Gram Parsons
G.P./Grievous Angel
American Beauty
Neil Young

Pop/Rock » Folk/Country Rock » Country-Rock

Essentially, Country-Rock is rock bands playing country music. It is country music informed by rock's counterculture ideals, as well as its reliance on loud amplification, prominent backbeat, and pop melodies. The first country-rock bands -- the Flying Burrito Brothers, Gram Parsons, the Byrds, Neil Young -- played straight country, as inspired by the Bakersfield sound of Merle Haggard and Buck Owens, as well as honky tonkers like Hank Williams. As the genre moved into the '70s, the rougher edges were smoothed out as the Eagles, Poco, Pure Prairie League, and Linda Ronstadt made music that was smoother and more laid-back. This became the predominant sound of country-rock in the '70s. In the late '80s, a small group of alternative rock bands began to revive the spartan sound of the original sound of Parsons and Young.

Country-Rock Artists Highlights

Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons
Neil Young
Neil Young
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Townes Van Zandt
Townes Van Zandt
The Band
The Band
The Byrds
The Byrds

More Country-Rock Artists

Country-Rock Album Highlights

G.P./Grievous Angel
Gram Parsons
G.P./Grievous Angel
American Beauty
Grateful Dead
American Beauty
John Wesley Harding
Bob Dylan
John Wesley Harding
The Gilded Palace of Sin
The Flying Burrito Brothers
The Gilded Palace of Sin
Sweetheart of the Rodeo
The Byrds
Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Roots
The Everly Brothers
Roots

More Country-Rock Albums

Country-Rock Song Highlights

Title/Composer Performer Stream
The Weight The Band
Hot Burrito No. 1 The Flying Burrito Brothers
Will the Circle Be Unbroken The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Boulder to Birmingham Emmylou Harris
Hot Rod Lincoln Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
Hickory Wind The Byrds
Lay Lady Lay Bob Dylan
Heart of Gold Neil Young
Pancho and Lefty Townes Van Zandt
Sugar Magnolia Grateful Dead

More Country-Rock Songs

Other Styles in Folk/Country Rock