First Ever Country Rock Song

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by klaatuhf, Jun 10, 2008.

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  1. klaatuhf

    klaatuhf Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    There's been much speculation over the years as to what the first Country Rock "Album" was but what i'd like to hear about is what people think may well be the first Country Rock "Song", meaning just a one off song on an album or single. Something akin to how "Act Naturally" was on The Beatles "Help" album but that was pure country not CR. And I don't want to hear people using Country artists with a bit of a twang in a guitar like Buck Owens as i'd prefer Pop/Rock bands artists who did a CR song say pre 1967 as after that the floodgates started opening.
    I'll start off proceedings with my choice:
    In September 1965, The Byrds did a cover version of Porter Wagoner's "A Satisfied Mind" and gave it that slightly more Pop/Rock feel which moved it in a CR direction.
    In July 1966 Mike Nesmith of The Monkees laid down his Country/Pop/Samba classic "Papa Genes Blues".
    Is there some obscure song before these two that classifies as early Country Rock?

    Regards
    Ian
     
  2. Maggie

    Maggie like a walking, talking art show

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Frankly I think that country-rock is not a genre, it's a kind of band. A "country-rock" song in the 60s sense probably should not be identifiable as such. A more useful term would be 'country-rock band', that being a band that could work in both genres equally convincingly.
     
  3. If country-rock is actually a genre, it's certainly hard to define. To me the only defining difference between a "country rocker" like Gram Parsons and a "pure country" artist like Buck Owens is that Buck was a country boy and Gram was a city boy who hung around with rockers and had marijuana leaves on his nudie suit.

    The first country rock band I'm familiar with is The Maddox Brothers And Rose (1930s to 1950s), but I suspect there may have been earlier ones. A lot of Hank Williams' songs rocked too.

    Early pioneers among rockers who helped popularize alt-country (a term I prefer for this movement) include:
    Gram Parsons (who actually started out as a folkie)
    Chris Hillman (who actually started out as a bluegrass mandolinist)
    The Monkees (Michael Nesmith)
    Ricky Nelson
    Elvis Presley
    and a host of others.
     
  4. To me, "Hello Mary Lou" by Rick Nelson set the template, but that's just my opinion. It's not hard in my mind to draw a connection between that and Poco, the Eagles, the Flying Burrito Brothers, etc.
     
  5. Trainspotting

    Trainspotting Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    'Country Rock' is a very nebulous term as it's a hybrid, therefore hard to define. Surely, Elvis' Sun singles would qualify as "country rock" as they rocked and some even made the Billboard Country charts. Jerry Lee Lewis would fit that category as well. For certain the Everly Brothers or even some Ricky Nelson would qualify for country rock. Just because that term didn't exist before the '60s doesn't mean the music didn't.
     
  6. Jymn

    Jymn Formerly skysaxon

    Location:
    Vancouver
    I never thought of "Hello Mary Lou" as anything to do with country but thinking about it now, esp. Gene Pitney's affinity for country music, it makes sense. Good call.
     
  7. MikeM

    MikeM Senior Member

    Location:
    Youngstown, Ohio
    I think in order to be a country-rock song, a song has to have too many rock elements to be accepted by the traditional country audience...at least as done by that artist.

    For example, I think an early candidate for the first country-rock song would be "Go and Say Goodbye" by Buffalo Springfield. It might be possible for a country artist to take that song and do a straight country arrangement of it, but had there been an attempt to get the Springfield's original on the country charts in late 1966, it never would have flown.

    I don't think The Byrds' "Satisfied Mind" qualifies, because, just as with "Act Naturally," this was a straight country song originally (Porter Wagoner, 1956).

    I suppose you could look at The Beatles' "What Goes On." But despite its origins and who's playing on it, that really is a straight country song too, very much in the mold of the approach they took with "Act Naturally." No "rock" elements in it at all.
     
  8. therockman

    therockman Senior Member In Memoriam



    I agree with this. There were a lot of rocking country songs in the 1930's.
     
  9. MattTheCat

    MattTheCat Prowling At 78 RPMs

    Don't forget Bill Haley was a Western Swing bandleader before his Saddlemen became His Comets in 1953. "Rock The Joint" (Essex #301) from 1952 could certainly qualify as "country rock" and it's 2 years before Elvis.

    -MTC
     
  10. GerryO

    GerryO Senior Member

    Location:
    Bodega Bay, CA
    Country Rock - Ida Red or Maybellene?

    According to Wikipedia and not to ignore all of rockabilly, hillbilly and bits of western swing:

    "Ida Red" and "Maybellene"

    According to some sources, the song was originally recorded by Bob Wills in 1938 under the title "Ida Red" and was written by Russ Frato. "Ida Red" is a traditional American fiddle tune dating back to the 19th century, and has been recorded numerous times (and in numerous arrangements) from as early as 1924. Wills' 1938 version was substantially more than a fiddle tune. It included piano, steel guitar, and the unprecedented use of drums in a "country" song. It is this 1938 version that is cited as Berry's model for both for his own version of "Ida Red" and the "Maybellene" that was recorded.

    Piano player Johnnie Johnson says that he and Berry rewrote the song at the suggestion of Leonard Chess: "It was an old fiddle tune called 'Ida Red.' I changed the music and re-arranged it, Chuck re-wrote the words, and the rest, as they say, was history. Leonard Chess asked me to come up to record it live. At that time, someone else already had a song out by the same name, so we had to change our version. We noticed a mascara box in the corner, so we changed the name to 'Maybellene.'

    I think we're looking for the first "modern" country rock song, maybe 1960 or later?
     
  11. MikeM

    MikeM Senior Member

    Location:
    Youngstown, Ohio
    Yes, there were many country artists that rocked (The Maddox Brothers and Rose are a good example), just as there were R&B songs that rocked.

    But as rock 'n' roll didn't truly exist as a distinct genre prior to Elvis, you can't count these as country-rock per se.

    You can't make a hybrid until you have both of the elements you're putting together.
     
  12. :righton:
    Listening to Bill Haley And His Saddlemen morph into Bill Haley And His Comets is sort of like listening to the birth of rock'n'roll.
     
  13. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    "Weed Country" : 1960's/'70s country rock.

    Distinguishes it from the traditional use of 'Country' music.
     
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  14. J_D__

    J_D__ Senior Member

    Location:
    Huntersville, NC

    My choice as well....

    Strange thing, todays country was mid 70s rock?
     
  15. Jetson

    Jetson New Member

    Location:
    Yonkers, New York
    I don't know who started Country Rock but Gram Parsons and Steve Earle have said the Beatles were doing it in 1964-1965. "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party" sounds a lot like the future Eagles Sound, "I've Just Seen A Face" at blue grass pace and "What Goes On" certainly and many others "Don't Pass Me By".
     
  16. MrQwerty

    MrQwerty New Member

    Location:
    Fylde, UK
    I don't know 'Weed Country' - is this a chemical or musical experience?

    Although relevant I don't think that 30's-50's rocking country is Country Rock. To me Country Rock is the coming together of two cultures: British and American working class, and has to start with the Beatles, and only slightly later the Byrds and Mike Nesmith. Gram Parsons is obviously an important figure but his influences drew from those already established.

    Alt Country comes much later, and somehow I feel although we may all have clear ideas as to what is and what is not Alt Country, somehow this has been almost diluted by the distinct and 'Uncle Tom' rocking up of traditional country by modern conservatives working in the genre, like Billy Ray Cyrus. And Billy is definitely not Alt anything!
     
  17. To me it's specifcially musicians with non-country backgrounds taking an affinity to the form and adopting it. I mean, really, based on my (admittedly not in-depth) knowledge, most of the figures of the field fit that mold...many are from California, etc. And again, I can't think of an earlier example than Rick Nelson of a person meeting those qualifications. He clearly was listening to country very early in his career. As always, just my opinions.
     
  18. klaatuhf

    klaatuhf Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Yep I am looking for the first modern CR song. I don't want to get into arguments about the history of Rock n Roll, just what Rock/Pop artist first brought a country style (maybe with the use of Pedal Steel, Banjo or Mandolin) into a typical pop/rock format. Something akin to The Monkees' "What am I Doing Hangin' Round" but even earlier than that (but in the 60's) if something exists.
    I agree with those Beatles songs too...definately a country influence with a Pop back beat.

    Ian
     
  19. AndrewM

    AndrewM New Member

    Location:
    River Edge, NJ

    I have to agree with they guy who said "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party". "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party familiar to the Eagles "Take It Easy" without the Banjo or mandolin. Interesting "I've Just Seen A Face" is done in a bluegrass pace so there is a example that was not typical of the pop/rock format and "Run For Your Life" uses slide though in almost a countrish way. So I go with the Beatles and anyone heard of Roesanne Cash version of "I Don't Want To Spoil the Party". Anyhow you don't need a banjo or mandolin to make it country-rock or country music. Thats like saying you need acoustic guitars to make folk music. I would not count out the influence The Beatles covering "Act Naturally" had on Graham Parsons. Owens guitarist and many guitarist were also playing their guitars through a Vox Amp. The influence seem to work both ways back then.
     
  20. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    The Statler Brothers had a country hit with this song in 1985 as well.
     
  21. jgreen

    jgreen Well-Known Member

    Location:
    St. Louis,MO.
    It's not the first but this John D. Loudermilk tune defines the genre for me:<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PA5RfaFRi58&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PA5RfaFRi58&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
     
  22. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    No he's not, he is definitely mainstream.
     
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  23. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    Sorry, that's just Code Rock :)
     
  24. jgreen

    jgreen Well-Known Member

    Location:
    St. Louis,MO.
    Sorry, it didn't come out this time. It's the Oak Ridge Boys doing "Break My Mind " live. Check it out.
     
  25. I think "That's Alright Mama" by Elvis HAS to be the answer!
     
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