Country rock

Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal styles, and additional instrumentation, most characteristically pedal steel guitars. Country rock began with artists like Waylon Jennings, Buffalo Springfield, Michael Nesmith, Bob Dylan, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, The International Submarine Band and others, reaching its greatest popularity in the 1970s with artists such as Emmylou Harris, the Eagles, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Linda Ronstadt, Little Feat, Poco, Charlie Daniels Band, and Pure Prairie League. Country rock also influenced artists in other genres, including The Band, the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Rolling Stones, and George Harrison's solo work, as well as playing a part in the development of Southern rock.

Quotes about country rock

• As the story goes, country slept with the blues in Memphis and gave birth to rock n’ roll. After a while, country got tired and went back to Nashville. And while that’s admittedly an oversimplification, a look at the intertwining history of the three genres reveals it to be an apt extended metaphor. Following the split, the blues gave rock a mother’s unconditional love, nurturing it through its difficult stages and always providing a welcome return no matter how far it strayed from home. On the other hand, country and rock have had the type of relationship one would expect of a child and its absentee father. As rock entered its formative years, it rebelled against country’s old-fashioned ways – sometimes openly mocking it – and became more successful in the process. Once it grew up, rock reconnected with country in search of paternal guidance and wisdom. Meanwhile, country hasn’t always been willing to acknowledge its more successful offspring, but on occasion has had to embrace rock for the money. All of which is a bit of a shame, because those moments when they’ve put aside their differences has resulted in some of the most enduring music of the rock era.
  • Dave Lifton of Ultimate Classic Rock (December 16, 2016) [1]

• It took Bob Dylan to break the ice between the [country and rock music] camps. [...] While it would be a stretch to call Blonde on Blonde a country-rock record, the fact that Dylan, arguably the most important person in rock at the time, cut an album in the home of country music soon brought an influx of other musicians to Nashville. As Charlie McCoy, the multi-instrumentalist who starred on Blonde told Nashville Scene in 2011, “That's when the floodgates opened."
  • Dave Lifton of Ultimate Classic Rock (December 16, 2016) [2]