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As told by the musicians who made it happen, Desperados: The Roots of Country Rock revisits country rock's rise to the top of the charts. Music scholar John Einarson delves into the years from 1963, when Buck Owens and his Buckaroos brought an electric edge to their Texas honky-tonk tunes, to 1973, when The Eagles released their album "Desperado" on David Geffen's label. Einarson examines how folk, rockabilly, blues, Nashville country, Tejano, bluegrass, and other musical idioms influenced a generation of journeyman musicians. He traces the paths taken by the songsmiths, the bands in which they served their apprenticeships, and the songs they wrote together, as they steadily shaped the country rock sound. The protagonists of this story include talented but troubled Gram Parsons, a virtuoso determined to burn out before he faded away; the versatile and appealing Linda Ronstadt; Mike Nesmith, the Monkee from Texas who returned to his musical roots with a trilogy of country-rock albums; TV heartthrob turned country rocker Rick Nelson; folkie songbird Emmylou Harris before she made it in Nashville; and many others.
About this Author
John Einarson is a respected rock music historian and the author of several books including For What It's Worth: The Story of the Buffalo Springfield and Neil Young: Don't Be Denied. He lives in Winnipeg, Canada.
Reviews
Drawing from more than 60 exclusive interviews, Einarson masterfully weaves flavorful, revealing quotes from country-rock originators like Chris Hillman, Randy Meisner and Jim Messina into this engaging, up-close look at the passions, chemistry, conflicts and politics that shaped the genre from 1963 to 1973.
Chock full of revealing material from more than 60 interviews, this authoritative guide covers a long-neglected era of rock history. Recommended for rock and music fans.
Einarson covers all the breakups, makeups, and world-class twangin' of the genre that [Gram] Parsons styled "Cosmic American Music," paying plenty of attention to such subgenre stalwarts as Mike Nesmith (once of the Monkees), Linda Ronstadt, Rick Nelson, and Neil Young, not to mention modern mogul supreme David Geffen, who got his start in country rock.
Desperados is loaded with interviews with all the significant artists of the era, but what really makes the book enjoyable is Einarson's refusal to perpetuate myths.
Desperados is an intriguing read and one that will have you looking through used record bins for those long-abandoned copies of The Dillards' "Wheatstraw Suite" and Rick Nelson's StoneCanyon Band.
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