File photo of Eagles
At its very core rock n’ roll is one-half country and one-half blues, but sometimes there’s a little more of one of those elements in a song than the other. Other times there’s a lot more. Hence the oft-used descriptors "blues rock" and "country rock." The Eagles are perhaps the best known example of a band specializing in the latter and that ’70s Southern California group’s singer/guitarist Glenn Frey was particularly gifted at summoning country aesthetics within a rock fabric. “The Big Lebowski” stoner-protagonist The Dude’s famously dissenting opinion of the Eagles be damned. In Frey’s honor, here are 20 great country songs by rock bands, beginning with one of his band’s signature songs.
“Peaceful Easy Feeling” The Eagles, 1972
Jack Tempchin wrote this mellow, harmony-saturated number featuring a Frey lead vocal on the 1972 “Eagles” debut LP. Tempchin also co-wrote several other songs that ended up on Eagles albums, including “Already Gone,” and two of Frey’s most memorable ’80s solo cuts “You Belong to the City” and “Smuggler’s Blues.”
“Hot Dog” Led Zeppelin, 1979
Some rock fans hate this song. But John Paul Jones' rollicking honky-tonk piano and Jimmy Page’s insane country-fried guitar breaks are truly infectious even if you find Zep singer Robert Plant’s lemon-squeezing vocals on “Hot Dog,” from the band’s finale studio LP “In Through the Out Door,” too much of an Elvis caricature.
“Act Naturally” The Beatles, 1965
A number-one country hit for Buck Owns and his band The Buckaroos two years earlier, The Beatles cut this charming Ringo Starr-sung version for their “Help!” album. George Harrison’s twang-tastic guitar licks are a track highlight. Johnny Russell and Voni Morrison wrote “Act Naturally.”
“Ramblin’ Man” Allman Brothers Band, 1973
Dickey Betts’ country-flavored vocals and guitar power his signature song, “Ramblin’ Man.” The highway-themed classic remains the Allmans’ lone top 10 single. “Ramblin’ Man” was partially inspired by a 1951 Hank Williams tune also titled “Ramblin’ Man” and reportedly dates back to the sessions for the “Eat a Peach” album. Betts’ graceful slide-guitar glissandos at the end of the song are particularly tasteful.
“Dead Flowers” Rolling Stones, 1971
The Rolling Stones wanted really badly to be black bluesmen. The British rogue-rockers named their band after a Muddy Waters song and they worshipped Chuck Berry. But Glimmer Twins Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were also huge fans of country artists like Merle Haggard. “Dead Flowers” is one of several Stones country nuggets, which also include “Far Away Eyes,” the “Honky Tonk Women” redux “Country Honk” and of course the Muscle Shoals recorded gem “Wild Horses.”
“Act Nice and Gentle” The Black Keys, 2004
The Black Keys singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach applies his soulful pipes to a cover of 1967 Kinks cut "Act Nice and Gentle." And the country quotient is upped significantly here from the original. And bravo to Patrick Carney’s barn-dance drums on the track.
“Truckin’” Grateful Dead, 1970
When a song gets played a lot on radio and appears on best-of collections, it’s easy to tire of it and become numb to why the song reached a lot of people. Such is the case with the Grateful Dead’s “Truckin.’” The cowboy-hat shuffle-beat and Jerry Garcia’s guitar bends give the song - which despite its notoriety actually was never really a hit, peaking at 64 – country kicks.
“Passenger Side” Wilco, 1995
Country music had a bit of a cornpone image in the ’80s. Then along came grittier acts like Steve Earle. And a little bit later Illinois combo Uncle Tupelo and the onset of “alternative country.” Uncle Tupelo splintered in 1994. The band’s two former principal songwriters, Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy, went on to start two more notable groups, Son Volt and Wilco, respectably. Although Wilco would go on to craft experimental music, as on their LP “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” their debut album featured plenty of twangy delights including the buzzed-ballad, “Passenger Side.”
“One Hundred Years from Now” The Byrds, 1968
Our list of great country songs by rock bands doesn't include any recordings by cult-faves Flying Burrito Brothers because the Burritos were always a country band. Albeit one that did rock drugs. And wore rock pants. Before moving on to found the Flying Burrito Brothers, country wunderkind Gram Parsons did a stint with folk-rockers The Byrds, and his presence resulted in a Nashville-tinged masterpiece: the 1968 "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" disc.
“The Weight” The Band, 1968
The original Band version of “The Weight” isn’t even the best take on the song. That honor goes to Aretha Franklin's sactified cover, which benefited from greasy Duane Allman slide guitar. Still, the source material is one of those songs that sounds like it’s existed for a hundred years. In a wonderful way. The Band guitarist Robbie Robertson wrote “The Weight” while drummer Levon Helm and bassist Rick Danko contributed lead vocals to the song, which appeared on the group’s “Music from Big Pink” disc.
“Hotel Yorba” The White Stripes, 2001
Guitar-drums duo The White Stripes evokes Johnny Cash-gone-punk-rock on “Hotel Yorba,” a song former Stripes frontman Jack White has continued to frequently perform live during his solo career. The song references a real-life, seedy building in the band’s Detroit hometown.
“Hard Luck Woman” Kiss, 1976
Yeah, Kiss singer/guitarist Paul Stanley wrote this song as a Rod Stewart cut. But a Rod Stewart cut for Stewart's country-influenced "Maggie May" period. Kiss drummer Peter Criss' ragged rasp proved to be ideally suited for "Hard Luck Woman," which would eventually be covered by none other than '90s country mega-star Garth Brooks.
“Teach Your Children” Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, 1970
Sterling pedal-steel guitar, played by the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia, is the first thing you hear on “Teach Your Children.” Although CSNY’s sweet vocals lean more towards folk, Garcia’s spritely steel licks throughout the song give it a definite country sparkle.
“Picture” Kid Rock featuring Sheryl Crow, 2001
Kid Rock may be the poet laureate for strippers and meth dealers, but he’s actually pretty great at country ballads. Because of record-label red-tape, a second version of duet “Picture” was put together that swapped out Sheryl Crow’s fantastic vocals with ... Allison Moorer’s fantastic vocals. It gets confusing from there. But “Picture” remains an undeniable song, which Kid Rock has performed onstage with numerous different female stars, including LeAnn Rimes, Gretchen Wilson and Martina McBride.
“Squeeze Box” The Who, 1975
Goofy double-entendres! Chicken-pickin’ guitar! “Squeeze Box” has it all, although the lively Who classic does not include any sounds from an actual squeeze box on it. Don’t think this is country enough to be country? There’s a banjo solo on it, dude (played by notable The Who guitar-smasher Pete Townshend). So there’s that.
“Lookin’ Out My Back Door” Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1970
The lyrical imagery sure sounds like its referencing party favors. But in interviews ex-CCR main-man John Fogerty has maintained that is not the case. CCR recorded “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” fresh off-tour and country music icon Duck Owens gets a shout-out during the first verse.
“I’m on Fire,” Bruce Springsteen & The E. Street Band, 1984
Who says you can’t have synthesizer on a country track? One of seven – seven! – top 10 singles from The Boss’ “Born in the U.S.A.” album, “I’m on Fire” would eventually be covered by two country artists representing opposite ends of the gravitas meter: Waylon Jennings and Kenny Chesney.
“Love Rescue Me” U2, 1988
The “Rattle and Rum” album and companion film was Irish quartet U2’s love letter to American roots music. “Love Recue Me,” co-written and featuring harmony vocals from none other than the bard himself, Bob Dylan, is the country-est homage on the LP.
“Used To Love Her” Guns N’ Roses, 1988
Murdering your significant other never sounded this strummy. A clear tip of the top-hat to The Stones’ aforementioned “Dead Flowers,” Sunset Strip rockers Guns N’ Roses tucked their leather pants into cowboy boots on “Used to Love Her.” Lest Los Angeles homicide detectives open a case based on the tune’s lyrics, the tabloid-esque cover art for 1988 EP “G N' R Lies” maintained “Used to Love Her” was, “A Joke, nothing more.”
“I Got You” Stone Temple Pilots, 1999
Stone Temple Pilot's 1994 hit "Interstate Love Song" is the band's most obvious country nod. But "I Got You" from the band's underrated "No. 4" album also displays their knack for country, even if they gave the chorus some Beach Boys-ish harmonies. Guitarist Dean DeLeo plays a mean Telecaster lead on the track. Last year a few months before he died from drug related causes on a tour bus, I asked ex-STP frontman Scott Weiland if he ever considered making a country album. Weiland's answer? "I thought about it before but the country market isn't what it was when I grew up on country. Merle Haggard and Jerry Jeff Walker and Johnny Cash. There's Americana, which is a little truer to form than Nashville country today." Unfortunately, we'll never know if Weiland would've eventually tried his hand at a full, traditional country LP. I think he could've made a great one.
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