Country Rock

Allman Brothers Band

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.

Additional Allman Brothers Band content

The Byrds

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 Band

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

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.

Additional Crosby Stills and Nash content

Bob Dylan

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 their  1969 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.

The Eagles

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
Single DVD
16 Hole in the World

The Flying Burrito Brothers

For a two disc overview
Hot Burritos! The Flying Burrito Bros. Anthology 1969-1972

Grateful Dead

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

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. 

Additional David Grisman content
Garcia Grisman
Old and in the Way

Emmylou Harris

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

Loggins and Messina

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." 

Lynyrd Skynyrd

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. 

Marshall Tucker

Marshal Tucker have a very good anthology that showcases all of their styles, The Marshall Tucker Anthology: The First 30 Years. This has very little overlap with Where a Country Boy Belongs.

New Riders of the Purple Sage

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

Live: Worcester, MA 4/4/73

The Outlaws

Gram Parsons

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. 

Poco

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

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

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.

Linda Ronstadt

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

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

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.

Some of the better mixed rock and county releases include After the Gold Rush, On The Beach, Tonight's The Night, and American Stars & Bars.

Desperado: The Best of Country Rock

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