Long haired hippie redneck freaks -- that is to say, Country-Rock

Shooter Jennings,mon

Compared to Gene Clark, cult figure Gram Parsons is a household name. Despite being a founding member of The Byrds, Clark (1945-1991) could never make a commercial breakthrough after leaving the band. His classic 1968 album with Doug Dillard (who died earlier this year), The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark, was a pioneering effort in the genre of country-rock.




Doug Dillard & Gene Clark:




Dillard & Clark - "There's A Train Leaves Here This Morning"

Dillard & Clark - "Why Not Your Baby"

Dillard & Clark - "Don't Let Me Down" Great Beatles cover

But The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark didn't sell, nor did Clark's solo albums of the 1970s, despite frequent moments of brilliance.

Gene Clark - "Spanish Guitar" Supposedly Bob Dylan told GC he "would have been proud to write this song"

Gene Clark - "Some Misunderstanding"

Gene Clark - "With Tomorrow"

Live video of a later classic

Gene Clark - "Hear the Wind"


RIP

New Riders of the Purple Sage - "On My Way Back Home"

Good stuff in here, but surprised to see no JJW mentions

"Lightning Bar Blues"

Hoyt Axton (original) -- This version is screwed up by unnecessary sound effects in the second half

I prefer two covers:

Arlo Guthrie -- A similar arrangement, but much looser. Allegedly Ry Cooder plays slide on this.

Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen

Best remembered as Neil Young's backing band, Crazy Horse released several albums on their own, including their 1971 debut:



They were led by Danny Whitten (1943-1972, the subject of some Neil Young songs), and future guitar hero/Springsteen sideman Nils Lofgren.



Lofgren must have left before the pics were taken. He's replaced on the back sleeve by producer Jack Nitzsche, immortal as Phil Spector's arranger.


"I Don't Want to Talk About It"

"Look at all The Things"

"Carolay"

Plainsong was a short-lived English band of the early '70s featuring Ian Mathews, the former lead singer of Fairport Convention.



Plainsong - "The Goodnight Loving Trail" (1973)

Yes, the song title sounds like a porno, but it was actually a cattle trail of the 1870s, named after cattlemen Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving.

THIS THREAD

Might be my favorite ever on the Music Board.

Black Oak Arkansas- Uncle Elijah etc

LINK

Good post and nice stuff. I got hooked with Sweetheart of the Rodeo and naturally followed the merge of CSN/CCSNY and Buffalo Springfield into Poco. They remain a favorite and were superb live with a lot of energy and were tremendous musicians and versatile.

Here are four tracks. Two from a live album Delivering
LINK This is a very up tempo medley of songs from previous albums and highlights musicianship, vocals and harmonies and their incredible drummer George Grantham, imo the best all round rock/country/pop drummer of all time. At about 4:35 in this track you get a sense of his use of a single bass drum pedal and control of his high hat to create backbeats and counter beats at high speed. Precision and endurance. Incredible. Not too bad lyrics either.
With a goodnight yawn,
the heartache's gone,
yes indeed.

LINKThis is another live medley of early Poco and some Buffalo Springfield. Happy toe tapping stuff.
Somebody yelled at me, (hey!)
country music and company,
kind of makes it
on a Sunday afternoon.
picnic lunches of yesterday,
should still have a place in your heart today.
Think it over,
cause we'll all be going home so soon.


And two(three actually) from their second album simply titled Poco.
LINK
LINK The first track here is notable for Rusty Young's use of his pedal steel guitar being played through a Hammond leslie cabinet with a rapidly whirling speaker cone giving it the sound of a Hammond B3 organ with which the speaker was most often paired (the late Jimmy Smith as a jazz example). The song is also unusual because of the complex latin and jazz fusion and vocal harmonies. Most remarkable, to me anyway, is that they did this song live for their encore at the Warehouse in New Orleans. I have played music professionally and I can testify they didn't miss a note or a beat. More fine drum work and it almost goes without saying that Tim Schmidt is clearly the finest bassists plying his craft. It seems with the Eagles he was maybe less challenged than when he was with Poco. When they did this an encore they appended a track called Don't Let It Pass By which melded seamlessly on the album into Nobody's Fool/El Tonto de Nadie/Regressa

LINK
The second track from the album Poco is odd insofar as it is a very good blues piece called Anyway, Bye, Bye.

I realize this old shite is not everyone's cup of tea, but I liked the group you posted and their tracks and country rock in general.