lets discuss your favorite country/folk rock group. NO ties allowed. rank them 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th. drop trivia about them.

OK mine are:
1 Byrds
2 Gram Parsons/FBBros
3 NRPS
4 Pure Praire League
5 Poco

Eagles i guess may be in there somewhere, but were very pop sounding. the dead crossed so many lines its hard to call them rock country, but there great.

later,
billy

Why does he not merit inclusion on most people's lists? Is it The Monkees stigma? I don't get it

Anyhow, here's my list:

1) Michael Nesmith and The First National Band/Second National Band/solo

2) The Byrds (1968 - 1970)

3) Poco

4) Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen

5) Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels/solo

It's hard to say that any of #s 2-5 are any better than the others....they are all excellent. Commander Cody offers the old-timey sound that is not unlike the band I play in now.....and Bobby Black is one of the best to lay down steel on vinyl. Poco has great material....not the traditional 3-chord country songs. Just try to follow one of their song patterns....and, of course, Rusty Young is amazing. Neil Flanz with the Fallen Angels is one of the best live performances of steel I have ever heard. And the Byrds with Lloyd Green and Jay Dee....well, you have what is one of the, arguably, best county rock records ever made in "Sweetheart of the Rodeo."

My vote, every time, goes to Michael Nesmith. He was right there with Gram in creating the first country-rock records. Contractually, he had to stay within The Monkees to do it in 1968/1969, but he did, using the Area Code 615 band to come up with impressive ideas of how country and rock/pop could be combined. Come late '69, he was approached by Johnny Ware and longtime pal John London of the Corvettes (who tie in with Linda Ronstadt, who sang Nez' first hit "Different Drum") to form a country-rock band to take those Monkees ideas a bit further. Nez was only on board if they could get Red Rhodes, who was a bit older than the other guys and had a steady gig at the Palomino heading his own band, The Detours. But, they were able to convince Red to jump ship and create some EXCELLENT music.

Nesmith's songs have a beautiful simplicity about them. Usually revolving around simple 3-chord structures, it is the melodies and astounding poetry that makes the songs great.....it is Red Rhodes that makes them excellent. Red didn't try to emulate anyone....he played steel HIS way with his own tuning that I doubt anyone uses today. Some of the complex melodies he would come up with for a solo or turnaround are, simply put, amazing.

He made great songs, and a great band, excellent.

And together, they created what I feel is the best country-rock LP of all time: "Loose Salute."

As to Jesse's comment. there really aren't many country-rock genre bands/artists. Not much popularity, I guess. Here is a quick list of most of them:

Michael Nesmith/1st & 2nd National Bands
Gram Parsons/Fallen Angels
The Byrds (1968-1970)
The Flying Burrito Brothers
Gene Parsons
The Dillards
The Eagles
Emmylou Harris
Rick Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band
The International Submarine Band
The Desert Rose Band
Ian and Sylvia
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Pure Prairie League
The New Riders of the Purple Sage
Linda Ronstadt
The Monkees (Nesmith-produced sessions)
Poco
Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airment
Souther-Hillman-Furay Band
Manassas

[This message was edited by Joe Alterio on 03 February 2005 at 05:27 AM.]

Commander Cody and the LPA are tuff also.

as several mentioned, the list being limited to 5 is not fair. maybe a list of 20!

billy

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  ~ ~
  ©¿©  It don't mean a thang,   
  mm   if it ain't got that twang.
       www.ntsga.com

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Livin' in the Past and Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

Bob C., I totally agree with your assessment of POCO. I always felt they were the "benchmark" that The Eagles aspired to (musically, POCO was the creative source and The Eagles were the money makers).

Smiley, I also agree with your opinion of Barefoot Jerry. Ahhh, Barefoot Jerry with Russ Hicks, an outstanding band that I like to describe as "the midsouth's answer to Steely Dan". I say that because they were comprised of some of the best studio pickers from that area. Also, wasn't Barefoot Jerry a spin-off band of Area Code 615?

Keep on pickin'!
Glenn

[This message was edited by Glenn Suchan on 03 February 2005 at 07:56 AM.]

i remember that POCO was the FIRST rock group to do the counrty rock thing. yes POCO wqas loaded. How about 'Honky Tonk Downstairs' and 'Pickin' Up the Pieces'. Pick'in Up the Pieces' was a hot hot with great solos. YOu are right POCO was first or close to the first. its just that the later POCO albums just did not carry too well at least for me. the frist 2 or3 were great. along list of top drwaer talent.

Billy

quote:

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Jesse, the lists are small? In addition to those mentioned, how 'bout some of the music that was being done elsewhere? The "Outlaw" music movement was conceptually and musically similar to the west coast country rock movement. There was great music being done by Steve Young (Renegade Picker & No Place To Fall), Tracy Nelson's solo recordings, The Lost Gonzo Band, the obligatory nod to "Willie, Waylon and the boys" and Lee Clayton. Other regional country rockers should include Mason Profit, JC Hartsfield (later known as Hartsfield), Wilderness Road, Baraboo, Cactus Jack, Jump In The Saddle,....

---

I have to respectfully disagree. The outlaw artists you describe are not really what has been considered "country-rock". They may have an edge to them, but they are not country-rock as I believe most would view it. I would also argue that the Desert Rose Band isn't really country-rock either, for that matter....

While no one could give a clear definition without argument, I think it is safe to say that the country rock genre is largely centered around the west-coast movement of the late-60s and early-70s.

I do see what you are saying though....there are some great Waylon and Willie songs that do have that country-rock feel.....but I still look at them as "country" songs rather than "country-rock"....whatever that means!

Gene Clark's solo albums all sound very similar (stylistically) to the early Byrds. This is because the early Bryds had two main writing sources: Bob Dylan and Gene Clark. BTW: Sneaky Pete Kleinow played some great steel on Gene Clark's "Roadmaster" album.

Grant, I agree Gene Clark seems to be a forgotten "treasure" tho not for country rock.

Barefoot Jerry was a great band, but I always considered them southern rock.

See link: http://ebni.com/byrds/spnw1.html

Anyone who loves Country Rock (and Clarence White) that doesn't have this album is missing out. It's live, so there are some not so great moments, but the good well outweighs the bad.

I don't believe these last two were mentioned by anyone above, but they had some great stuff.

For new-grass:
1. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
2. New Grass Revival
3. The Dillards
4. Norman Blake
5. The Dixie Chicks

There's of alot of country rock and new-grass that I still have never heard. So much music, so little time.

[This message was edited by David Doggett on 03 February 2005 at 12:15 PM.]

Everyone seems to be listing bands from the late '60's and early '70's.
This is 2005, certainly some band had played "Country Rock" since 1974!

[This message was edited by Alvin Blaine on 03 February 2005 at 02:26 PM.]

Son Volt
Jayhawks
Lucinda Williams
The Hollisters
The Drive-by-Truckers
The Radio Nationals
Wilco
Christy McWilson
Bill Kirchen
The Waco Brothers
Neko Case
Jon Langford
Tift Merritt
Rex Hobart and The Misery Boys
The Gourds
The Weary Boys
The Beachwood Sparks
Porter Hall Tennessee

I am sure to be missing some...

you know i've been thinking that maybe we (country rockers) could get together and do a festival thing. i have access to a huge club (1000+ cap with 40 channel FOH, monitor board, 15,000W PA with 8 boxes per stack) in Statesboro, GA (Legends where i do live soound) that is next to GSU campus (20K students). BTW: Athens (UGA ~ 50k students) is only 3 hours away, and Athens is a breeding ground for this kinda music scene. i also have ties to the Gram Parons Festival in Waycross, GA where GP lived his younger life (GP memtions Waycross in one ot two songs). this may work!!! the over-heqad for club and PA is small as i can get it. if we can round up the groups, well hell we may have little country rock festival.

if anyones thinks ths is a realistic idea, reply on this thread. who has promotonal ties? i have the club and PA. we all have the groups and know of others.

this just popped into my head while writing this thread.

let's bounce this around.

billy

BTW, the CDB also has a couple of original Gospel CD's out that are among my favorites. Stars of this magnitude that still have old fashioned morals are very rare these days.

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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording