as many hits as some of his classic albums.
However, it does offer a first class band of musicians backing Dylan
spilling out gorgeous riffs and solos over Dylan's compositions. If
you like this style music, Nashville Skyline is essential.
Eagles:The
Very Best Of is a two-disc overview that spans their
career. A limited edition included a third disc DVD of
"Hole In The Wall," etc. The
sound quality is excellent. A 48 page booklet is included with
commentary of each song in the words of Don Henley and Glenn
Frey.
The
Eagles
1 Take It Easy
2 Witchy Woman
3 Peaceful Easy Feeling
Desperado
4 Desperado
5 Tequila Sunrise
6 Doolin-Dalton
On the Border
7 Already Gone
8 The Best of My Love
9 James Dean
10 Ol' '55
11 Midnight Flyer
12 On the Border One
of These Nights
13 Lyin' Eyes
14 One of These Nights
15 Take It to the Limit
16 After the Thrill Is Gone Hotel California
17 Hotel California
1 Life in the Fast Lane
2 Wasted Time
3 Victim of Love
4 The Last Resort
5 New Kid in Town
Single
6 Please Come Home for Christmas
The Long Run
7 Heartache Tonight
8 The Sad Café
9 I Can't Tell You Why
10 The Long Run
11 In the City
12 Those Shoes
Eagles Live (7/28/80)
13 Seven Bridges Road
Hell Freezes Over
14 Love Will Keep Us Alive
15 Get Over It SingleDVD
16 Hole in the World
Product Description
Digitally re-mastered two-on-one of their first two LPs,1968's The
Gilded Palace Of Sin & 1969's Burrito Deluxe,
the
only albums they did with Gram Parsons. The line up here also
includes ex-Byrds Chris Hillman & Michael Clarke, plus the
Eagles' Bernie Leadon. Twenty two tracks total, including
"SinCity," "Christine's Tune" and
"Dark End Of The Street."
While
the Grateful Dead are more well known as being the kings of
both psychedelic rock and jam bands, they had a strong impact in this
genre as well. First they had a pair of albums in 1970 with heavy
folk, blues, rock, and country; Workingman's Dead is more based on blues and
folk with hints of country rock and their follow-up, American
Beauty, which has even more of a country tone.
But their influence on the realm didn't stop
there. The Grateful Dead took their music in other directions. However,
Jerry Garcia expressed his musical genius in this realm as a
founding member of the New Riders of the Purple Sage as their pedal
steel guitar player. Other Grateful Dead members, Mickey Hart, and
Phil Lesh, were also in the band at its beginnings.
They also performed several county songs in
their concerts throughout their career with one showing up
nearly every night, songs such as "Me and My Uncle," "Big
River," "Mexicali Blues (an original)," "Mama
Tried," "You Ain't Woman Enough,"
"Sing Me Back Home," "He Was a Friend of
Mine," among others.
David
Grisman is truly a creative musician and one of the top
mandolin players. His music is more along bluegrass than
country, but I thought exposure on this page is relevant, as
some county rock fans may really like his music.
While
most mandolin players stick to bluegrass, country, or perhaps
rock, Grisman's playing went beyond the norm and traditional
stereotypes.
While Grisman is a master of bluegrass, he also
incorporated jazz into his playing, forging un-chartered realms
and shaping what would be called Dawg music, and laying the
groundwork for new grass music.
Much
of Grisman's jazz influences are rooted in the Hot Club of
France that featured the legendary Django Reinhardt and
Stephane Grappelli. Truly, it is thrilling to hear the
renditions of some Hot Club material with the mandolin
replacing the acoustic guitar rhythm section, and also
taking some fascinating solos.
When
you combine the traditional bluegrass and jazz background you
have sort of a Bill Monroe meets the Hot Club of France. Much of Grisman's early
material focus on these inferences, and his
self titled debut is a
good place to start, where he features an all-star line-up of
musicians.
Grisman
has had a strong musical relationship with guitarist Jerry
Garcia. He added some mandolin on the Grateful Dead's classic
album American
Beauty. They also played together in several
bands; 1973's Old and in the
Way, 1974's Great American String
Band (a la Grisman's early solo work), and the numerous Garcia
Grisman releases. We have reviews of each of these diverse
albums that range from Dawg, to traditional American music, to
jazz.
The
Pizza Tapes session pictured to the right gets better upon
each listen. It captures David Grisman, Jerry Garcia, and Tony
Rice jamming in David's home studio on February 4 and 5,
1993.
Emmylou
Harris' solo recording debut Pieces of the Sky get upon
each listen. While the personnel varies a bit on each song, it
is an all-star line-up. To give you an idea of the caliber of
the quality, for Neil Young fans, Ben Keith needs no
introduction. He plays pedal steel guitar. The Eagles Bernie
Leadon plays a variety of instruments, Richard Burton on
guitar, Richard Greene on fiddle, Herb Pederson on vocals, Ron
Tutt on drums, and a host of others.
For her second LP, 1976's
Elite Hotel, Harris established a new backing unit, the Hot Band, which featured legendary Elvis Presley sidemen James Burton
among others.
Her
Hot Band band toured in 1975. From Wolfgang's vault, the
personnel was
Emmylou Harris - guitar, vocals
James Burton - guitar
Rodney Crowell - guitar
Glenn T. Hardin - piano
Hank DeVito - pedal steel
Emory Gordy - bass
John Ware - drums
Nicolette Larson - vocals
Fayssoux Starling - vocals
Before
her next release, 1977's Luxury Liner, Harris appeared
on Bob Dylan's Desire and appeared in
The Band's legendary final performance, The Last
Waltz.
Like
the Eagles, Loggins and Messina have a pop sounds, great
vocals, and some country influences in their music. I only
have their compilation in my collection. An example of their country tone
can be heard beginning in "Danny's Song" with some fiddle, and gets
even more into the genre with two tracks that follow,
"Long Tail Cat," and Just Before the News" from their album Loggins
& Messina.
The Best:
Sittin' in Again, released in May 2005 is a good overview
of the band. I would have preferred a chronological approach
to the music and better personnel credits, either by song or
at a minimum by album. Instead, they just list the major
musical contributors. There is an essay and loads of
photos.
Messina
notes "... these master reproductions are as close to the
original recordings as they can be."
We think
Lynyrd Skynyrd's best studio album is Street
Survivors, released just days before the crash
that took the life of several band members.
Guitarist
Steve Gaines joined the band and made his first appearance on
the live Lynyrd Skynyrd classic One More
from the Road.
His first and only studio album is Street Survivors. While it is not a country rock
album throughout, there are
some inferences that are among my favorites put down on record
including a cover of Merle Haggard's "Honky Tonk Night
Time Man," and Gaines' country seasoned "I Know a Little" is a smoking
country fused jam.
While
Marshall Tucker Band offer a mix of musical styles, country,
blues, jazz, and rock. Their two disc niche compilation's, Where
a Country Boy Belongs, liner notes explains,
"After 33 years the "Tucker boys" are still
firmly rooted in country..." This is a good compilation
of their country style, and would be even better if it was
sequenced chronologically.
The New
Riders of the Purple Sage country rock sound take their roots, and perhaps their
success from their collaboration with some members of the Grateful
Dead. Their friendship was fruitful in 1970 and 1971 during which
time the New Riders of the Purple Sage opened up many concerts for
the Grateful Dead and would feature Jerry Garcia playing pedal
steel. Tapes of these shows are not too difficult to
track down.
They not
only shared the staged, but also collaborated in the studio. Jerry
Garcia was a major contributor on the New Riders of the Purple
Sage's first album and took a minor part on their second album.
Likewise, David Nelson performed
on one track, "Cumberland Blues," on the Grateful
Dead's Workingman's
Dead album, and several Purple Sage members appear on American
Beauty. Their friendship continued through the years,
and David
Nelson joined Garcia's short lived band The
Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band that took New York's Broadway by storm in 1988
playing acoustic guitar, back-up vocals, and lead vocals on a few
songs.
The New
Riders of the Purple's added Buddy Cage to replace Garcia on pedal
steel. In 2003 they began an archival series of live releases, there
are four releases as of this writing.
Official New Riders website
The Outlaws trademark is a blend of country and rock
with a strong three guitar attack. While Lynyrd Skynyrd had one
lead singer, The Outlaws had several members that would
contribute lead vocal duties. Another trademark is their vocal
blending and harmonies, sort of in the style of the Eagles.
The Outlaws have a superb compilation called The Best of the Outlaws: Green Grass and High Tides. This
includes all the music most fans seek in an Outlaws collection.
The liner notes provide credits, band history, and
photos. Perhaps some fans may want to supplement this with
live versions of the songs, Though their live album Bring
It Back Alive is not the
original band.
The Best of the Outlaws: Green Grass and High Tides
Gram
Parsons' two solo albums G.P./Grievous Angel have been
packaged together on one CD resulting in an excellent bargain
of superb music. The liner notes include
essays on Parsons by John M. Delgatto and Marley Brant, the
original notes from both albums, lyrics,
photos and more.
Another
option is to get the Gram Parsons anthology, Sacred Hearts and Fallen Angels: The Gram Parsons Anthology.
Its two discs cover Parsons career and include material from The International Submarine Band's,
The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and his solo career.
The anthology includes some previously unreleased material.
While
the above two choices offer the best value, my very favorite
Gram Parsons release is Live 1973.
Through
the years there have been numerous collections of Poco, one of
the country rock genre's best. The Ultimate Collection is a
good 18 song collection that spans their four labels between
1969 and 1989.
For
a more comprehensive approach, two-disc
The Forgotten Trail(1969 - 1974) for coverage of
Poco's Epic Records years, and the single disc Crazy Loving: The Best of Poco 1975-1982
for their ABC/MCA Records years. As of this writing, Amazon no
longer had The Forgotten Trail listed even though it was there a few months ago.
Pure
Prairie League is in the middle of the pack in the country
rock genre. Their Greatest Hits offers a good value of
their music and it includes all but one song from their best
album, Bustin' Out.
I haven't explored their
music beyond this, but did see them a pair of times as an
opening act back in the 1970's. Pure Prairie League
released ten albums through the 1970's and '80's.
The Souther Hillman Furay Band
recorded two albums, a self-titled debut and Trouble in
Paradise.
The line-up was never as successful as the
expectations. The members were most know prior to their 1974
debut with J. D. Souther work with members of the Eagles,
Chris Hillman of The Byrds, and Richard Furay of Poco and
Buffalo Springfield. While, the music is pleasant
country rock, it is one of the weaker picks on this page of
our Country rock recommendations.
Line-up on debut
J.D. Souther, guitars, vocals ; Chris Hillman, guitars, mandolin, vocals ; Richie Furay, guitar, vocals ; Paul Harris, keyboard ; Al Perkins, steel guitar, guitars, bass, dobro ; Jim Gordon, drums, percussion ; Joe Lala, percussion.
(for
Trouble in Paradise replace Jim Gordon with Ron Grinel)
The Very Best of Linda Ronstadt is a solid
21 disc compilation. It focuses more on her folk, country, and
rock material than her pop standards and Latin phases.
Capital's
2006 album, The Best of Linda Ronstadt: The Capital Years
is more of a complete material reissue than a
compilation. Her third self-titled album includes several
members of the soon to be formed Eagles were members of Linda Rondstadt back-up band: Frey,
Henley, Meisner, and Leadon.
It is on two cd's and it includes: Hand Sown..Home Grown her 1969 solo debut,
Silk Purse, 1970 Linda Ronstadt self-titled third album Heart Like a Wheel,- 1974
plus five bonus tracks, two of them capturing her live at
The Troubadour.
James Taylor is not deep into the country rock
genre, but he offers elements of it. His music is more towards
The Eagles than The Byrds and he's is more towards the singer songwriter category. But he incorporates instruments such as fiddle, pedal steel, and
banjo giving some of his material country leanings.
You
get a glimpse of country with the title track of the classic Sweet Baby James.
While, "Anywhere Like Heaven" is purely in the
country genre. In between the album offers some great
pop, folk, jazz, and a few blues numbers.
A
solid supporting cast with well-known artists Carole
King on piano, well known session player Danny Kootch
on guitar, and Randy Meisner (The Eagles) is one of the bass
players.
Neil
Young's music is among my favorites within the country rock
category. Of course, Young intertwined rock and country within much of his
albums so often their is a combination of material. A big part
of Young's country charms come from his long time musical collaborator, Ben Keith, who
plays a variety of instruments from guitar, to saxophone, and
for the county style, some great pedal runs. Keith made
his first appearance on a Neil Young record on After the
Gold Rush. Pairing Young's writing and Keith's musical
fills is a match made in heaven.
This
Time Life collection has a good collection of songs from the
genre, even though it could a better selection of artists. How
can it not include The Eagles?
1. Amie - Pure Prairie League
2. Ballad Of Easy Rider - The Byrds
3. You Are The Woman - Firefall
4. An American Dream - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
5. Lotta Love - Nicolette Larson
6. Blue Bayou - Linda Ronstadt
7. Danny's Song - Loggins & Messina
8. Heard It In A Love Song - Marshall Tucker Band
9. Seven Year Ache - Rosanne Cash
10. Garden Party - Rick Nelson
11. You're Only Lonely - J.D. Souther
12. Third Rate Romance - The Amazing Rhythm Aces
13. Fallin' In Love - The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band
14. Crazy Love - Poco
15. I Can Help - Billy Swan
16. Joanne - Michael Nesmith And the First National Band
17. Never Ending Song Of Love - Delaney & Bonnie & Friends
18. Wildfire - Michael Murphey
Desperado: The Best of Country Rock
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