Country music

====Country rock====
{{Main|Country rock}}
{{see also|Cowpunk}}
[[File:Eagles cropped.jpg|thumb|upright|A reunited [[Eagles (band)|Eagles]] in 2008]]

Country rock is a genre that started in the 1960s but became prominent in the 1970s. The late 1960s in American music produced a unique blend as a result of traditionalist backlash within separate genres. In the aftermath of the [[British Invasion]], many desired a return to the "old values" of rock n' roll. At the same time there was a lack of enthusiasm in the country sector for Nashville-produced music. What resulted was a crossbred genre known as [[country rock]]. Early innovators in this new style of music in the 1960s and 1970s included [[Bob Dylan]], who was the first to revert to country music with his 1967 album ''[[John Wesley Harding]]''{{sfn |Gilliland |1969 |loc=show 54}} (and even more so with that album's follow-up, ''[[Nashville Skyline]]''), followed by [[Gene Clark]], Clark's former band [[the Byrds]] (with [[Gram Parsons]] on ''[[Sweetheart of the Rodeo]]'') and its spin-off [[the Flying Burrito Brothers]] (also featuring Gram Parsons), guitarist [[Clarence White]], [[Michael Nesmith]] ([[the Monkees]] and the [[First National Band]]), the [[Grateful Dead]], [[Neil Young]], [[Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen|Commander Cody]], [[the Allman Brothers Band]], [[Charlie Daniels]], [[the Marshall Tucker Band]], [[Poco (band)|Poco]], [[Buffalo Springfield]], [[Stephen Stills]]' band [[Manassas (band)|Manassas]] and [[Eagles (band)|Eagles]], among many, even the former folk music duo [[Ian & Sylvia]], who formed [[Great Speckled Bird (band)|Great Speckled Bird]] in 1969. The Eagles would become the most successful of these country rock acts, and their compilation album ''[[Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)]]'' remains the second-best-selling album in the US with 29&nbsp;million copies sold.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6844102/glenn-frey-eagles-biggest-billboard-hits|title= Glenn Frey & Eagles' Biggest Billboard Hits |date=January 18, 2016|first= Gary |last= Trust |magazine=Billboard }}</ref> [[The Rolling Stones]] also got into the act with songs like "[[Dead Flowers (The Rolling Stones song)|Dead Flowers]]"; the original recording of "[[Honky Tonk Women]]" was performed in a country style, but it was subsequently re-recorded in a hard rock style for the single version, and the band's preferred country version was later released on the album ''[[Let It Bleed]]'', under the title "Country Honk".

Described by [[AllMusic]] as the "father of country-rock",<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p5109|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic.com], Gram Parsons: Overview</ref> Gram Parsons' work in the early 1970s was acclaimed for its purity and for his appreciation for aspects of traditional country music.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/gramparsons|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429081141/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/gramparsons|url-status=dead|title=Gram Parsons|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|archive-date=April 29, 2009}}</ref> Though his career was cut tragically short by his 1973 death, his legacy was carried on by his protégé and duet partner [[Emmylou Harris]]; Harris would release her debut solo in 1975, an amalgamation of country, rock and roll, folk, blues and pop. Subsequent to the initial blending of the two polar opposite genres, other offspring soon resulted, including [[Southern rock]], [[heartland rock]] and in more recent years, [[alternative country]]. In the decades that followed, artists such as [[Juice Newton]], [[Alabama (American band)|Alabama]], [[Hank Williams, Jr.]] (and, to an even greater extent, [[Hank Williams III]]), [[Gary Allan]], [[Shania Twain]], [[Brooks & Dunn]], [[Faith Hill]], [[Garth Brooks]], [[Dwight Yoakam]], [[Steve Earle]], [[Dolly Parton]], [[Rosanne Cash]] and [[Linda Ronstadt]] moved country further towards rock influence.