4 Timeless Songs that Shaped Country Rock

In the late 1960s, rock bands began shedding psychedelia following peak experimentations by The Beach Boys (Pet Sounds) and The Beatles (Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band).

A vivid portrait of this change appears on the album artwork of The Beatles’ self-titled White Album. The Byrds and The Grateful Dead traded their trippy jams for earthy tunes, too. Meanwhile, Bob Dylan left the folkies clutching their desert boots when he plugged in electric guitars on Bringing It All Back Home. By the time Dylan toured, backed by The Hawks (later The Band), his diehard fans shouted “Judas” at him. Emboldened, Dylan just played louder.

Gram Parsons and his group wore Nudie Suits. Parsons also influenced The Rolling Stones. Once again an English rock band filled arenas by performing American roots music. Meanwhile, The Eagles emerged from Linda Ronstadt’s backing band and plastered FM radio with easy-listening anthems.

So, here’s a look at four timeless songs that shaped country rock.

Morning came and morning went

Pick up your money and pack up your tent.

“Heart of Gold” by Neil Young from Harvest (1972)

Harvest is Neil Young’s defining album. It’s also a country rock masterpiece. “Heart of Gold” is a lonesome tale. It’s a searcher’s song and most often the search happens alone. Young’s voice is tender and reflective, and the track peaks with Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor’s background vocals. Finally, Young’s friends appear to comfort the weary traveler. Following the commercial success of Harvest, Young reacted against the easy sound of the country and folk rock he helped popularize. However, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson (and others) have covered “Heart of Gold,” an enduring country rock standard.

“Wild Horses” by The Flying Burrito Brothers from Burrito Deluxe (1970)

Whether or not Gram Parsons helped write The Rolling Stones’ classic “Wild Horses” won’t be solved here. What’s known is Parsons deeply influenced Keith Richards at the time. It’s fitting The Flying Burrito Brothers released their version of “Wild Horses” before the Stones. Parsons’ cosmic Americana changed the course of rock music. But he was here and gone in a blink. Parsons died at age 26. Uncle Tupelo, Ryan Adams, Wilco, Jason Isbell, and Kacey Musgraves owe a great debt to Parsons.

“The Weight” by The Band from Music from Big Pink (1968)

Following groundbreaking work with Bob Dylan, The Band—Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, and Garth Hudson—proved to be much more than the world’s finest support group. They recorded their debut, Music from Big Pink, in the same basement, outside of Woodstock, New York. The basement sessions at a house nicknamed Big Pink bore Dylan’s legendary Basement Tapes. It also produced one of country rock’s most influential bands, aptly named.

“You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” by The Byrds from Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968)

Bob Dylan recorded “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” with The Band, later released on The Basement Tapes in 1975. Though The Band wasn’t called The Band yet, the Big Pink sessions from the late ’60s helped establish a blueprint for country rock. The Byrds covered Dylan’s then-unreleased song on their 1968 album Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Chris Hillman pioneered country rock with Gram Parsons, beginning with The Byrds. Hillman and Parsons then reunited to form the deeply influential alt-country precursor, The Flying Burrito Brothers.

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