OK,who is the best at country-rock..????

toobluvr · « **Reply #20 on:** 29 Aug 2006, 02:39 am »

Quote from: zybar on 29 Aug 2006, 02:27 am

Quote from: toobluvr on 29 Aug 2006, 01:49 am
I love this genre, but soooo tuff to say who is "best".

All good recommendations so far.

Try Old 97's for some killer, but less well known, stuff.
I'd start with "Too Far to Care".....my fave.

Infectious ditties that really rawk!
They crawl into your head, swirl around your brain, and
really grow on ya !

Get a chance to see 'em live in a small sweaty club....don't hesitate...run!
Fun, fun energetic band that is quite tight, and really gets into it.
You will leave feeling uplifted, and wearing an ear-to-ear smile.

I guarantee it!

Allmusic sez:

http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=OLD|97\\'S&sql=11:irf8zfi7eh6k~T1

Ok, I'll give it a shot.

Thanks for the recommendation.

George

You're gonna love it, George!
Hey...who introduced ya to Blue Rodeo?

"Chief songwriter Rhett Miller turns a phrase like a doorknob and opens doors to dusty barrooms and tattered bedrooms, both containing the same boozy characters in various states of emotional undress."

so says Allmusic...

hear "Barrier Reef" for example......fun stuff.

bump......dee......bump!
(once a fan, you will get it)

jqp · « **Reply #21 on:** 29 Aug 2006, 02:39 am »

People please!

July 1968 The Byrds: Sweetheart of the Rodeo
July 1968 The Band: Music from Big Pink
May 1969 Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Sep 1969 The Band: self-titled
Sep 1970 Neil Young: After the Gold Rush
Nov 1970 Grateful Dead: American Beauty
Feb 1972 Neil Young: Harvest

MerRev · « **Reply #22 on:** 29 Aug 2006, 02:47 am »

I have to agree with you toobluvr- Old 97's Too Far to Care is right up there.
JPQ- the old stuff shouldn't be overlooked either- The Band, Neil Young the Dead- great country rock. Blue Rodeo - Five Days in May is incredible!
My favorite Ryan Adams stuff is his first three cd's with Whiskeytown- Strangers Almanac,Faithless Street and Pneaumonia in that order. I also think the Jayhawks are incredible musicians and Tomorrow the Green Grass has garnered plenty of attention.

I've been looking for a decent Avatar and this thread has helped. Time to pull out some of the dusty cd's and give 'em a spin.

MerRev

zybar · « **Reply #23 on:** 29 Aug 2006, 02:51 am »

Quote from: MerRev on 29 Aug 2006, 02:47 am

I have to agree with you toobluvr- Old 97's Too Far to Care is right up there.
JPQ- the old stuff shouldn't be overlooked either- The Band, Neil Young the Dead- great country rock. Blue Rodeo - Five Days in May is incredible!
My favorite Ryan Adams stuff is his first three cd's with Whiskeytown- Strangers Almanac,Faithless Street and Pneaumonia in that order. I also think the Jayhawks are incredible musicians and Tomorrow the Green Grass has garnered plenty of attention.

I've been looking for a decent Avatar and this thread has helped. Time to pull out some of the dusty cd's and give 'em a spin.

MerRev

Whiskeytown is what introduced me to Ryan Adams and was a great band indeed!

George

toobluvr · « **Reply #24 on:** 29 Aug 2006, 02:56 am »

Quote from: jqp on 29 Aug 2006, 02:39 am

People please!

July 1968 The Byrds: Sweetheart of the Rodeo
July 1968 The Band: Music from Big Pink
May 1969 Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Sep 1969 The Band: self-titled
Sep 1970 Neil Young: After the Gold Rush
Nov 1970 Grateful Dead: American Beauty
Feb 1972 Neil Young: Harvest

Hey...that's the era I "came of age" in.
So I too have a soft spot for them all, and they are all among my all-time favorites.

But they didn't stop making music in 1972!

Lots of good stuff in the following years.

drphoto · « **Reply #25 on:** 29 Aug 2006, 03:32 am »

When I first saw this post....I was thinking....most modern country music is really country-rock, or rock w/ a twang. Following posters seem to have taken this to the 'alt-country' side. Which is one of my favorite catagories, and the one I've probably been in for the past few years.

Hell yes on Lucinda, Rhett Miller and the Old 97's, Wilco, Ryan Adams, and/or Whiskeytown, Blue Rodeo (glad to see them mentioned....highly underrated), but don't forget about, Lyle Lovett, James McMurtry and Joe Henry. Have seen them all live (multiple times for most), own their records and they are all amazing in their own way. I'm sure I'm forgetting someone.

Lyle probably has some of the best recordings, soundwise, made. I use him for demos all the time. His live sound is also still my gold standard. He hires the best.

When I was in college, I did lighting design on the side and had a show with Steve Earle, way back when "Exit Zero" came out" I've been a fan ever since.

2bigears · « **Reply #26 on:** 29 Aug 2006, 03:46 am »

old Steve was a rebel,"goin' to New York city" is a great song

fredgarvin · « **Reply #27 on:** 29 Aug 2006, 04:04 am »

Junior Brown for me..one of the best players I have seen, he plays his "Guit-steel" a combination guitar and steel guitar that he invented. He said it "came to him in a dream". His music is a mix of traditional country-the kind they no longer play on radio- and phenomenol instrumentals with Hendrix like licks abounding. He is a true virtuoso but his lyrics are also humorous. You might have heard "The Highway Patrol" or "My Wife Thinks You're Dead" on rock radio, or country. A must see show. A players must hear.

Grover · « **Reply #28 on:** 29 Aug 2006, 01:51 pm »

Let me add -

Robert Earl Keen
Son Volt
BoDeans
John Fogerty

ctviggen · « **Reply #29 on:** 29 Aug 2006, 03:27 pm »

What are your thoughts on Lucinda Williams? I loved some of her early stuff, but I find I cannot listen to an entire CD of World Without Tears or Live @ The Fillmore. When songs from the latter two CDs come up on random play, I think the individual songs are great. However, if I listened to the entire CD of Live @ The Fillmore, for instance, I'd shoot myself. It's freaking depressing. I have enough depressing things happening to me right now that I don't need to be reminded of even more.

Frihed91 · « **Reply #30 on:** 29 Aug 2006, 03:51 pm »

I wouldn't label Jay Farrar and Son Volt as country rock. Maybe some of the Uncle Tupelo was a little "rocky", but that wasn't Farrar's influence. That said, whatever he is, he is great.

rockadanny · « **Reply #31 on:** 29 Aug 2006, 03:54 pm »

Oy!
Most certainly the Allman Bros., then Lynyrd Skynyrd. No doubt. (No, no the band, No Doubt - its just an expression.)

zybar · « **Reply #32 on:** 29 Aug 2006, 04:05 pm »

Son Volt is defintely alt-country.

Have you listened to "Trace"? It is more twangy than almost anything Uncle Tupelo ever did.

George

John Casler · « **Reply #33 on:** 29 Aug 2006, 04:38 pm »

Country Rock?

38 Special

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Creedence ClearWater Revival

and more recently

Allison Krause / Union Station

NickelBack

zybar · « **Reply #34 on:** 29 Aug 2006, 05:21 pm »

I wouldn't call 38 Special, Lynard Skynard, and CCR country rock.

All three are generally categorized as "Southern" rock.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47E1ED247A47220C3973056CEB153E104DF51EE9D50234558C0AF284A8C1F27FD04BADBC4AEF875B47FE3FE24A65A05D7C2FE3681&sql=77:369

All are good bands and fun to listen to regardless of what they are categorized.

George

Frihed91 · « **Reply #35 on:** 29 Aug 2006, 08:18 pm »

Trace...i think of tear stained eye

Grover · « **Reply #36 on:** 29 Aug 2006, 10:07 pm »

I think it's really interesting how we're all getting caught up in how to label the style of music.
The original poster asked about "Country Rock" then gave Steve Earl as an example. Myself, I wouldn't place Steve Earl in the Country Rock genre.

Then I recommended some music and was told one selection was more Alt-Country. Certain other suggestions were called "Southern Rock" not "Country Rock."

I'm not complaining - it's more of an observation. It really just illustrates that you need to listen. If you like it, great.
I've discovered some new bands that I'm definitely going to seek out.

John Casler · « **Reply #37 on:** 29 Aug 2006, 10:52 pm »

Quote from: Grover on 29 Aug 2006, 10:07 pm

I think it's really interesting how we're all getting caught up in how to label the style of music.
The original poster asked about "Country Rock" then gave Steve Earl as an example. Myself, I wouldn't place Steve Earl in the Country Rock genre.

Then I recommended some music and was told one selection was more Alt-Country. Certain other suggestions were called "Southern Rock" not "Country Rock."

I'm not complaining - it's more of an observation. It really just illustrates that you need to listen. If you like it, great.
I've discovered some new bands that I'm definitely going to seek out.

Actually Country Music and "Country Rock" which is a Division of COUNTRY, is quite broad and is subdivided or sub-categorized.

"Southern Rock", for example is a subdividsion of Country Rock, with Country and Blues Roots, just like "Bluegrass" is also a subdivision of Country.

If you want to see how "encompassing" Country Music claims to be, look here, and cruise throught the "Country" artists.

http://www.cmt.com/artists/

Just go to "Search Artists" and click on a letter to see the breadth of what is considered Country.

Check it out:

Springsteen
CSN&Y
Bon Jovi
Jim Croce
Cowboy Junkies
James Taylor
Mark Knofler
Kid Rock
Dave Matthews Band
Bob Dylan
The Eagles, and who can forget, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones?

And one more thing. They even include the "KING" of Rock'n'Roll Elvis himself.

and on and on, including Steve Earle.

drphoto · « **Reply #38 on:** 30 Aug 2006, 12:30 am »

ctviggen,

regarding your post about Lucinda being depressing. A LOT of the alt-country stuff is depressing. Isn't the whole category sometimes called "no depression" as sort of a gag. (yeah, I know there was some kind of underground magazine called 'no depression', but I don't know the whole story)

When I was listening to a lot of artist in this category, one of the kids who worked for me called it "Joe's (me) suicide music"

Life's a bitch....and they write songs about it!

As far as catagories. I suppose alt-country is the stuff that won't get played on commercial radio, whether rock or country. Pretty much relegated to public radio. We have an awesome public radio station here, and that's where you'll hear Wilco, Unc. Tupello, Lyle, et al.

One other thought....guys like Ryan Adams and Joe Henry have become increasing less country these days, but that's where they started, and that's where they tend to be catagorized. It may be an academic argument, but when you go to the record store.....it helps to know in which section to look.

2bigears · « **Reply #39 on:** 30 Aug 2006, 12:44 am »

if the blues had a child called rock & roll,who gave birth to country???? dump question,dam night shifts!!!