Two Classics Of "Country Rock"

There are many albums I play back to back, they’re usually by the same artist, but sometimes by artists of the same subgenre, as is the case with today's freeloads, by The Marshall Tucker Band, and The Ozark Mountain Daredevils.



In 1973 both bands released their debut self-titled albums.  Back then, when I bought a new album, I would make a cassette tape of it on my beloved Nakamichi 1000 Tri-Tracer, which was the first truly Hi-Fi cassette deck, leaving me with pristine albums.  I used to use 90-minute cassettes, since most albums in 1973 were under 45 minutes, I could put a full album on each side.  So I had The Marshall Tucker Band on one side, and The Ozark Mountain Daredevils on the other side.  I guess I got used to hearing them together, by flipping the tape (auto-reverse was a few years away).



While both bands sound nothing like each other, they do have a similar vibe to them.  Both albums were categorized as "Country Rock" but that doesn’t tell the whole story as there are many influences at play other than country music.  If these two albums were released today, they would more than likely be classified as "Americana".


'The Marshall Tucker Band'
There was no member of the band named Marshall Tucker, they named themselves after a piano tuner.  The songs "Take the Highway" and "Can't You See" were FM radio staples from the album.

'The Ozark Mountain Daredevils'
Many people only know the band from their biggest hit, 1975's "Jackie Blue", a song that sounds nothing like the band's usual sound.  The FM staples from this 1973 album were "If You Wanna Get To Heaven" and "Chicken Train"




For the freeload, what are some of your favorite subgenres of music?