Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???

Subject: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Bobert
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 09:11 AM

Well, the Byrd's thread opens up the logical followup thread on the other country-rocks bands of the 70s... And beyond...

My favorite was Poco and I have at least 6 or 8 of their LPs in my collection...

How about yours???

B~

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 10:02 AM

Poco, the Outlaws, the Eagles (of Course) Pure Prairie League, Flying Burrito Brothers, Commander Cody and The Lost Planet Airmen, American Flyer, and many more who I'm sure will come back to me later. :)

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: BobKnight
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 10:05 AM

Sorry, that was me signed in as Guest above. Forgot the Allman Brothers. :)

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Semofolkie
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 10:06 AM

Aww shoot! I was hoping to throw "Missouri" into this mix, but it looks like they were conceived in the late 60s.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Bobert
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 10:54 AM

Can't leave out New Riders and the Purple Sage...

B~

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: pdq
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 11:16 AM

Ricky Nelson was never far away from Country Music, covering songs by Hank Williams, Willey Nelson, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash.

In 1966 and 1967 he made it official, doing two consecutive Country albums, but included in the musician were Clerence White, Glenn Campbell, Glen D. Hardin, James Burton and other "usual suspects" from the southern California music scene of the era.

By around 1969, he had added Randy Meisner from Poco and Tom Brumley, one of the greatest pedal steel players of alltime, whom he bribed away from Buck Owens with a fatter paycheck.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Bobert
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 11:59 AM

Yeah, shame we lost him... Ricky had his problems but, hey, that's what makes for good alt-country music...

B~

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Janie
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 12:12 PM

Well, I'll take a dive back into the 60's with you, Semo and add International Submarine Band to the list.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: michaelr
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 12:13 PM

Barefoot Jerry, Mason Proffitt, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Loggins & Messina...

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: pdq
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 12:21 PM

The original version of the Doobie Brothers was organized by Tom Johnston who is from the Central Valley in California.

Northern California style Country Rock.

I think the group was ruined by the addition of Michael "Mumbles" McDonald.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 12:43 PM

I saw Poco back in the 70s in the UK. They were supporting the band "America".
I loved that Poco line-up with Paul Cotton. Great stuuff!

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 01:45 PM

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: michaelr
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 02:06 PM

And from the UK: Matthews Southern Comfort.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Spleen Cringe
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 02:14 PM

Manassas...

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 02:26 PM

I cannot believe we are 14 posts into this thread and nobody has mentioned Country Gazette ...IMO the greatest country-rock band of all time.

Every member of the band was a virtuoso in his own right, and together, they were just sensational.

Saw them only once, at Cambridge back in the 70's ... I will never ever forget that performance ...

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: pdq
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 02:36 PM

Not to argumentative, but I question the inclusion of about half of the groups mentioned as Country Rock.

The Outlaws, Allman Brothers, Missouri, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Barefoot Jerry and the Charlie Daniels Band are certainly Southern Rock, aka Redneck Rock.

I'm not sure where to put Mason Proffitt and the Ozark Mountain Daredevils.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band predates Country Rock, being started in 1965. Folk Rock?

One of the most successful Country Rock groups, from a commercial point of view, was Rick Robert's group Firefall.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Bobert
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 02:48 PM

I agree with pdq... Mason Proffitt, however, fits the bill but, IMHO, bands like the Allman Brothers, Lynyard Skynard and Charlie Daniels don't...

BTW, I know one former member of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Less Thompson, who owns a recording studio, Cabin Creek Studio, where I recorded a song a few years back...

B~

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 02:49 PM

Byrds68-73
Buffalo Springfield (Probably the first real country-rock band)
Flying Burritos (first four albums)
Poco
New Riders of the Purple Sage
Pure Prairie League
Dillard and Clark Expedition
Marshall Tucker band

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 02:55 PM

The Albion Country Band?

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: michaelr
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 03:29 PM

Country Gazette was a pretty much straight-ahead bluegrass band. Not much rock there.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Beer
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 03:29 PM

Would Creedence Clearwater Revival fit here?
Adrien

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: pdq
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 03:33 PM

Trivia, but Country Joe and the Fish, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and the Grateful Dead all started out as Jug Bands!

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Ed T
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 04:49 PM

Kentucky Headhunters and the Georgia Satellites:


Keep your hands to yourself

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Janie
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 04:58 PM

In some ways these country rock bands were a small fraternity, with many of the same musicians moving into and out of the above bands over the years - at least those bands that were mostly California based.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Ed T
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 05:09 PM

Marshall Tucker Band:- from 1977


Can't you see

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Peter Butler
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 05:46 PM

Head Hands & Feet featuring Albert Lee

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: pdq
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 05:48 PM

Sorry, but Marshall Tucker, 38 Special, ZZ Top and a host of others are all Southern Rock.

The Kentucky Headhunters, at least the initial three members, were known to go to Chicago and jam in hardcore Blues clubs, including the one run by Buddy Guy. Even their mommies don't know what to call their act.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Bobert
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 06:13 PM

Yup, Marshall Tucker is Southern rock... And while I absolutely love CCR, I wouldn't put them into that country rock category... Actually, they kinda are so unique that they are hard to put in any category...

There were also a few country rock solo players... James Lee Stanley and Rusty Weir come to mind...

B~

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Ed T
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 06:21 PM

Sorry,

Yes Marshall Tucker (and Kentucky Headhunters and Georgia Satellites) is indeed Southern Rock. However, country rock (blues and rockabily) was so influential in artists in other genres - such as prevously mentined Creedence Clearwater Revival, I find the exact cross over difficult to differentiate. Where is the line to be drawn in such a progression?

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Ed T
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 06:39 PM

Ok, for CR purists, (as many CRv artists hopped in and out of country rock) how about Linda Rodstat, when she was with the Stone Poneys?

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: pdq
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 06:51 PM

The Stone Ponies were Folk Rock.

Later work by Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris and perhaps even Jackson Browne were Country Rock.

I took a chance on some recent groups ('cuz the CDs were too cheap) and found that Electric Range (mid 90s by some leftover 60s types) and The Last of the Good Guys (both the group and the CD name) are first rate Country Rock.

The art form lives on.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Ed T
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 07:03 PM

OK, I call defeated. I don't know any country rock bands.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 07:09 PM

How about Sir Douglas Band/Doug Sahm and Band/Texas Tornadoes.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: GUEST,Larry Saidman
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 07:10 PM

Sorry, that last post was from me. Don't know why I'm registered as 'guest'.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 07:22 PM

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.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: pdq
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 07:43 PM

Yes, Sir Douglas Quintet and other Texans worked in California in the late 60s, but that does not make them Country Rock.

Texas Rock like the Flatlanders equals anything that came out of any part of the US. Often called Alternative Country, hard to put boundries around that also.

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is now listed as begining in 1966. Used to be listed as 1965 but the name and musical style were different.

The nomination of Buffalo Springfield is perfectly on the mark. Many Country Rock pioneers came from there when the group broke up.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Janie
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 08:22 PM

Found this. The Rise of LA Country-Rock

re: Country Rock vs Southern Rock. There is a lot of cross-over and cross pollination - always has been within the super-genre of Rock. Seems to me that most of the bands most of us agree on as representing "country rock" from the 70's pulled mostly from the influence of the"Bakersfield" country sound.

I'm inclined to think of Marshall Tucker as more southern rock than country rock, but there is no clear line in the sand. In general, when I think of southern rock, I think it tends to sound less "folky", has a stronger element of hard rock and blues, especially with those guitars, and still a good dash of country, and the vocal harmonies are less "pretty" and more driving, more influenced by black southern gospel and spiritual.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Janie
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 08:38 PM

And no one has mentioned one of my fav bands of all time - The Amazing Rhythm Aces.

And if a rock band does a country album is that album country rock or a rock band doing a country album?

I sure have had a good time piddling away the day going where youtube, your comments, wikipedia, etc has taken me. I am taking a rare two days off for New Years. 4 days at home and determined to do nothing useful.

Thanks for starting this thread, Bobert.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: michaelr
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 08:42 PM

And I wouldn't really classify Firefall as Country Rock, but much closer to MOR pop.

I second that, LEJ, and I would put The Eagles' output after their second album in the same category.

The lines are blurry, to be sure. It's not just LA that defined country rock, but also Southern hippies like the Ozark Mountain Daredevils or Barefoot Jerry, who have a lot more in common with both the California sound and Appalachian folk than they do with Marshall Tucker Band.

To my mind, the epitome of country rock was Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band from Pieces of the Sky to Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: pdq
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 08:43 PM

I agree with Bobert that Credence Clearwater Revival was unique, not Country Rock at all.

They were looked at with skepticism by the "hipper" Bay Area groups who felt they were suited for fraternity parties and drinking beer.

Which is true. What's wrong with that?

They played the Fillmore now and then, but so did Waylon Jennings.

John Fogerty made them a success on the strenght of his songwriting, but he did evolve into good guitar player and a good showman.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Ed T
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 08:48 PM

Thanks Janie, On the link you provided, one comments makes reference to a 7 part series on Youtube. This is the first part, the rest is there also:
From The Byrds To The Eagles Part 1 of 7

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Bobert
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 09:33 PM

You are very welcome, Janie...

Actually, I had my own country-rock band back then... We called ourselves "Doctor Rupert (me) and the Wiggly Digits"...

We did a pretty nice version of "Sin City"...

B~

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Beer
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 10:30 PM

A new term in music.... CCR.... Swamp Rock.
ad.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 11:30 PM

With the appearance of country rock bands and the demise of classic country in the '70's I found myself drawn more to other types of folk music.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 30 Dec 12 - 11:51 PM

The Grateful Dead got both the sweetness and the hard edge of country music as did The Band.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: GUEST,DDT
Date: 31 Dec 12 - 12:33 AM

Brewer & Shipley?

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: SonnyWalkman
Date: 31 Dec 12 - 08:21 AM

Michael Nesmith needs to be in the list somewhere, a very early counrty-rock pioneer. Those first 3 'First National Band' albums are classics. They all feature the wonderful O J 'Red' Rhodes on pedal steel - one of the all time greats.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: GUEST,Dave Illingworth
Date: 31 Dec 12 - 09:30 AM

I would definitely choose Amazing Rhythm Aces. But a particular favourite of mine was the classic Joe Ely Band    -   with Ponty Bone
(accordion), Jesse "Guitar" Taylor (lead-guitar), Lloyd Maines (steel)
-   with wonderful songs by Ely, Butch Hancock and Jimmy Dale Gilmore.
I still play the first four albums (on vinyl) by that line-up - just sad I never got to hear them in the flesh

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: pdq
Date: 31 Dec 12 - 09:47 AM

As the Flatlanders, Ely, Butch Hancock and Jimmy Dale Gilmore made a comeback in the last 10 or so years.

You can still see them live and better than ever. Tons of new great material.

Subject: RE: Favorite 70s Country-rock Bands???
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 31 Dec 12 - 11:45 AM

Sweetheart of the Rodeo, released in 68, is generally tagged as the first "country-rock" album, but it was in fact a fairly straight country and western album, the fact that it was done by the Byrds giving it the rock slant. But in fact, several bands were already at work on the country-rock amalgam, with much more of the sound that later became identified with that genre.
Parsons had already done Safe at Home with the International Submarine Band, but this effort too was more of a country album than country-rock. Fact is, except for a few songs with the Burritos, like Devil in Disguise and Lazy Day, Gram was a devotee of honky tonk and gospel country styles and never strayed far from them.
Gene Clark was carving out a country-rock sound with the Dillards before Sweetheart, although he met with little commercial success. Clarence White released an album with Nashville West that is very much a country-rock album, in 1967. This cut from 67, a cover of a Waylon Jennings song, is closer to country-rock as it would be known, than anything on Sweetheart.