Best Country/Rock - Poll

I agree with jond, Gram Parsons. Also him with that, The Flying Burrito Brothers. Also The Byrd’s should be mentioned. For more current groups, I would say Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, and Son Volt.

Waltersalas-

That's a good start list! I must be a pretty big fan of this type, since I've got all of those. I think the more you listen to it, the "wider" your view becomes of what fits . . . which, of course, leads down more squirrel holes. That's the fun, I guess.

another from way back: cowboy, later performing as boyer and talton. around 72 or 73 I guess.

dc

DC,

I'll see if I can track down the Cowboy album you mentioned. Sounds interesting. Do you know if it's in print?

I agree with you about the way your view seems to widen the more you get into this stuff. Admittedly, the definiton of country-rock is as subjective as the albums on any given list. For example, Neil Young's "Comes A Time" and "Harvest" strike me as country rock, but "Tonight's the Night" and "Rust Never Sleeps" don't. Dylan's "John Wesley Harding" (mentioned earlier) doesn't sound like country-rock to me, but "Nashville Skyline" (which I obviously should have listed) does. I love the Band and Creedence Clearwater Revivial, but they don't really strike me much as country-rock either. Who really knows?

My grandpa used to play clawhammer banjo and guitar in a bluegrass outfit, and not long before he died somebody played him a couple of tracks off a Randy Travis album to get his reaction to "new" country music. He paused for a moment after listening and said, "Well, if that's country music then I'm a Baptist preacher." He wasn't.

In general, if it's got a fiddle, a banjo, a dobro, a pedal-steel guitar, or a harmonica in it, there's a good chance I'll like it. If somebody got cheated on, or somebody died, or somebody got too drunk, the chance doubles.

Listening to Steve Earl's "The Revolution Starts Now." Definitely qualifies for this thread.

JOE HENRY