And who decided what fits as country-rock and what fits as southern rock? Because a band is from the south, Marshall Tucker for example, they get pigeonholed with ZZ Top? Sorry, doesn't hold water. They have more in common with bands like Poco and even country roots sources like Bob Wills than with 38 Special,Lynyrd Skynyrd et al.
And I wouldn't really classify Firefall as Country Rock, but much closer to MOR pop.
I would also argue the idea that 1965 "predates" country rock. Again...sez who? The Byrds recorded Time Between around that time, the Buffalo Springfield had Go and Say Goodbye and I Am a Child, and the Beatles were already covering Buck Owens. Gram Parsons usually gets the nod as the Father of Country Rock, but mainly because he used the Byrds to try to pry the lid off of Nashville and open it up to the long hairs already in rock, and to an amazing extent, he had success, though most of it came after his death.