In 1966, rock groups began turning away from the self-indulgence of early psychedelia to the timeless values embodied in country music, but they brought a counter-culture sensibility to it. It was a trend that began slowly in 1966, picked up steam in ’67 when Bob Dylan released his groundbreaking ‘John Wesley Harding’ album and The Band’s first LP appeared, and became a phenomenon in 1968 when the Byrds released ‘Sweetheart Of The Rodeo,’ and Dillard & Clark’s first album appeared. Heritage acts like the Everly Brothers and Rick Nelson came early to the party. And then, in 1969, the Flying Burrito Brothers’ first LP appeared, Dylan released ‘Nashville Skyline,’ and the Band’s epochal second LP appeared. Suddenly, Country Rock was a phrase on everyone’s lips.
That’s the story we tell in the first two volumes of this series. All the big names are here, but so are the Corvettes (a super group that never made it, produced by Mike Nesmith of the Monkees), Doug Sahm fusing western swing and rock, Clarence White coming to rock from country and bluegrass with his group Nashville West, Hearts & Flowers with future Eagles founder Bernie Leadon, and Gram Parsons’ first group, the International Submarine Band, and many more!
Not only is Bear Family able to license from great and small labels to bring you the complete story of Country Rock, but the story is told as only Bear Family can tell it: pristine sound, previously unpublished photos, full liner notes with first-person accounts from those who were there. The set is produced and annotated by Grammy-award winning writer-producer Colin Escott.
Vol. 1
CD 1
1. International Submarine Band – Truck Driving Man
2. Rick Nelson – You Just Cant Quit
3. The Lovin Spoonful – Nashville Cats
4. Buffalo Springfield – Pay The Price
5. Gene Clark & The Gosdin Brothe – Tried So Hard
6. The Youngbloods – Grizzely Bear aka Grizzly Bear
7. Gene Clark & The Gosdin Brothe – So You Say You Lost Your Baby
8. The Gosdin Brothers – Tell Me
9. The Lovin Spoonfu – Darlin Companion
10. The Everly Brothers – Im Movin On
11. Bobbie Gentry – Ode To Billie Joe
12. Buffalo Springfield – Childs Claim To Fame
13. The Everly Brothers – Bowling Green
14. Bobbie Gentry – Niki Hoeky
15. International Submarine Band – Luxury Liner
16. International Submarine Band – Blue Eyes
17. The Monkees – What Am I Doing Hangin’ Round
18. The Byrds – Old John Robertson
19. The Youngbloods – Sugar Babe
20. Kenny Vernon – Aint That A Shame
21. Nashville West – Ode To Billie
CD 2
1. International Submarine Band – Do You Know How It Feels To Be
2. The Byrds – Wasnt Born To Follow
3. Bob Dylan – Ill Be Your Baby Tonight
4. The Band – The Weight Band
5. Hearts & Flowers – She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune
6. The Band – I Shall Be Released Band
7. The Byrds – You Aint Going Nowhere
8. The Byrds – Hickory Wind
9. The Beau Brummels – Turn Around
10. The Beau Brummels – The Loneliest Man In Town
11. Lovin Spoonful – Never Goin Back
12. The Byrds – One Hundred Years From Now
13. Dillard & Clark – Train Leaves Here This Morning
14. The Spencers – Make Up Your Mind
15. Dillard & Clark – The Radio Song
16. The Dillards – Nobody Knows
17. The Dillards – Listen To The Sound
18. Dennis Payne – The Conscience Of You
19. The Everly Brothers – T For Texas
20. The Everly Brothers – I Wonder If Ill Care As Much
1. Byrds- Drug Store Truck Driving Man
2. Flying Burrito Brothers - Christine’s Tune
3. Sahm, Doug / Sir Douglas Quintet - Texas Me
4. Campbell, Glen - Galveston
5. Dylan, Bob - Lay, Lady Lay
6. Band- The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
7. Flying Burrito Brothers - Wheels
8. Corvettes - Back Home Girl
9. Dillard & Clark - Through The Morning, Through The Night
10. Owens, Buck - Who’s Gonna Mow Your Grass
11. Poco - Pickin' Up The Pieces
12. Sahm, Doug / Sir Douglas Quintet - At The Crossroads
13. Band- Up On Cripple Creek
14. Flying Burrito Brothers - Sin City
15. Corvettes - Level Your Senses
16. Ronstadt, Linda - Silver Threads And Golden Needles
17. Flying Burrito Brothers - Hot Burrito #1
18. Presley, Elvis - I’m Movin’ On
19. Sanland Brothers - Vaccination For The Blues
20. Poco - Make Me Smile
21. Ronstadt, Linda - We Need A Whole Lot More Jesus (And A Lot Less Rock And Roll)
22. Zandt, Townes Van - Lungs
23. Rogers, Kenny & The First Edition - Ruby (Don’t Take Your Love To Town)
On the third volume of Bear Family's seven-entry country-rock chronicle Truckers, Kickers, Cowboy Angels: The Blissed-Out Birth of Country-Rock, the label moves into 1970, a year that saw a nascent, long-haired Americana gain popularity but also get a bit weirder. Thanks to the Band's success ' Music from Big Pink turned heads in 1968, but 1969's The Band found its way onto the Billboard Top 10, bringing the group to the cover of Time in the opening weeks of 1970 ' there were now hordes of fellow travelers, including hippies like Jefferson Airplane, trying on overalls for size. The Airplane brought in Jerry Garcia to play steel on 'The Farm,' one of the 38 tunes featured on this double-disc set, a collection of songs that also includes two cuts from the Grateful Dead's twin '70 releases, Workingman's Dead and American Beauty. If the San Franciscan hippies were embracing roots, so were the blissed-out Los Angelenos. Led by Gram Parsons, who spent much of 1970 closing out his run with the Flying Burrito Brothers, these creatures of the Canyon included Mike Nesmith, who was just breaking free from the Monkees, and Rick Nelson, continuing the path they started in 1969 ' a journey that can be heard on the second volume of Truckers, Kickers, Cowboy Angels ' but the '70s saw the rise of idiosyncratic singer/songwriters like Jesse Winchester, Eric Andersen, and Townes Van Zandt, along with Nashville rebels David Allan Coe and Kris Kristofferson, the latter also seeing success via a cover of 'Me and Bobby McGee' from Janis Joplin. A new wrinkle came in the form of the wooly, hard-driving rockers from the south, a breed typified by the Allman Brothers Band but also encompassing Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. A lot of the lesser-known names here ' Swampwater, Goose Creek Symphony, Country Funk, Wildweeds ' fall outside of these parameters, skewing closer to the bright, wide-open sound of Poco, a feel that might typify how country-rock felt at the start of the '70s: after all the heaviness of the '60s, it seemed like a new day was dawning.
CD1
01. The Allman Brothers Band ' Midnight Rider
02. Delaney & Bonnie And Friends ' Living on the Open Road
03. Cowboy ' Livin' in the Country
04. The Band ' Just Another Whistle Stop
05. Jesse Winchester ' Biloxi
06. The Flying Burrito Brothers ' Lazy Days
07. Doug Sahm ' The Sir Douglas Quintet /Be Real
08. Kris Kristofferson ' The Best of All Possible Worlds
09. Grateful Dead ' Casey Jones
10. Jefferson Airplane ' The Farm
11. Moby Grape ' Right Before My Eyes
12. Michael Nesmith & The First National Band ' Joanne
13. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band ' Some of Shelly's Blues
14. Townes Van Zandt ' Delta Mama Blues
15. David Alan Coe ' Walkin' Bum
16. Rick Nelson ' California
17. Eric Andersen ' Just a Country Dream
18. Poco ' You Better Think Twice
19. Brewer & Shipley ' One Toke Over the Line
CD2
01. Linda Ronstadt ' He Darked the Sun
02. The Flying Burrito Brothers ' God'S Own Singer
03. Swampwater ' Big Bayou
04. The Band ' The WS Walcott Medicine Show
05. David Allan Coe ' Tobacco Road
06. Goose Creek Symphony ' Charlie'S Tune
07. Country Funk ' Really My Friend
08. Grateful Dead ' Truckin'
09. Jefferson Airplane ' A Song for All Seasons
10. Morning ' Tell Me a Story
11. Michael Nesmith & The First National Band ' Silver Moon
12. Poco ' Hurry Up
13. Townes Van Zandt ' Where I Lead Me
14. Rusty Kershaw ' The Country Boy
15. Wildweeds ' Mare, Take Me Home
16. Jesse Winchester ' Snow
17. Kris Kristofferson ' Sunday Morning Coming Down
18. Janis Joplin ' Me and Bobby Mcgee
19. Townes Van Zandt ' Delta Mama Blues (Unissued)
The fourth volume of Bear Family's seven-edition country-rock history Truckers, Kickers, Cowboy Angels: The Blissed-Out Birth of Country Rock kicks off with Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen's locomotive rendition of Hot Rod Lincoln, possibly the hardest-rocking cut yet featured in this series. It's a good indication of how things were changing in 1971, the year chronicled in this double-disc set. What began as a mellow breeze blowing out of Southern California grew grittier as it swept across the country, picking up musicians who were perhaps a little rowdier than the previous generation's. That's another way of saying that there are a lot of bands featured on this installment of Truckers, Kickers, Cowboy Angels: Commander Cody, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Randy Bachman's Brave Belt, Cochise, Cowboy, Head Hands & Feet, Twin Engine, and Poco, every one of them bringing a heavier backbeat. When combined with a slight diminishment of the literate singer/songwriters that dominated Vol. 3 ' the moody Mickey Newbury shows up toward the end of the collection, but both Kris Kristofferson and John Prine seem comfortable showcased alongside the shaggier country-rockers here ' helps give this installment a funkier feel, a suspicion confirmed by the funkier acts included here: Link Wray and Lonnie Mack riding the roots movement, Hoyt Axton roaring through 'Never Been to Spain,' Sir Douglas Quintet sending out 'Wasted Days and Wasted Nights,' Freddy Fender, wherever he is, and this comp's great re-discovery, Alex Harvey, a sensational singer/songwriter who wrote 'Delta Dawn' and 'Tulsa Turnaround' (and has nothing to do with the British rocker who shares his name). This kind of relaxed, down-and-dirty groove is so addictive that it's easy not to realize that Gram Parsons is M.I.A. (the Chris Hillman-led Flying Burrito Brothers are here, though), but that only underscores how by 1971 the movement Gram set into motion grew into its own thing.
CD1
01. Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen ' Hot Rod Lincoln
02. Hoyt Axton ' Never Been to Spain
03. Link Wray ' La De Da
04. Gene Clark ' White Light
05. Alex Harvey ' Tulsa Turnaround
06. Kris Kristofferson ' The Pilgrim Chapter 33
07. Johnny Cash ' Singing in Viet Nam Talking Blues
08. Lonnie Mack ' Three Angels
09. The Flying Burrito Brothers ' Colorado
10. Michael Nesmith & The First National Band ' Grand Ennui
11. The Band ' When I Paint My Masterpiece
12. New Riders of the Purple Sage ' Henry
13. Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen ' Seeds and Stems Again
14. John Prine ' Angel from Montgomery
15. JJ Cale ' Crazy Mama
16. Brave Belt ' Crazy Arms, Crazy Eyes
17. Cochise ' Lost Hearts
18. Cowboy ' Please Be with Me
19. Heads Hands & Feet ' Country Boy
CD2
01. Delaney & Bonnie and Friends ' Never Ending Song of Love
02. Little Feat ' Willin'
03. Ry Cooder ' Taxes on the Farmer Feeds Us All
04. Lonnie Mack ' Asphalt Outlaw Hero
05. Kris Kristofferson ' Good Christian Soldier
06. John Prine ' Paradise
07. Gene Clark ' For a Spanish Guitar
08. New Riders of the Purple Sage ' Glendale Train
09. Michael Nesmith & The First National Band ' Tumbling Tumbleweeds
10. The Flying Burrito Brothers ' Hand to Mouth
11. Rick Nelson ' This Train
12. Twin Engine ' My Life Gets Better Every Day
13. Alex Harvey ' Delta Dawn
14. Mordicai Jones ' All Because of a Woman
15. Doug Kershaw ' Who Needs That Kind of Friend
16. Poco ' Bad Weather
17. Mickey Newbury ' The Future'S Not What It Used to Be
18. Link Wray ' Fire and Brimstone
19. Sir Douglas Quintet ' Wasted Days, Wasted Nights
20. Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen ' Lost in the Ozone
In its assessment of rock music in 1972, Billboard magazine noted the trend toward overblown rock, like Procul Harum with the Edmonton Symphony. Another trend was dubbed Teutonic Noise Rock, meaning Van Der Graaf Generator and Amon Duul.
In sharp contrast, Country Rock was a return to elemental values in music. Melodic songs and minimal instrumentation, still performed with a counter-culture vibe. The Byrds were still around and still making great music, and were joined by the New Riders of the Purple Sage and other California acts like Ry Cooder, JD Souther, and Dan Hicks. Now the music was coming from other corners of the U.S., including Nashville (J.J. Cale, the Scruggs brothers, Kris Kristofferson), Texas (the Flatlanders, Delbert & Glen), New York (Pure Prairie League, Chip Taylor), and Woodstock/New England (Bobby Charles, Jonathan Edwards). Two ’50s rock & roll acts, the Everly Brothers and Rick Nelson, made exciting new music that was very true to ’70s country rock. And finally, a hippie group, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, successfully bridged traditional Country and Country Rock with their groundbreaking Will the Circle Be Unbroken.
CD1
01 – Danny O’Keefe – Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues
02 – Delbert & Glen – I Received a Letter
03 – Bobby Charles – Tennessee Blues
04 – The Byrds – Lazy Waters
05 – J.J. Cale – After Midnight
06 – Townes Van Zandt – You Are Not Needed Now
07 – Jimmie Dale & The Flatlanders – Dallas
08 – Ry Cooder – Boomer’s Story
09 – Kris Kristofferson – Border Lord
10 – Jonathan Edwards – Honky Tonk Stardust Cowboy
11 – New Riders of the Purple Sage – Rainbow
12 – Michael Nesmith – Different Drum
13 – Chip Taylor – Gasoline
14 – Pure Prairie League – Tears
15 – John Hartford – Nobody Eats at Linebaugh’s Anymore
16 – John Prine – The Great Compromise
17 – Jimmie Dale & The Flatlanders – You’ve Never Seen Me Cry
18 – Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks – Walkin’ One and Only
CD2
01 – Bobby Charles – Small Town Talk
02 – J.J. Cale – Clyde
03 – Danny O’Keefe – The Road
04 – Delbert & Glen – Ain’t What You Eat But the Way How You Chew It
05 – Doug Kershaw – Super Cowboy
06 – The Everly Brothers – I’m Tired of Singing My Song in Las Vegas
07 – Rick Nelson – Garden Party
08 – Rick Roberts – In My Own Small Way
09 – Dan Fogelberg – Anyway I Love You
10 – Pure Prairie League – Early Morning Riser
11 – The Byrds – B.B. Class Road
12 – Chip Taylor – Dirty Matthew
13 – J.D. Souther – The Fast One
14 – Uncle Jim’s Music – Once in a Great While
15 – New Riders of the Purple Sage – Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud Music)
16 – Kris Kristofferson – Smokey Put the Sweat On Me
17 – Jimmie Dale & The Flatlanders – Tonight I Think I’m Gonna Go Downtown
18 – Gary & Randy Scruggs – Rock ‘n’ Roll Gypsies
19 – Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Will the Circle Be Unbroken
Kicking off with Doug Sahm’s song about his hometown — a wild, rangy “(Is Anybody Going To) San Antone” — this sixth volume of Bear Family’s ongoing country-rock history Truckers, Kickers, Cowboy Angels: The Blissed-Out Birth of Country-Rock is immediately livelier than its singer/songwriter predecessor. Some of those cowboy poets of 1972 show up again here in 1973 — Townes Van Zandt is deservedly inescapable; his standard “Pancho & Lefty” arrives in the first five songs — but there are more bands here, including the wildly funky Little Feat and open-road rebels the Allman Brothers Band, two bands that are just marginally country-rock. This is an indication of how things were changing in country-rock in 1973, how rockers were treating country as just one of their roots, but the bigger story is the rise of the backwoods funk and long-haired hippie outlaws. Doug Sahm is at the forefront of that movement (he’s also heard toward the end with the anthem “Texas Tornado”) and so is his Austin cohort Willie Nelson, joined by Billy Joe Shaver (and Bobby Bare singing Billy Joe), Hoyt Axton, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Jim Ford. Alongside these redneck renegades are the rocking Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, the woolly Western swing revivalists Asleep at the Wheel, and the Earl Scruggs Revue singing Shel Silverstein’s dirty jokes. Times were changing, to be sure, and what was happening was the crystallization of what we’d later know to be country-rock and roots rock, so in addition to being terrifically entertaining, this is instructive as well.
CD1
1. Doug Sahm and Band – (Is Anybody Going To) San Antone [03:02]
2. Willie Nelson – Shotgun Willie [02:41]
3. Gram Parsons – That’s All It Took [02:57]
4. Delbert & Glen – California Livin’ [02:23]
5. Townes Van Zandt – Pancho & Lefty [03:39]
6. Jerry Jeff Walker – [04:09]
7. Bobby Bare – Ride Me Down Easy [03:00]
8. Billy Joe Shaver – Old Five and Dimers Like Me [02:40]
9. J.J. Cale – If You’re Ever in Oklahoma [02:03]
10. Hank Wilson – Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms [04:24]
11. Gene Clark – Don’t This Road Look Rough and Rocky (aka Rough and Rocky) [03:13]
12. The Earl Scruggs Revue – Salty Dog Blues [02:02]
13. New Riders of the Purple Sage – Lonesome La Cowboy [04:03]
14. The Band – Crying Heart Blues [03:27]
15. Goose Creek Symphony – (Oh Lord Won’t You Buy Me A) Mercedes Benz [03:14]
16. Rick Roberts – Glad to Be Goin’ [03:50]
17. Ozark Mountain Daredevils – Country Girl [03:14]
18. Borderline – Please Help Me Forget [03:26]
19. Dennis Linde – Burning Love [02:56]
20. Little feat – Roll Um Easy [02:30]
21. Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks – Payday Blues [02:50]
22. Doug Sahm and Band – [03:30]
23. Jerry Jeff Walker & Lost Gonzo Band – Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother [04:28]
CD2
1. Willie Nelson – The Troublemaker [01:50]
2. Hoyt Axton – Sweet Misery [03:22]
3. J.J. Cale – Lies [02:54]
4. Little feat – Dixie Chicken [03:57]
5. The Allman Brothers Band – Ramblin’ Man [04:47]
6. Gram Parsons – She [04:56]
7. The Earl Scruggs Revue – If I’d Only Come and Gone [02:52]
8. Asleep at the Wheel – Take Me Back to Tulsa [03:37]
9. Jerry Jeff Walker – Sangria Wine [04:25]
10. Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen – Everybody’s Doing It [02:06]
11. Jim Ford – Big Mouth USA [03:10]
12. Delbert & Glen – To Be with You [04:20]
13. Kinky Friedman – Sold American [03:15]
14. Goose Creek Symphony – Me and Him [02:50]
15. Michael Nesmith – Winonah [03:49]
16. Gene Clark & the Flying Burrito Brothers – Here Tonight [03:28]
17. Gene Parsons – Sonic Bummer [02:18]
18. Chip Taylor – 101 in Cashbox [04:54]
19. Billy Joe Shaver – I Been to Georgia On a Fast Train [02:12]
20. Townes Van Zandt – If I Needed You [03:43]
21. Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris – Sleepless Nights [03:22]
22. The Sir Douglas Quintet – Texas Tornado [02:52]
23. Jerry Jeff Walker – London Homesick Blues [07:39]
