Rosslyn is right on the trail riding out of Alexandria, VA. That's where I started my chase of country rock and bluegrass in Summer of '99. I found this album c. 2001 at the Jonesborough flea market in TN. Turns out my boss had actually seen them as a kid in DC area. "Been Awhile" is the ultimate gem on this album. I also got to watch Goose Creek Symphony at the Blue Plum Festival in Johnson City, TN. Of course, the first 2 Nesmith National Band albums have been in my car for this whole millennium. Best channel on YT, and greatest depth of knowledge of any rock connoisseur! Kudos, brother!
Excellent. I have been a country rock fan for over fifty years and I am always on the look-out for new bands from the classic period in the early 1970s. I will be checking out each of these, all of which were unknown to me. Thank you so much.
Good morning Hedley. Nice to see you again. I have never heard of Country Funk from here in Boston. But I am glad that you showed it because I will do a little research and see where they played around here. Geez the vocals sound really good. It is amazing how many talented bands were around back then and never really got the attention that they deserved. Was it the competition, the management or the record label promoting them? I will be back later on. I got to run. Not that I want to. I have to. Have a great day. Catch up with you later on tonight I hope~ Rob/Boston
Why do some bands make it and some don't? I suppose if we knew why that was we could make a shed-load of money selling music. There are so many factors that its amazing any bands break through. Cheers Rob. Look after yourself. Hed
Great video, I really enjoyed this one. I've been on a huge Graham Parsons kick lately so this was right up my alley. I really liked everything you shared, but especially Orphan and Country Funk.
Thanks, man. I've been sitting on this music for ages, saving it up for some grand genre defining video series...I just realised that ain't happening, so I might as well share some of this lesser known country rock now. Stay tuned, I've got a few more of these up my sleeve. There are a couple of bands who would probably be enjoyed by fans of Gram Parsons, Rosslyn Mountain Boys being one of those, the other would be....And you'll have to wait for my next video to find out ;-) Cheers Hedley
I was already searching through DISCOGS before I was half way through your presentation! Orphan, Maxfield Parrish and Rosslyn Mt Boys are completely new to me. In my teens we were very into Goose Creek, their first couple of albums were in a lot of collections! Tongue in cheek is a good description for them. I think my DISCOGS cart might be full again with some of these!!!! Take care my friend.
On the up side, Elliott, at least these sort of records are pretty cheap at the moment, especially in the US. I think the Maxfield Parrish would be the only one that might be more than $10. Cheers - Hedley
Great video Hedley. I already had the Maxfield Perish record on my want list & now the other 4 have been added. I am a big fan of country-rock. My video for albums of 1972 has a few on the list.
Hi Roger. I can thoroughly recommend the Maxfield Parrish album, it manages to have some quite diverse styles, but they all gell together. That was always a feature of Kaleidoscope, so it's no surprise really. Ooh, I'll have to go back and watch your 1972 video. You've got me trying to guess which country rock albums you've included. If you liked this, stay tuned, I'm going to try to do another next week. Cheers - Hedley
@@anotherfatbeardedmantalkin5893 I am a Bernie Leaden fan & love the country sound & versatile instrumentation he brought to the Eagles. Do you know if he is actually on any of the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers albums? I saw someplace that said he was on Bluegrass Favorites but then somewhere else I read he did not make it on any recordings with them.
@@jollyroger3095 No, as far as I understand Leadon only played live with the Squirrel Barkers, and I'm not sure that was more than a gig or two. I'm always amazed that someone as musically talented as Leadon didn't release a solo album in the 70s. Everyone else did! I suppose the nearest he came was the album he recorded with Michael Georgiades in '77.
Is that Sissyneck I hear? Well, I enjoyed all of the needle drops. As you say, you could quite easily hear each of those records being more highly regarded had the bands just had a bit more luck. Cracking video, mate 👍
Bingo! That's the feller. The Country Funk album is solid, and it's quite surprising it didn't do better commercially. What is surprising is the number of Country Rock albums that were put out by practically every record label, despite the total apathy from the buying public. Clearly they thought country rock was going to be lucrative, and were happy to churn money into those kinds of bands. It wouldn't really be until the Eagles third album that the big money started to roll in.
Great video, Hed. Great topic, too. As you know, I'm a huge fan of Country Funk. I now have a few more folks to seek out in my adventures. Be well... TB
Thanks, Tommy. To be honest, I'm amazed at the number of Country Rock bands who were signed by labels despite the poor sales of the genre...Before the Eagles hit it big. Clearly they thought Country Rock was going to be very lucrative and were happy to give all these bands a go. Cheers - Hedley
Thanks for this, which came as a nice surprise the other day. When the Maxfield Parrish album was finally released in 1972 the band, as you say, no longer existed, and apart from a few local airplays, vanished into the ether, as far as any of us knew. It was only with the advent of the Internet that we started to realize anyone in the world at large were aware of our existence! What you say about us rings pretty true, and thanks for that. A couple of things, though. It was myself and banjo player Randy Groenke who were students of Jerry Garcia, not my co-writer David Perrin Muir. Also, there was never any intention for there to be a double album; we simply had two tracks in a heavier vein ("Round the Morning" and "The Untransmuted Child") that for whatever reasons weren't included on the eventual album release.( Both tracks first appeared, along with the original mix of the album, on a Taxim Records CD in 1999..) Thanks again for the kind words.
Hello David. Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to comment. I do tend towards the hyperbolic when I describe some of the lesser known country rock records I feature in these videos, mainly because I'm such a fan of the genre, but I didn't have to embellish anything about the Maxfield Parrish album. It deserves to be remembered as one of the high points of the fledgling genre. I'm sorry I got those facts wrong in the video. I can't remember from where I pulled that erroneous information, but it's also entirely possible I made the mistakes myself. Thanks for clearing things up, it's a little late, but I'll add a note in the video's description to bring attention to those errors. Thanks - Hedley
Great video Hedley. I love Country Rock but the only one of these five that I'm familiar with is GCS whose first three albums are all excellent. Hope you're planning a few more of these Country Rock videos.
Yay! You've got one! I hope you forgive my silly hyperbole in suggesting no one will know these albums. I was just trying out some 'click bait'. Yeah, Goose Creek Symphony are pretty damn good, and don't really sound like anyone else. I've got the 5 records they released before splitting up in '76, but haven't got anything from them since they reformed. Don't worry Alan, there's some more Country Rock on the horizon. Cheers - Hedley
Hi Hedley. I just finished listening to the Rosslyn Mountain Boys album. Plenty of pedal steel which I like. They sound good. You know its funny in a way. If I was listening to more country rock and I would be able to give a proper review on this artist or that band. But I do not listen to my country albums as much as I would like. So thanks to you I am able to revisit or hear artists that are new to me. I am sure that I told you this a few times already. {smile} Thanks Hedley. Always refreshing~ Rob/Boston
Well, Hedley, I’d say mission accomplished as I have never heard any of these five selections. Though, I have seen Country Funk shown by Dom at Seekingathread. The Country Funk sample really reminded me of a lesser known band from right here in North Carolina - Arrogance. I posted a video about them awhile ago. Don Dixon was in Arrogance. Check out the song “To See Her Smile.” It is very Country rock with a blissed out distorted guitar solo. Their work going into the mid-70s was very Poco/Brinsley Schwarz. Not all fantastic, but they recorded some real gems. I will be further investigating Rosalyn Mountain Boys, as I heard a strong Gram sound in that sample. Also, it looks to be cheap heat! Great video as always, sir. Cheers ✌🏻
Hey Jon, Thanks for watching, and taking the time to comment. Arrogance are a very interesting band, I have a digital copy of their first album. The track Why Do You Love Me is my favourite, the rolling piano is great. I don't hold out much hope of getting hold of a vinyl copy, it's a rare and relatively expensive record. I missed your video about them, I'll have to go back and give that a watch. The whole regional element of US music is not something that we have here in the UK. It seems that US bands can reach a good level of success in their region without ever breaking through nationally. I suppose the UK is simply too small to foster such a regional music scene. That's not to say bands and artists can't be popular in their town, but it's not going to be backed up with local radio play or music charts. Cheers - Hedley
@@anotherfatbeardedmantalkin5893 Regional success is a thing of the past, but yes, there was a time period where a band could support itself and find some reach simply off being extremely popular in their area. Arrogance paved the way for a lot of DIY bands in North Carolina and inspired bands of the Athens, Georgia area. They said “If Arrogance can get signed, so can we.” My video is labeled under “Between the Grooves, Under the Pines” if you want to check it out.
Thanks for the precious contribution........I have Maxfield Parrish and Country Funk,they are GREAAT stuff indeed...Orphan and Goose Creek Symph.seem very interesting.....hooray for country rock!!!!!
Really enjoyed your video! Just subscribed. As a teenager and young adult in the 1970's I was and still am a huge fan of country rock, including the next generation, Wilco, Sun Volt, Whiskeytown, etc. Sweethearts Of The Rodeo is a great album but I never bought into the idea that it's the origin of country rock. The Byrds cut country tunes on earlier albums, The Beatles covered Buck Owens' tune Act Naturally, what does say about country Buck Owens Bailey to rock? Don't forget that Bob Dylan's 1966 Blonde On Blonde and his 1969 Nashville Skyline, both recorded in Nashville using country music session players, Charlie Daniels et al. He even made a guest appearance on Johnny Cash's TV show. You mentioned David Lindley on one of the albums. I'd like to give him big props. He played the blistering slide guitar or lap steal on Jackson Browne's Running On Empty. I use to hear conversations about how was the greatest guitar player ever, Hendrix, Clapton, Beck or Page. I hate such comparisons. When hearing that conversation, I'd just shake my head and think, those guys have never heard of David Lindley. I don't believe there is a "greatest of all time" but in a list of the elites, he would be way up at the top. The last band you reviewed, Rosslyn Mountain Boys, I'd never heard of. As a Gram Parsons fan I agree had Gram lived his future material would have gone in that direction. In fact, the singer sounded eerily like Gram.
Thanks for watching. Maybe there needs to be a country rock venn diagram showing in which ways bands sound similar to more established country rock acts? You could then say a band was in the intersection of CSN&Y, Flying Burritos and The Band. Cheers Hedley
Rosslyn Mountain Boys is very good. nice songs, vocals. everything ! Would pick any of these when I run into them, out in the world ! Cheers Hedley.. good show mate !
Beck!! Interesting selection Hedley (your remark about your hand hurting makes me wonder if everyone on the VC will one day end up with repetitive strain injury from holding up all these dratted records all the time). There is definitely something quite warm, fuzzy and comforting about country rock. One day though we do need to do a joint discussion video on what is and isn't pretentiousness in music.
Hmmmm? How to discuss pretentiousness in music without being pretentious? Is that possible? Probably not. Goes with the territory. Country rock, with it's backward looking aesthetic and anti-urban position, in the face of modernist thought, artistic experimentation and urbanisation, is really pretentiousness via the backdoor.
I was laughing at the “elephant in the room” comment. I love any Gene Clark but he’s a very recent discovery for me and haven’t found any in my recent purchases in the shops. I am loving that Orphan recommendation. Country Funk, another Boston band I didn’t know. Maxfield Parrish is nice. The slide guitar sounds great. This was an excellent video with many selections that I now need. ✌️
Hey, thanks for watching. It's weird to think of country rock bands coming out of Boston, considering how far they were away from the West Coast scene. I rarely find any of these obscure country rock in the wild. There's absolutely no way I could have put together my collection without buying online. The record store is great for finding stuff you didn't know you wanted, but you have to go online for specialist stuff. Cheers - Hedley
Hedley ! No nice.. glad I tuned in. you know this is a very favorite genre, for me. Workingman's Dead would be the the other Country Rock Dead ! Good one with Beau Brummels. Mason Proffit is a favorite, as well !
Hi, JT. Thanks for watching. To be honest, the only two Grateful Dead albums I own are American Beauty and Workingman's Dead. Yeah, I like Mason Proffit. Their first album is a very interesting mix of country rock and folk rock. I'm sure I'll get round to showing a Mason Proffit album or two at some point. Cheers - Hedley
@Another Fat Bearded Man Talking About Records I enjoy your knowledge of our love for Country Rock ! Rick Nelson had some good output as well..really like when he went Country Rock.
Orphan is pretty darn good ! I like it..Have always enjoyed Jonathan Edwards. Wow ! I haven't thought of Goose Creek Symphony since the 1970's!! Nice !!
Each of Orphans' three albums sound quite different from each other, but are all worth a listen. Goose Creek Symphony are probably the best known of these bands, but still seem to be under the radar whenever country rock is discussed.
Great video Hedley. Country Funk what a great album that is and then you showed one of my all time favorites Maxfield Parrish i never come across it on vinyl but i have a reissue on cd with some great bonus tracks a true gem. And then The Rosslyn Mountain Boys a real 5-star album. Keep these country rock albums videos coming love it.
@@buck13horn Yes, I've only recently explored Moby Grape's output. Truly Fine Citizen is a great album, one I'm hoping to pick up at some point. Hedley
@@anotherfatbeardedmantalkin5893 Moby Grape was phenomenal and (sadly) largely forgotten, and the magnificent Truly Fine Citizen was (inexcusably) dismissed at the time. I borrowed it from a friend and never gave it back. And the album cover is even better than Ballad of Easy Rider. Keep up the great work Hedley.
Heard Goose Creek Symphony as a freshman on the campus of the University of Florida in the early 1970s, along with Mudcrutch for whom Tom Petty played bass and was one of the singers, as was Tom Leadon, brother of Bernie.
@@buck13horn I've have loved to have seen Goose Creek Symphony and other similar bands back in the day. I'm very jealous. It's a shame Mudcrutch didn't record an album at the time. Cheers - Hedley
@@anotherfatbeardedmantalkin5893 Thanks for the reply Hedley. Just stumbled across your show, which is unique in its unapologetic celebration of (in addition to much else) the country-rock roots of folk and Americana, which I'm still performing in an acoustic band here in Gainesville, FL. In 2020, I actually heard Goose Creek while visiting with friends at an Americana festival in Virginia, and Charley was still lead-singing and playing. And they hadn't lost a step or a beat. Thanks, brother, for digging up and keeping the roots alive.
@@buck13horn Yes, I've heard an album Goose Creek Symphony released in 2008 called The Same Thing Again, which I was very impressed with. The still have it...At least they did in 2008. Cheers - Hedley
Elvin Bishop's "Let It Flow" album is a journey into country rock for the great bluesman. Poco, The New Riders of The Purple Sage (their private label live albums are fantastic) They were a great live act right up to about 8 years ago. Souther, Hillman, Furay was a good band. Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen and Asleep At The Wheel also fit the mold.
Hey, thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. Im not a blues fan, but I do have that Elvin Bishop album. It's a good one. I've also got most albums by Poco, NRPS and Commander Cody, and half a dozen Alseep at the Wheel records. There's some great stuff there. Poco went a bit too yacht rocky for my liking in the 80s, but NRPS stuck at what they did best. I do have the two Souther-Hillman-Furay albums, but I can't say they get played a lot. The first has its moments, and Trouble In Paradise less so. I think they did much better solo albums and other collaborations. Cheers - Hedley
Another great video Hedley. Not just album's I've never heard of, but bands I've never heard of either. Of course you will have noticed that 'country' in its many guises is not my usual wheelhouse of listening. But then isn't that the point of watching VC video's - to share musical passions and discover unknown gems? By the way, I'd love to send you a photography book relating to Dodgy. Just send me your postal address - my email address is briefly sitting in the ABOUT section of my channel. Cheers - David
Yeah. I bought two of those albums, The Flying Burrito Bros. and American Beauty, when they were released, and still own them. Yrs truly, Yet Another Bearded Fat Man. 🔥❤️
Hedley, What a thrill to see another video pop up so quickly. I enjoy these even when I don't care for the records. Like Rob Paneeks in the comment below, I enjoyed the pedal steel from the Rossyln Mountain Boys cut, but those vocals lose me. I've been a bit surprised by the personal realization that your country rock videos are provoking a growing dislike for the subgenre. Similar to how Sturgill Simpson sounds and cuts his hair like Waylon*, but isn't Waylon, I find something lacking in this country rock. This stuff sounds like college kids going through a phase. The fact that it was a trendy phase at the time does little to help me get past it. (Please don't hold me to any standards requiring me to adhere to some form of internal consistency. I will openly confess to having a soft spot for The Kingston Trio.) Searching for a way to return to positivity, Maxfield Parrish is a charming illustrator. I had the immense pleasure of seeing his The Lantern Bearers at the Walmart Museum of Art in Arkansas. It isn't a stunning composition by any stretch, but the luminosity and richness of the paint is dazzling. On another positive note, my gently used DVD copies of the Beiderbecke Trilogy arrived in the post today. Cheers, Jacob *Waylon wasn't really Waylon, either. He was too concerned about his image to ever really be himself.
A ha! The age old question of authenticity in country music. Hi Jacob! I totally agree with you, country rock was definitely like college kids going through a phase, but I don't think they're pretending to be anything else and I'm quite happy with that phase they were going through. At least it was a better than their next yacht rock phase. Country music has always been all smoke, mirrors and cowboy hats. The authenticity they worked hard to project was often very far from the truth. Things are rarely what they appear to be in country music. They know they're selling tradition. Jimmie Rodgers played up his Singing Brakeman persona, Merle Haggard embellished his personal story in his songs and Johnny Cash never shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. I'm glad you said you enjoy watching videos despite disliking the music featured, as I think I might have a few more of these up my sleeve. I hope you like the Beiderbek Connection. It's probably a little dated these days, but maybe that will just add to its charm. It was shot in and around Leeds where I live. Quite a bit has changed since they filmed it, but much still looks like it did. Cheers - Hedley
@@anotherfatbeardedmantalkin5893 I don't think that I would have knowingly purchased a ticket to board a train that employed Jimmie Rodgers to safeguard my life. He gets a pass from me. While not wanting to align with any music purity cult, I'll say that Johnny Cash's fakery does mar some of my enjoyment of his music. (Same goes for Bob "The Thieving Magpie" Dylan) It irked me more to learn that Cash stole that song from Gordon Jenkins than it did to have to accept the fact that he isn't a real murderer. I'm open to accepting that fake tales of murder are more pleasing than authentic songs about being an absentee father who took too many pills and killed a bunch of condors before falling in with the heavyweight champion of inflated soul winning stats, Billy Graham. Billy Joe Shaver is my gold standard as a country songwriter. I don't think it's purely coincidental that his songs were closer to real autobiography than fiction. The guy's life was a mess, and he may have had more warts than Johnny Cash, but he was lucky to avoid having his public persona fashioned by PR firms and a fawning press. There was no pressure on Billy Joe to make his music conform to a branded image as a means of boosting album and ticket sales. Looking forward to the next round of country rock suggestions. We'll always have Marjoe. Happy trails.
Interesting stuff Hedley. I think the Goose Creek Symphony sat with me best. Each of these came from the American continent. I wonder, are there any examples of Country Rock that you would recommend from UK artists? I've been foiled in my tracks by some of the latter albums by the Byrds recently and so I'm hoping that this style of music produced closer to home might make for an easier starting place.
Hi John. Thanks for watching. UK Country Rock? For a comprehensive view, I'd direct you to my three part series of videos about UK Country Roots Rock. Two bands I think you might like would be Cochise and Bronco. Both have a gritty rock approach with a bit of a prog leaning at times. Unicorn were good. Produced by David Gilmore, who also played pedal steel guitar on their albums. Brinsley Schwarz, The Kursaal Flyers and Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers were part of the Pub Rock scene and all good fun. Cheers Hed
@@anotherfatbeardedmantalkin5893 Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers got a mention in my Squeeze book as Jake Riviera had been their roadie prior to managing them, and in that lowly capacity had seen them supporting Ace - when Squeeze were looking to replace Jools Holland he remembered having been impressed with Paul Carrack .Pete Thomas from the Attractions was the Willi's drummer of course. I don't know why I'm saying all this as I know you'll know it already, but I'm just trying to avoid having to go out in the rain with the dog.
@@jamesgriffithsmusic You're getting like Mazzy. Whereas he can bring talk of any band back to the Beatles, you're able to bring Squeeze into the picture ;-) Let's say I knew it when I was doing the research for the video featuring Chilli Willi, but now that information is like fingerprints on a wineglass.
@@meridianleeward6370 Hey! Thanks for watching, and thanks also for the recommendations. I don't have any Michael Murphy records, but I do have some by the others you mentioned. I've got the Spike Island album partly because I'm a Chas & Dave fan. I love the song Making My Way Back To Louisiana, which weirdly was originally released as a single when the band were still called The Tumbleweeds. I still need to find the third Cochise album. But at least I have it on the handy CD Anthology. Did I mention in this video that Jonathan Edwards had connections with Orphan? I think he guested on that first album, and at least one of their others. I love his album Honky-Tonk Stardust Cowboy. Cheers Hedley
Yes, he does have a rather similar nasal quality to his voice. Jimmie Dale Gilmore does have a great voice, especially when he's singing ballads or slower songs.
Hi, thanks for watching and for your recommendations. They're all bands I know. I've got the first Aztec Two-Step album, with some nice banjo picking from Doug Dillard. Plainsong may well turn up in a UK country rock episode. Cheers - Hedley
@@joachimkettner Yes, when I made this video I had no idea it was a Moby Gape tune, but subsequently I was listening to some Moby Gape and realised it was a cover. Good tune. Cheers - Hedley
Rosslyn is right on the trail riding out of Alexandria, VA. That's where I started my chase of country rock and bluegrass in Summer of '99. I found this album c. 2001 at the Jonesborough flea market in TN. Turns out my boss had actually seen them as a kid in DC area. "Been Awhile" is the ultimate gem on this album. I also got to watch Goose Creek Symphony at the Blue Plum Festival in Johnson City, TN. Of course, the first 2 Nesmith National Band albums have been in my car for this whole millennium. Best channel on YT, and greatest depth of knowledge of any rock connoisseur! Kudos, brother!
Excellent. I have been a country rock fan for over fifty years and I am always on the look-out for new bands from the classic period in the early 1970s. I will be checking out each of these, all of which were unknown to me. Thank you so much.
Good morning Hedley. Nice to see you again. I have never heard of Country Funk from here in Boston. But I am glad that you showed it because I will do a little research and see where they played around here. Geez the vocals sound really good. It is amazing how many talented bands were around back then and never really got the attention that they deserved. Was it the competition, the management or the record label promoting them? I will be back later on. I got to run. Not that I want to. I have to. Have a great day. Catch up with you later on tonight I hope~
Rob/Boston
Why do some bands make it and some don't? I suppose if we knew why that was we could make a shed-load of money selling music. There are so many factors that its amazing any bands break through.
Cheers Rob. Look after yourself.
Hed
Great video, I really enjoyed this one. I've been on a huge Graham Parsons kick lately so this was right up my alley. I really liked everything you shared, but especially Orphan and Country Funk.
Thanks, man. I've been sitting on this music for ages, saving it up for some grand genre defining video series...I just realised that ain't happening, so I might as well share some of this lesser known country rock now. Stay tuned, I've got a few more of these up my sleeve. There are a couple of bands who would probably be enjoyed by fans of Gram Parsons, Rosslyn Mountain Boys being one of those, the other would be....And you'll have to wait for my next video to find out ;-)
Cheers
Hedley
@@anotherfatbeardedmantalkin5893 Damn you Hedley....I want to know now...hahaha.
Great Video! Thank you
Thanks Paul.
I was already searching through DISCOGS before I was half way through your presentation! Orphan, Maxfield Parrish and Rosslyn Mt Boys are completely new to me. In my teens we were very into Goose Creek, their first couple of albums were in a lot of collections! Tongue in cheek is a good description for them. I think my DISCOGS cart might be full again with some of these!!!! Take care my friend.
On the up side, Elliott, at least these sort of records are pretty cheap at the moment, especially in the US. I think the Maxfield Parrish would be the only one that might be more than $10.
Cheers - Hedley
I enjoy your presentation. Keep it up.
Great video Hedley. I already had the Maxfield Perish record on my want list & now the other 4 have been added. I am a big fan of country-rock. My video for albums of 1972 has a few on the list.
Hi Roger. I can thoroughly recommend the Maxfield Parrish album, it manages to have some quite diverse styles, but they all gell together. That was always a feature of Kaleidoscope, so it's no surprise really.
Ooh, I'll have to go back and watch your 1972 video. You've got me trying to guess which country rock albums you've included.
If you liked this, stay tuned, I'm going to try to do another next week.
Cheers - Hedley
@@anotherfatbeardedmantalkin5893 I am a Bernie Leaden fan & love the country sound & versatile instrumentation he brought to the Eagles. Do you know if he is actually on any of the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers albums? I saw someplace that said he was on Bluegrass Favorites but then somewhere else I read he did not make it on any recordings with them.
@@jollyroger3095 No, as far as I understand Leadon only played live with the Squirrel Barkers, and I'm not sure that was more than a gig or two. I'm always amazed that someone as musically talented as Leadon didn't release a solo album in the 70s. Everyone else did! I suppose the nearest he came was the album he recorded with Michael Georgiades in '77.
Is that Sissyneck I hear? Well, I enjoyed all of the needle drops. As you say, you could quite easily hear each of those records being more highly regarded had the bands just had a bit more luck. Cracking video, mate 👍
Bingo! That's the feller. The Country Funk album is solid, and it's quite surprising it didn't do better commercially.
What is surprising is the number of Country Rock albums that were put out by practically every record label, despite the total apathy from the buying public. Clearly they thought country rock was going to be lucrative, and were happy to churn money into those kinds of bands. It wouldn't really be until the Eagles third album that the big money started to roll in.
Great video, Hed. Great topic, too. As you know, I'm a huge fan of Country Funk. I now have a few more folks to seek out in my adventures. Be well...
TB
Thanks, Tommy. To be honest, I'm amazed at the number of Country Rock bands who were signed by labels despite the poor sales of the genre...Before the Eagles hit it big. Clearly they thought Country Rock was going to be very lucrative and were happy to give all these bands a go.
Cheers - Hedley
Loved this video!! Been looking for more country rock albums!! Subscribed!
Thanks, man!
Thanks for this, which came as a nice surprise the other day. When the Maxfield Parrish album was finally released in 1972 the band, as you say, no longer existed, and apart from a few local airplays, vanished into the ether, as far as any of us knew. It was only with the advent of the Internet that we started to realize anyone in the world at large were aware of our existence! What you say about us rings pretty true, and thanks for that. A couple of things, though. It was myself and banjo player Randy Groenke who were students of Jerry Garcia, not my co-writer David Perrin Muir. Also, there was never any intention for there to be a double album; we simply had two tracks in a heavier vein ("Round the Morning" and "The Untransmuted Child") that for whatever reasons weren't included on the eventual album release.( Both tracks first appeared, along with the original mix of the album, on a Taxim Records CD in 1999..) Thanks again for the kind words.
Hello David.
Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to comment.
I do tend towards the hyperbolic when I describe some of the lesser known country rock records I feature in these videos, mainly because I'm such a fan of the genre, but I didn't have to embellish anything about the Maxfield Parrish album. It deserves to be remembered as one of the high points of the fledgling genre.
I'm sorry I got those facts wrong in the video. I can't remember from where I pulled that erroneous information, but it's also entirely possible I made the mistakes myself. Thanks for clearing things up, it's a little late, but I'll add a note in the video's description to bring attention to those errors.
Thanks - Hedley
Really glad I ran into you, great stuff.
@@danwheetman6914 Thanks, Dan. There should be more on the way...When I get round to it.
Cheers - Hedley
Hi Hedley, that was a very informative and enjoyable video. There are some records that I will be looking out for. Enjoy your Sunday. Steve
Hey Steve! Thanks man. It's been fun to fish out some country rock which is a bit more obscure than the usual stuff.
Great video Hedley. I love Country Rock but the only one of these five that I'm familiar with is GCS whose first three albums are all excellent. Hope you're planning a few more of these Country Rock videos.
Yay! You've got one! I hope you forgive my silly hyperbole in suggesting no one will know these albums. I was just trying out some 'click bait'. Yeah, Goose Creek Symphony are pretty damn good, and don't really sound like anyone else. I've got the 5 records they released before splitting up in '76, but haven't got anything from them since they reformed.
Don't worry Alan, there's some more Country Rock on the horizon.
Cheers - Hedley
Hi Hedley, really interested video, I learnt a great deal my friend. Must explore this genre which is. It very well known to me. Thanks. Mike
Cheers Mike.
There's a lot of great music out there.
Hi Hedley. I just finished listening to the Rosslyn Mountain Boys album. Plenty of pedal steel which I like. They sound good. You know its funny in a way. If I was listening to more country rock and I would be able to give a proper review on this artist or that band. But I do not listen to my country albums as much as I would like. So thanks to you I am able to revisit or hear artists that are new to me. I am sure that I told you this a few times already. {smile} Thanks Hedley. Always refreshing~
Rob/Boston
Well, Hedley, I’d say mission accomplished as I have never heard any of these five selections. Though, I have seen Country Funk shown by Dom at Seekingathread. The Country Funk sample really reminded me of a lesser known band from right here in North Carolina - Arrogance. I posted a video about them awhile ago. Don Dixon was in Arrogance. Check out the song “To See Her Smile.” It is very Country rock with a blissed out distorted guitar solo. Their work going into the mid-70s was very Poco/Brinsley Schwarz. Not all fantastic, but they recorded some real gems. I will be further investigating Rosalyn Mountain Boys, as I heard a strong Gram sound in that sample. Also, it looks to be cheap heat! Great video as always, sir. Cheers ✌🏻
Hey Jon,
Thanks for watching, and taking the time to comment.
Arrogance are a very interesting band, I have a digital copy of their first album. The track Why Do You Love Me is my favourite, the rolling piano is great. I don't hold out much hope of getting hold of a vinyl copy, it's a rare and relatively expensive record. I missed your video about them, I'll have to go back and give that a watch.
The whole regional element of US music is not something that we have here in the UK. It seems that US bands can reach a good level of success in their region without ever breaking through nationally. I suppose the UK is simply too small to foster such a regional music scene. That's not to say bands and artists can't be popular in their town, but it's not going to be backed up with local radio play or music charts.
Cheers - Hedley
@@anotherfatbeardedmantalkin5893 Regional success is a thing of the past, but yes, there was a time period where a band could support itself and find some reach simply off being extremely popular in their area. Arrogance paved the way for a lot of DIY bands in North Carolina and inspired bands of the Athens, Georgia area. They said “If Arrogance can get signed, so can we.” My video is labeled under “Between the Grooves, Under the Pines” if you want to check it out.
Thanks for the precious contribution........I have Maxfield Parrish and Country Funk,they are GREAAT stuff indeed...Orphan and Goose Creek Symph.seem very interesting.....hooray for country rock!!!!!
Indeed, hooray for country rock!
That Maxfield Parrish album is one which seems to reveal more on each listen.
Thanks for watching.
Really enjoyed your video! Just subscribed. As a teenager and young adult in the 1970's I was and still am a huge fan of country rock, including the next generation, Wilco, Sun Volt, Whiskeytown, etc. Sweethearts Of The Rodeo is a great album but I never bought into the idea that it's the origin of country rock. The Byrds cut country tunes on earlier albums, The Beatles covered Buck Owens' tune Act Naturally, what does say about country Buck Owens Bailey to rock? Don't forget that Bob Dylan's 1966 Blonde On Blonde and his 1969 Nashville Skyline, both recorded in Nashville using country music session players, Charlie Daniels et al. He even made a guest appearance on Johnny Cash's TV show.
You mentioned David Lindley on one of the albums. I'd like to give him big props. He played the blistering slide guitar or lap steal on Jackson Browne's Running On Empty. I use to hear conversations about how was the greatest guitar player ever, Hendrix, Clapton, Beck or Page. I hate such comparisons. When hearing that conversation, I'd just shake my head and think, those guys have never heard of David Lindley. I don't believe there is a "greatest of all time" but in a list of the elites, he would be way up at the top.
The last band you reviewed, Rosslyn Mountain Boys, I'd never heard of. As a Gram Parsons fan I agree had Gram lived his future material would have gone in that direction. In fact, the singer sounded eerily like Gram.
I enjoyed all these bands that I never heard of. A great deal of poco,csny and pure prairie league sounds. The needle drops were fantastic.
Thanks for watching. Maybe there needs to be a country rock venn diagram showing in which ways bands sound similar to more established country rock acts? You could then say a band was in the intersection of CSN&Y, Flying Burritos and The Band.
Cheers
Hedley
Rosslyn Mountain Boys is very good. nice songs, vocals. everything ! Would pick any of these when I run into them, out in the world ! Cheers Hedley.. good show mate !
The Rosslyn Mountain Boys might beca bit too Country for some, but I don't think you can be too Country.
@Another Fat Bearded Man Talking About Records I like both kinds of music... Country, and Western !! Haha..
Beck!! Interesting selection Hedley (your remark about your hand hurting makes me wonder if everyone on the VC will one day end up with repetitive strain injury from holding up all these dratted records all the time). There is definitely something quite warm, fuzzy and comforting about country rock. One day though we do need to do a joint discussion video on what is and isn't pretentiousness in music.
Hmmmm? How to discuss pretentiousness in music without being pretentious? Is that possible? Probably not. Goes with the territory. Country rock, with it's backward looking aesthetic and anti-urban position, in the face of modernist thought, artistic experimentation and urbanisation, is really pretentiousness via the backdoor.
Thanks for this Hedley. Right in my wheelhouse and fun alternate country rock journey. A couple I know or heard of but most I do not. ✌🏻🎶
Thanks, Mazzy. It's amazing how many country rock bands released albums in the early part of the 70s, despite incredibly poor sales.
More of this!
Your wish is my command.
I was laughing at the “elephant in the room” comment. I love any Gene Clark but he’s a very recent discovery for me and haven’t found any in my recent purchases in the shops. I am loving that Orphan recommendation. Country Funk, another Boston band I didn’t know. Maxfield Parrish is nice. The slide guitar sounds great. This was an excellent video with many selections that I now need. ✌️
Hey, thanks for watching. It's weird to think of country rock bands coming out of Boston, considering how far they were away from the West Coast scene.
I rarely find any of these obscure country rock in the wild. There's absolutely no way I could have put together my collection without buying online. The record store is great for finding stuff you didn't know you wanted, but you have to go online for specialist stuff.
Cheers - Hedley
Hedley ! No nice.. glad I tuned in. you know this is a very favorite genre, for me. Workingman's Dead would be the the other Country Rock Dead ! Good one with Beau Brummels. Mason Proffit is a favorite, as well !
Hi, JT. Thanks for watching.
To be honest, the only two Grateful Dead albums I own are American Beauty and Workingman's Dead. Yeah, I like Mason Proffit. Their first album is a very interesting mix of country rock and folk rock. I'm sure I'll get round to showing a Mason Proffit album or two at some point.
Cheers - Hedley
@Another Fat Bearded Man Talking About Records I enjoy your knowledge of our love for Country Rock ! Rick Nelson had some good output as well..really like when he went Country Rock.
Orphan is pretty darn good ! I like it..Have always enjoyed Jonathan Edwards. Wow ! I haven't thought of Goose Creek Symphony since the 1970's!! Nice !!
Each of Orphans' three albums sound quite different from each other, but are all worth a listen. Goose Creek Symphony are probably the best known of these bands, but still seem to be under the radar whenever country rock is discussed.
@Another Fat Bearded Man Talking About Records Always forgotten.. they are straight up County Rock..
Great video Hedley. Country Funk what a great album that is and then you showed one of my all time favorites Maxfield Parrish i never come across it on vinyl but i have a reissue on cd with some great bonus tracks a true gem. And then The Rosslyn Mountain Boys a real 5-star album. Keep these country rock albums videos coming love it.
Glad you enjoyed seeing some records your familiar with. Looks like I'm going to have to up my game for my next video.
Thanks for watching.
Hedley
Moby Grape's "Right Before My Eyes" was on their poorest selling but my favorite of their albums, Truly Fine Citizen, a country rock masterpiece.
@@buck13horn Yes, I've only recently explored Moby Grape's output. Truly Fine Citizen is a great album, one I'm hoping to pick up at some point.
Hedley
@@anotherfatbeardedmantalkin5893 Moby Grape was phenomenal and (sadly) largely forgotten, and the magnificent Truly Fine Citizen was (inexcusably) dismissed at the time. I borrowed it from a friend and never gave it back. And the album cover is even better than Ballad of Easy Rider. Keep up the great work Hedley.
Heard Goose Creek Symphony as a freshman on the campus of the University of Florida in the early 1970s, along with Mudcrutch for whom Tom Petty played bass and was one of the singers, as was Tom Leadon, brother of Bernie.
@@buck13horn I've have loved to have seen Goose Creek Symphony and other similar bands back in the day. I'm very jealous. It's a shame Mudcrutch didn't record an album at the time.
Cheers - Hedley
@@anotherfatbeardedmantalkin5893 Thanks for the reply Hedley. Just stumbled across your show, which is unique in its unapologetic celebration of (in addition to much else) the country-rock roots of folk and Americana, which I'm still performing in an acoustic band here in Gainesville, FL. In 2020, I actually heard Goose Creek while visiting with friends at an Americana festival in Virginia, and Charley was still lead-singing and playing. And they hadn't lost a step or a beat. Thanks, brother, for digging up and keeping the roots alive.
@@buck13horn Yes, I've heard an album Goose Creek Symphony released in 2008 called The Same Thing Again, which I was very impressed with. The still have it...At least they did in 2008.
Cheers - Hedley
Elvin Bishop's "Let It Flow" album is a journey into country rock for the great bluesman. Poco, The New Riders of The Purple Sage (their private label live albums are fantastic) They were a great live act right up to about 8 years ago. Souther, Hillman, Furay was a good band. Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen and Asleep At The Wheel also fit the mold.
Hey, thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
Im not a blues fan, but I do have that Elvin Bishop album. It's a good one.
I've also got most albums by Poco, NRPS and Commander Cody, and half a dozen Alseep at the Wheel records. There's some great stuff there. Poco went a bit too yacht rocky for my liking in the 80s, but NRPS stuck at what they did best.
I do have the two Souther-Hillman-Furay albums, but I can't say they get played a lot. The first has its moments, and Trouble In Paradise less so. I think they did much better solo albums and other collaborations.
Cheers - Hedley
More country-rock, please! 👍🏼
I'll see what I can do 🙂
Another great video Hedley. Not just album's I've never heard of, but bands I've never heard of either. Of course you will have noticed that 'country' in its many guises is not my usual wheelhouse of listening. But then isn't that the point of watching VC video's - to share musical passions and discover unknown gems?
By the way, I'd love to send you a photography book relating to Dodgy. Just send me your postal address - my email address is briefly sitting in the ABOUT section of my channel.
Cheers - David
Thanks man enjoyed that! W
Made a list will be listening. Did you ever hear the Atlanta Rhythm Section Albums?
Yeah. I bought two of those albums, The Flying Burrito Bros. and American Beauty, when they were released, and still own them. Yrs truly, Yet Another Bearded Fat Man. 🔥❤️
Hey Chris! So you were one of the twelve people who bought Guilded Palace of Sin back in the day.
Thanks for watching.
Hedley
Hedley,
What a thrill to see another video pop up so quickly. I enjoy these even when I don't care for the records. Like Rob Paneeks in the comment below, I enjoyed the pedal steel from the Rossyln Mountain Boys cut, but those vocals lose me. I've been a bit surprised by the personal realization that your country rock videos are provoking a growing dislike for the subgenre. Similar to how Sturgill Simpson sounds and cuts his hair like Waylon*, but isn't Waylon, I find something lacking in this country rock. This stuff sounds like college kids going through a phase. The fact that it was a trendy phase at the time does little to help me get past it. (Please don't hold me to any standards requiring me to adhere to some form of internal consistency. I will openly confess to having a soft spot for The Kingston Trio.)
Searching for a way to return to positivity, Maxfield Parrish is a charming illustrator. I had the immense pleasure of seeing his The Lantern Bearers at the Walmart Museum of Art in Arkansas. It isn't a stunning composition by any stretch, but the luminosity and richness of the paint is dazzling.
On another positive note, my gently used DVD copies of the Beiderbecke Trilogy arrived in the post today.
Cheers,
Jacob
*Waylon wasn't really Waylon, either. He was too concerned about his image to ever really be himself.
A ha! The age old question of authenticity in country music. Hi Jacob!
I totally agree with you, country rock was definitely like college kids going through a phase, but I don't think they're pretending to be anything else and I'm quite happy with that phase they were going through. At least it was a better than their next yacht rock phase.
Country music has always been all smoke, mirrors and cowboy hats. The authenticity they worked hard to project was often very far from the truth. Things are rarely what they appear to be in country music. They know they're selling tradition. Jimmie Rodgers played up his Singing Brakeman persona, Merle Haggard embellished his personal story in his songs and Johnny Cash never shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.
I'm glad you said you enjoy watching videos despite disliking the music featured, as I think I might have a few more of these up my sleeve.
I hope you like the Beiderbek Connection. It's probably a little dated these days, but maybe that will just add to its charm. It was shot in and around Leeds where I live. Quite a bit has changed since they filmed it, but much still looks like it did.
Cheers - Hedley
@@anotherfatbeardedmantalkin5893 I don't think that I would have knowingly purchased a ticket to board a train that employed Jimmie Rodgers to safeguard my life. He gets a pass from me.
While not wanting to align with any music purity cult, I'll say that Johnny Cash's fakery does mar some of my enjoyment of his music. (Same goes for Bob "The Thieving Magpie" Dylan) It irked me more to learn that Cash stole that song from Gordon Jenkins than it did to have to accept the fact that he isn't a real murderer. I'm open to accepting that fake tales of murder are more pleasing than authentic songs about being an absentee father who took too many pills and killed a bunch of condors before falling in with the heavyweight champion of inflated soul winning stats, Billy Graham.
Billy Joe Shaver is my gold standard as a country songwriter. I don't think it's purely coincidental that his songs were closer to real autobiography than fiction. The guy's life was a mess, and he may have had more warts than Johnny Cash, but he was lucky to avoid having his public persona fashioned by PR firms and a fawning press. There was no pressure on Billy Joe to make his music conform to a branded image as a means of boosting album and ticket sales.
Looking forward to the next round of country rock suggestions.
We'll always have Marjoe.
Happy trails.
Interesting stuff Hedley. I think the Goose Creek Symphony sat with me best. Each of these came from the American continent. I wonder, are there any examples of Country Rock that you would recommend from UK artists? I've been foiled in my tracks by some of the latter albums by the Byrds recently and so I'm hoping that this style of music produced closer to home might make for an easier starting place.
Hi John. Thanks for watching.
UK Country Rock? For a comprehensive view, I'd direct you to my three part series of videos about UK Country Roots Rock. Two bands I think you might like would be Cochise and Bronco. Both have a gritty rock approach with a bit of a prog leaning at times. Unicorn were good. Produced by David Gilmore, who also played pedal steel guitar on their albums. Brinsley Schwarz, The Kursaal Flyers and Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers were part of the Pub Rock scene and all good fun.
Cheers
Hed
@@anotherfatbeardedmantalkin5893 Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers got a mention in my Squeeze book as Jake Riviera had been their roadie prior to managing them, and in that lowly capacity had seen them supporting Ace - when Squeeze were looking to replace Jools Holland he remembered having been impressed with Paul Carrack .Pete Thomas from the Attractions was the Willi's drummer of course. I don't know why I'm saying all this as I know you'll know it already, but I'm just trying to avoid having to go out in the rain with the dog.
@@jamesgriffithsmusic You're getting like Mazzy. Whereas he can bring talk of any band back to the Beatles, you're able to bring Squeeze into the picture ;-)
Let's say I knew it when I was doing the research for the video featuring Chilli Willi, but now that information is like fingerprints on a wineglass.
Good list. Just a few to look out for yourself (though you probably have) Spike Island, Michael Murphy, Johnathan Edwards, Cochise.
@@meridianleeward6370 Hey! Thanks for watching, and thanks also for the recommendations. I don't have any Michael Murphy records, but I do have some by the others you mentioned.
I've got the Spike Island album partly because I'm a Chas & Dave fan. I love the song Making My Way Back To Louisiana, which weirdly was originally released as a single when the band were still called The Tumbleweeds.
I still need to find the third Cochise album. But at least I have it on the handy CD Anthology.
Did I mention in this video that Jonathan Edwards had connections with Orphan? I think he guested on that first album, and at least one of their others. I love his album Honky-Tonk Stardust Cowboy.
Cheers
Hedley
"Right Before My Eyes" by Rosslyn Mountain Boys is a good cover of the original song by Moby Grape.
The singer for Maxfield Parrish sounds a bit like Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Interesting stuff.
Yes, he does have a rather similar nasal quality to his voice. Jimmie Dale Gilmore does have a great voice, especially when he's singing ballads or slower songs.
Try the Pousette-Dart Band, Aztec Two-Step, and Plainsong’s In Search of Amelia Earhart.
Hi, thanks for watching and for your recommendations. They're all bands I know. I've got the first Aztec Two-Step album, with some nice banjo picking from Doug Dillard. Plainsong may well turn up in a UK country rock episode.
Cheers - Hedley
The Rossling Mountain Boys do a cover of Moby Grape's Truly Fine Citizen, written by Peter Lewis. Thanks, Headley!
@@joachimkettner Yes, when I made this video I had no idea it was a Moby Gape tune, but subsequently I was listening to some Moby Gape and realised it was a cover. Good tune.
Cheers - Hedley