Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal styles, and additional instrumentation, most characteristically pedal steel guitars. Country rock began with artists like Buffalo Springfield, Michael Nesmith, Bob Dylan, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, The International Submarine Band and others, reaching its greatest popularity in the 1970s with artists such as Emmylou Harris, the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Michael Nesmith, Poco, Charlie Daniels Band, and Pure Prairie League. Country rock also influenced artists in other genres, including The Band, the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Rolling Stones, and George Harrison's solo work, as well as playing a part in the development of Southern rock.
The Flying Burrito Brothers are an American country rock band, best known for their influential 1969 debut album, The Gilded Palace of Sin. Although the group is perhaps best known for its connection to band founders Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, the group underwent many personnel changes and has existed in various incarnations. A lineup with no original members currently performs as The Burrito Brothers.
Al Perkins is an American guitarist known primarily for his steel guitar work. The Gibson guitar company called Perkins "the world's most influential dobro player" and began producing an "Al Perkins Signature" Dobro in 2001—designed and autographed by Perkins.
Bernie Leadon is an American singer, musician, songwriter and founding member of the Eagles, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Prior to the Eagles, he was a member of three country rock bands: Hearts & Flowers, Dillard & Clark, and the Flying Burrito Brothers. He is a multi-instrumentalist coming from a bluegrass background. He introduced elements of this music to a mainstream audience during his tenure with the Eagles.
Robert "Waddy" Wachtel is an American musician, composer and record producer, most notable for his guitar work. Wachtel has worked as session musician for other artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks, Kim Carnes, Randy Newman, Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones, Jon Bon Jovi, James Taylor, Iggy Pop, Warren Zevon, Bryan Ferry, Michael Sweet, Jackson Browne, and Andrew Gold, both in the studio and live.
Peter E. "Sneaky Pete" Kleinow was an American country-rock musician. He is best known as a member of the band The Flying Burrito Brothers and as a session musician playing pedal steel guitar for such artists as Joan Baez, Jackson Browne, The Byrds, Leonard Cohen, Joe Cocker, Rita Coolidge, Eagles, The Everly Brothers, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, The Steve Miller Band, Joni Mitchell, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Spencer Davis, Little Richard, Linda Ronstadt, Jimmie Spheeris and many others. He is a member of the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame.
Leland Bruce Sklar is an American bassist and session musician. Sklar rose to prominence as a member of James Taylor's backing band, which coaleced into a group in its own right, The Section. This group of musicians so frequently supported many of the artists on Asylum Records, both on stage and in the studio, that they became known as Asylum's de facto house band. Those artists would become the standard bearers of the singer-songwriter era in the 1970s. Since then, Sklar has recorded and toured with artists such as James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Carole King, Linda Ronstadt, Phil Collins, Toto, Lyle Lovett and many, many more. As a group member, session player, or touring musician, Sklar has lent his talents to well over 2,000 albums. In addition, he has contributed to many motion picture and television show soundtracks. Sklar is currently the bass player for the group The Immediate Family.
Prisoner In Disguise (1975) is Linda Ronstadt's sixth solo LP release and her second for the label Asylum Records. It followed Ronstadt's multi-platinum breakthrough album, Heart Like a Wheel, which became her first number album on the US Billboard 200 album chart in early 1975.
Get Closer is the eleventh studio album by singer Linda Ronstadt, released in 1982.
Simple Dreams is the eighth studio album by the American singer Linda Ronstadt, released in 1977 by Asylum Records. It includes several of her best-known songs, including her cover of the Rolling Stones song "Tumbling Dice" and her version of the Roy Orbison song "Blue Bayou", which earned her a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year. The album also contains covers of the Buddy Holly song "It's So Easy!" and the Warren Zevon songs "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" and "Carmelita". The album was the best-selling studio album of her career, and at the time was the second best-selling album by a female artist. It was her first album since Don't Cry Now without long-time musical collaborator Andrew Gold, though it features several of the other Laurel Canyon-based session musicians who appeared on her prior albums, including guitarists Dan Dugmore and Waddy Wachtel, bassist Kenny Edwards, and producer and multi-instrumentalist Peter Asher.
Greatest Hits is Linda Ronstadt's first major compilation album, released at the end of 1976 for the holiday shopping season. It includes material from both her Capitol Records and Asylum Records output, and goes back to 1967 for The Stone Poneys' hit "Different Drum."
Swampwater was an American country rock band, that formed and started out initially as Linda Ronstadt’s backing group in the late 1960s, soon after she went solo. They are famous for incorporating cajun and swamp rock elements into their music. Its members included cajun fiddler Gib Guilbeau, John Beland, before either of them joined The Flying Burrito Brothers, with Stan Pratt, Thad Maxwell, and Eric White. Swampwater would go on to back Ronstadt in 1971 on TV's The Johnny Cash Show, and their appearance on the show would help Swampwater secure a recording contract with RCA.
Nashville West was a short-lived American country rock quartet, that was briefly together in the late 1960s. The group comprised multi-instrumentalist Gene Parsons, guitarist Clarence White, singer-guitarist-fiddler Gib Guilbeau and bassist Wayne Moore. Parsons and White left the band to join The Byrds while Guilbeau and Parsons later joined the Flying Burrito Brothers.
John Christopher Ethridge was an American country rock bass guitarist. He was a member of the International Submarine Band (ISB) and The Flying Burrito Brothers, and co-wrote several songs with Gram Parsons. Ethridge worked with Nancy Sinatra, Judy Collins, Leon Russell, Delaney Bramlett, Johnny Winter, Randy Newman, Graham Nash, Ry Cooder, Linda Ronstadt, The Byrds, Jackson Browne, and Willie Nelson.
Back Home Again is the twenty-fourth studio album by the country music superstar Kenny Rogers.
Floyd August "Gib" Guilbeau was an American Cajun country rock musician and songwriter. As a member of Nashville West, Swampwater, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and later The Burrito Brothers, Guilbeau helped pioneer the fusion of rock and country music in the 1960s.
William Michael "Mickey" McGee was an American drummer.
"Bartender's Blues" is a song written by James Taylor and first released on his 1977 album JT. It was also released as the B-side of the lead single from JT, "Handy Man". It has since been covered by George Jones and other artists.
John Edward Beland is an American songwriter, session guitarist, recording artist, producer and author. Beland's career as guitarist started out in Los Angeles in the late 1960s, playing sessions and local live gigs with Kris Kristofferson, as well as future Eagles members, Glenn Frey and Bernie Leadon. Beland's first major break came in 1970, when he played lead guitar for a young Linda Ronstadt. He helped Ronstadt put together her first serious solo band, Swampwater. Along with bandmates Gib Guilbeau, Thad Maxwell and Stan Pratt, Swampwater toured the country with Ronstadt, appearing with her on many notable television shows including The Johnny Cash Show. Swampwater recorded two landmark country-rock albums for Starday-King and RCA Records. The group was one of the first Los Angeles bands to record in Nashville, known for their smooth harmonies and Cajun rock style.
Live In Hollywood is a live album by Linda Ronstadt. It was recorded at Television Center Studios in Hollywood, California on April 24, 1980, for broadcast as a special on HBO. All tracks from this recording except "Blue Bayou" and "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" are previously unreleased. This is the first live album released by Ronstadt. The master tapes, thought to be lost, were discovered through a chance encounter with a Warner Brothers engineer leading to their recovery.
