Rock Country

Area Code 615 was a Nashville studio supergroup (615 is the Nashville telephone area code) formed in 1969 in the wake of Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline album, on which some of the future members played…

Various Artists - Across the Great Divide: Getting It Together in the Country 1968-1974 (2019) {3CD Set, Grapefruit Records}
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© 1968-74, 2019 Grapefruit Records / Cherry Red | CRSEGBOX061
Rock / Folk Rock / Country Rock

As the Day-Glo tide of psychedelic that swept over the U.K. in the late '60s began to recede, something far less ornate and flashy took root in its place. Spurred on by the artistic and commercial success of Traffic's folk- and jazz-influenced debut album – which was recorded out in the countryside – the Byrds headlong plunge into country-rock on Sweetheart of the Rodeo, and the Band's brilliant slice of backwoods Americana, Music from Big Pink, all sorts of groups and artists sprouted up to play loose and wooly blends of organically grown folk, country, jazz, and rock. Some of the bands were beat group leftovers looking to evolve past paisley (the Searchers, the Tremeloes), some were city boys gone to seed (Mott the Hoople, the Pretty Things), and some were just weirdos like Greasy Bear, or lazy-Sunday balladeers like Curtiss Maldoon, all doing their own freaky thing.

The continuing story of The Kinks co-founder's journeys through America, as depicted in his 2013 memoir Americana and 2017's album of the same name, 'Our Country: Americana Act II' is a concept album borne from Davies' vision of America - how it shaped him and evolved through the years. Like its predecessor, the album was recorded at the legendary Konk Studios in London with guitarist Bill Shanley and The Jayhawks once again serving as Davies' backing band.

Before Steve Young became one of the founding fathers of country-rock with his 1969 album Rock Salt and Nails, he was a member of Stone Country, a short-lived pop group that fused country and rock in a very different way. Stone Country's sole album, released in the spring of 1968, is a polished but intriguing mixture of sunshine pop, progressive country, blue-eyed soul, and folk-rock, all wrapped up in a slick package created with the best of L.A. studio craftsmanship (producer Rick Jarrard and arranger George Tipton, who both worked on the album, were also helping Harry Nilsson create his sublime early albums at the same time). Stone Country goes in too many directions at once for its own good, but it's clear that this was a band packed with talent and full of great musical ideas; the opener, "Love Psalm," is a delightful bit of psychedelic pop punctuated with some solid bluegrass picking…

Before Steve Young became one of the founding fathers of country-rock with his 1969 album Rock Salt and Nails, he was a member of Stone Country, a short-lived pop group that fused country and rock in a very different way. Stone Country's sole album, released in the spring of 1968, is a polished but intriguing mixture of sunshine pop, progressive country, blue-eyed soul, and folk-rock, all wrapped up in a slick package created with the best of L.A. studio craftsmanship (producer Rick Jarrard and arranger George Tipton, who both worked on the album, were also helping Harry Nilsson create his sublime early albums at the same time). Stone Country goes in too many directions at once for its own good, but it's clear that this was a band packed with talent and full of great musical ideas; the opener, "Love Psalm," is a delightful bit of psychedelic pop punctuated with some solid bluegrass picking…

Many critics thought the hitchhiker was a reference to Christ—Joe won't say; and many different allusions about the song and it's meaning (if any) showed up in the press from time to time. The album itself got great radio play, but was confiusing to stores and buyers because of the cover. Many thought it was the soundtrack to a movie—since there was no movie, the records wasn't adequately stocked. Goes to show what art can sometimes do to an album release.

After releasing a rather impressive (if not plentiful) double-disc Anthology session a year prior, Shout Factory! followed up in 2006 with Where a Country Boy Belongs. Like Anthology, it's a two-disc, 32-song affair spanning the group's entire career, including two brand new compositions, which is worth the purchase price alone for dedicated, die-hard fans…

This performance was filmed & recorded at South Parade Pier in Southsea, England on June 13th 2004. It includes the original line-up playing a 19-song set and features an exclusive interview with Country Joe. In 2004, Country Joe re-formed some original members of Country Joe and The Fish as the Country Joe Band - Bruce Barthol, David Bennett Cohen, and Gary "Chicken" Hirsh. The band toured Los Angeles, Berkeley, Bolinas, Sebastopol, Grants Pass, Eugene, Portland and Seattle. They then made a 10-stop tour of the United Kingdom and played at the Isle of Wight and London. This excellent performance was filmed & recorded on that leg of the tour.