Spread across three discs, with a playing time of close to four hours, and with seventy-six tracks, this set will likely stimulate debate amongst fans about whether this or that track actually is country rock or not, as it’s a surefire bet not all of them are. But what’s for certain is there’s a whole lot of good music on offer and, if this three CD set does only one thing, I hope it’s to dispel the illusion country rock began with The Eagles… it didn’t. As this sumptuous set illustrates, there were far more and better examples of what country rock was years before Linda Ronstadt had even met Glenn Frey and Don Henley and asked their band to back her.
Country rock is notoriously hard to pin down but, like other genres, it’s very much in the ear of the beholder… you know it when you hear it. Whether a track is country rock or country and western is something purely for the listener to decide, and the distinction between Ry Cooder‘s ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ and Dillard & Clark‘s ‘No Longer A Sweetheart Of Mine’ is probably negligible, though both are really superb songs.
Safe At Home, from The International Submarine Band, was possibly the first album to be referred to as country rock. The band were led by Gram Parsons, a seminal figure in the genre whose desire to create what he referred to as ‘Cosmic American Music’ led to the band fusing folk, country and rock to evolve a new sound. Parsons then joined The Byrds, whose 1968 album, Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, saw the band moving towards a more countrified sound. During this same period, a number of other albums were released which, at the time, sold poorly but which have since become revered as seminal in the evolving of country rock as a genre. Even Bob Dylan got in on the act with albums like Nashville Skyline.
Many of the usual suspects are to be found on this release, with fine tracks from the Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco, Linda Ronstadt, Buffalo Springfield, John Prine, Pure Prairie League, Allman Brothers, Mike Nesmith and The Lovin’ Spoonful. The influence of bands like The Byrds, on tracks like ‘Brother John’ by The Dillards and Turnquist Remedy‘s ‘Cowboy Song’, and Buffalo Springfield, on Rick Nelson‘s ‘Things You Gave Me’, is very noticeable. There are several songs which may or may not be country rock but, whatever, are gorgeous pieces of music, in particular Little Feat‘s ‘Willin” and The New Riders‘ glorious tune ‘Last Lonely Eagle’. Inevitably, on a set with 76 tracks, one or two don’t quite make the grade and, great band though they are, by 1973 The Byrds were just a shadow of their former selves, and it shows on a very lame version of Neil Young‘s classic tune ‘Cowgirl In The Sand’.
The only downside here is, for several of the artists included, there never was a gold rush because, as good as their songs were, songs like JD Souther‘s ‘How Long’ somehow got lost in the mix and didn’t get the recognition they deserved.
Country rock probably peaked in the mid-1970s with The Eagles, who took it into the mainstream to achieve global success, and its ramifications can still be felt in modern Americana. This set does exactly what it says on the cover, offering plenty of really good tracks, irrespective of genre, for fans to get enthused about.