ABSTRACT
Country rock represented a merging of country instrumentation with rock’s beat and socially conscious attitude. Its immediate precursors included rockabilly and the Nashville crossover pop of the 1960s exemplified by singers like Skeeter Davis (“End of the World,” RCA 8098; 1963), Bobby Bare (“Detroit City,” RCA 8183; 1963), Johnny Cash (“I Walk the Line,” Sun 241; 1956), Marty Robbins (“El Paso,” Columbia 41511; 1959-60), and Jim Reeves (“He’ll Have to Go,” RCA 7643; 1959-60). The Beatles helped bring new attention to country song thanks to Ringo Starr’s love for the genre; he covered Buck Owens’s “Act Naturally” effectively, and later recorded his own countryrock album, Beaucoups of Blues (Apple 3368, 1970).
