Genre of rock music
This article is about the movement in rock music. For the subgenre of reggae (Roots rock reggae), see
Roots reggae
.
Roots rock
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Stylistic origins
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Cultural origins
| 1960s, U.S.
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Roots rock
is a genre of
rock music
that looks back to rock's origins in
folk
,
blues
and
country music
.
[1]
It is seen as responses to the perceived excesses of the dominant
psychedelic
and the developing
progressive rock
.
[2]
Because
roots music
(
Americana
) is often used to mean folk and
world
musical forms, roots rock is sometimes used in a broad sense to describe any rock music that incorporates elements of this music.
[3]
In the 1980s, roots rock enjoyed a revival in response to trends in
punk rock
,
new wave
, and
heavy metal music
.
[
citation needed
]
After a further decline, the 2000s saw a new interest in "roots" music. One proof of that is the specific
Grammy Award
given since 2015, notably to
Jon Batiste
in 2022. According to their website, that trophy is defined as: "This category recognizes excellence in Americana, bluegrass, blues or folk recordings in modern and/or traditional vocal and instrumental styles, as well as original material by artists who use traditional and/or modern roots elements, sounds and instrumental techniques as the basis for their recordings."
[4]
History
[
edit
]
In 1966, as many rock artists moved towards expansive and experimental
psychedelia
,
Bob Dylan
spearheaded the back-to-basics
roots revival
when he went to Nashville to record the album
Blonde on Blonde
, using notable local musicians like
Charlie McCoy
.
[5]
This, and the subsequent more clearly country-influenced albums,
John Wesley Harding
(1967) and
Nashville Skyline
(1969), have been seen as creating the genre of
country folk
, a route pursued by a number of, largely acoustic, folk musicians.
[5]
Other acts that followed the back to basics trend in different ways were the Canadian/American group
The Band
and the California-based
Creedence Clearwater Revival
, both of which mixed basic rock and roll with folk, country, and blues, to be among the most successful and influential bands of the late 1960s.
[6]
At the same time the
Grateful Dead
, a band previously associated with the
San Francisco sound
and known for ferocious psychedelic improvisation, followed in the footsteps of
Crosby, Stills & Nash
to focus on
Americana-styled
songwriting for their 1970 albums
Workingman's Dead
and
American Beauty
. The same movement saw the beginning of the recording careers of Californian solo artists like
Ry Cooder
,
Bonnie Raitt
, and
Lowell George
.
[7]
Blues rock
[
edit
]
The blues boom overlapped, both chronologically and in terms of personnel, with the earlier, wider rhythm and blues phase, which had begun to peter out in the mid-1960s leaving a nucleus of instrumentalists with a wide knowledge of blues forms and techniques, which they would carry into the pursuit of more purist blues interests.
[8]
[9]
Blues Incorporated and
John Mayall
and the Bluesbreakers were well known in the London Jazz and emerging R&B circuits, but the Bluesbreakers began to gain some national and international attention, particularly after the release of
Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton
album (1966), considered one of the seminal British blues recordings.
[10]
From 1966 to 68, young Englishmen formed blues rock bands such as Cream, Fleetwood Mac, Keef Hartley Band, Ten Years After, and Free. In America, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Canned Heat, and Johnny Winter performed at Woodstock Festival 1969.
Country rock
[
edit
]
Dylan's lead was also followed by
the Byrds
, who were joined by
Gram Parsons
in 1968. Earlier in the year Parsons had already recorded
Safe at Home
with the
International Submarine Band
, which made extensive use of
pedal steel guitar
and is seen by some as the first true country-rock album.
[2]
The result of Parsons tenure in the Byrds was
Sweetheart of the Rodeo
(1968), generally considered one of the finest and most influential recordings in the genre.
[2]
The Byrds continued for a brief period in the same vein, but Parsons left soon after the album was released to be joined by another ex-Byrds member
Chris Hillman
in forming
the Flying Burrito Brothers
. Over the next two years they recorded the albums
The Gilded Palace of Sin
(1969) and
Burrito Deluxe
(1970), which helped establish the respectability and parameters of the genre, before Parsons departed to pursue a solo career.
[2]
Country rock was a particularly popular style in the California music scene of the late 1960s, and was adopted by bands including C.C.R.,
Poco
, and
New Riders of the Purple Sage
.
[2]
Some folk-rockers followed the Byrds into the genre, among them the
Beau Brummels
[2]
and the
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
.
[11]
A number of performers also enjoyed a renaissance by adopting country sounds, including:
the Everly Brothers
, whose
Roots
album (1968) is usually considered some of their finest work; former
teen idol
Ricky Nelson
(after dropping the "Y" from his name and letting his hair grow) who became the frontman for the Stone Canyon Band;
Michael Nesmith
who formed the
First National Band
after his departure from
the Monkees
; and
Neil Young
who moved in and out of the genre throughout his career.
[2]
One of the few acts to successfully move from the country side towards rock were the
bluegrass
band
The Dillards
.
[2]
The greatest commercial success for country rock came in the 1970s, with
the Doobie Brothers
mixing in elements of
R&B
,
Emmylou Harris
(a former backing singer for Parsons) becoming the "Queen of country-rock", and
Linda Ronstadt
creating a highly successful pop-orientated brand of the genre.
[12]
Members of Ronstadt's former backing band went on to form the
Eagles
(made up of members of the Burritos, Poco, and Stone Canyon Band), and emerged as one of the most successful rock acts of all time, producing albums that included
Desperado
(1973) and
Hotel California
(1976).
[12]
Country rock began to fade in the late 1970s in the face of punk and new wave trends.
Southern rock
[
edit
]
Although the Southern states had been, as much as anywhere, the birthplace of rock and roll, after the decline of rockabilly in the late 1950s, it was not until the early 1970s that a distinctive regional style of rock music emerged.
[13]
(This was despite some successful bands from the region, a major contribution to the evolution of
soul music
in the
Stax-Volt
records company and the existence of the
Muscle Shoals
and
FAME Studios
). The founders of Southern rock are usually thought to be the
Allman Brothers Band
, who developed a distinctive sound, largely derived from
blues rock
, but incorporating elements of
boogie
, soul, and country; combining hard rock instrumentation and rhythms with accented vocals and
Duane Allman
's slide guitar.
[13]
Of the acts that followed the Allmans into the emerging genre, the most successful was
Lynyrd Skynyrd
, who with songs like "
Free Bird
" (1973) and "
Sweet Home Alabama
" (1974) helped establish the "Good ol' boy" image of the subgenre and the general shape of 1970s guitar rock.
[13]
They were followed by many other bands, including the
Atlanta Rhythm Section
,
[14]
ZZ Top
,
Black Oak Arkansas
, the more country-influenced
The Marshall Tucker Band
, and
Wet Willie
,
Blackfoot
, The
Ozark Mountain Daredevils
,
Johnny Winter
, and Edgar Winter Group. After the loss of original members of the Allmans and Lynyrd Skynyrd, the genre began to fade in popularity in the late 1970s, but was sustained the 1980s with acts like the Outlaws,
Georgia Satellites
, the Fabulous Thunderbirds,
Stevie Ray Vaughan
[15]
& Double Trouble, Pointblank,
.38 Special
, and
Molly Hatchet
.
[13]
Swamp rock
[
edit
]
Swamp rock originated in the mid-1960s as a fusion of
rockabilly
and
soul music
with
swamp blues
,
country music
and
funk
.
[16]
The style also drew from
beat music
,
country blues
,
Cajun music
and
New Orleans rhythm and blues
.
[17]
[18]
Part of the early swamp rock scene were John Fogerty & C.C.R.,
Leon Russell
, Dale Hawkins, Tony Joe White, and
Delaney & Bonnie
.
[19]
Heartland rock
[
edit
]
The term heartland rock was first used in the early 1970s to describe
Midwestern
arena rock
groups like
Kansas
,
REO Speedwagon
, and
Styx
, but came to be associated with a more socially concerned form of roots rock more directly influenced by
folk
,
country
, and
rock and roll
.
[20]
It has been seen as an American Midwest and
Rust Belt
counterpart to West Coast country rock and the Southern rock of the American South.
[21]
Led by figures who had initially been identified with punk and new wave, it was most strongly influenced by acts such as Bob Dylan, the Byrds, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Van Morrison, 1960s garage rock, and the Rolling Stones.
[22]
Exemplified by the commercial success of singer songwriters
Bruce Springsteen
,
Bob Seger
, and
Tom Petty
, along with less widely known acts such as
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes
and
Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers
, it was partly a reaction to post-industrial urban decline in the East and Mid-West, often dwelling on issues of social disintegration and isolation, beside a form of good-time rock and roll revivalism.
[22]
The genre reached its commercial, artistic, and influential peak in the mid-1980s, with Springsteen's
Born in the USA
(1984), topping the charts worldwide and spawning a series of top ten singles, together with the arrival of artists including
John Cougar/Mellencamp
,
Steve Earle
, and more gentle singer/songwriters such as
Bruce Hornsby
.
[22]
It also impacted the United Kingdom in the 1980s through
Dire Straits
.
[23]
It can also be heard as an influence on artists as diverse as
Billy Joel
[24]
and
Kid Rock
.
[25]
Though various heartland rock acts had sustained success through the 1990s, such as Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, The Wallflowers, and to a lesser extent, the BoDeans and Los Lobos, Heartland rock's commercial prosperity and general popularity began to fade away as early as the early 1990s. As rock music in general, and blue collar and white working class themes in particular, lost influence with younger audiences, heartland's artists turned to more personal works.
[22]
Subsequently, however, American bands
the Killers
[26]
and
the War on Drugs
[27]
and English act
Sam Fender
firmly integrated the heartland rock genre into their respective musical styles.
[23]
1980s revival
[
edit
]
The term "roots rock" was coined during the mid-'80s. A number of key bands were defined as
cow punk
, punk rockers who played country music, including
Jason & The Scorchers
from Tennessee,
Dash Rip Rock
from Louisiana, and
Drivin N Cryin
from Georgia, but the centre of the cow punk movement became Los Angeles, thanks to bands including
the Long Ryders
,
Tex & the Horseheads
,
the Rave-Ups
,
Lone Justice
, and
Rank and File
. Also part of this trend and enjoying some mainstream success were
Gun Club
,
Chris Isaak
,
Violent Femmes
,
BoDeans
, and
Los Lobos
.
[28]
In addition the
alternative country
movement, producing such figures as
Steve Earle
,
Lucinda Williams
, and
Uncle Tupelo
, can be seen as part of the roots rock tendency.
[29]
[30]
The movement began to decline in popularity again in the 1990s but produced some bands like
Son Volt
,
Wilco
, and
The Bottle Rockets
.
[31]
After disbanding
Dire Straits
in 1995, lead singer
Mark Knopfler
has largely returned to a roots-rock sound across
his ten albums
.
[32]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
P. Auslander,
Liveness: performance in a mediatized culture
(London: Routledge, 2008), p. 83
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine,
All music guide to rock: the definitive guide to rock, pop, and soul
(Backbeat Books, 3rd edn., 2002), p. 1327
- ^
R. Shuker,
Popular Music: the Key Concepts
(London: Routledge, 2005), p. 235
- ^
"GRAMMY AWARDS CATEGORY RULES : American Roots Music Field"
(PDF)
.
Grammy.com
. Retrieved
April 9,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
K. Wolff, O. Duane,
Country Music: The Rough Guide
(Rough Guides, 2000), p. 392
- ^
V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine,
All music guide to rock: the definitive guide to rock, pop, and soul
(Backbeat Books, 3rd edn., 2002), pp. 61 and 265
- ^
B. Hoskyns,
Hotel California: The True-Life Adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Geffen, the Eagles, and Their Many Friends
(John Wiley and Sons, 2007), pp. 87-90
- ^
R. Unterberger, "Early British R&B", in V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine,
All Music Guide to Rock: the Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul
(Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books, 3rd edn., 2002),
ISBN
0-87930-653-X
, pp. 1315-6
- ^
N. Logan and B. Woffinden,
The NME Book of Rock 2
(London: W. H. Allen, 1977),
ISBN
0-352-39715-2
, pp. 61-2
- ^
T. Rawlings, A. Neill, C. Charlesworth and C. White,
Then, Now and Rare British Beat 1960-1969
(Omnibus Press, 2002), p. 130
- ^
P. Buckley,
The Rough Guide to Rock
(Rough Guides, 3rd edn., 2003), p. 730
- ^
a
b
N. E. Tawa,
Supremely American: popular song in the 20th century: styles and singers and what they said about America
(Scarecrow Press, 2005), pp. 227-8
- ^
a
b
c
d
V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine,
All music guide to rock: the definitive guide to rock, pop, and soul
(Backbeat Books, 3rd edn., 2002), pp. 1332-3
- ^
"Atlanta Rhythm Section"
.
Discogs.com
.
- ^
"Southern Rock Meets Texas Blues When Stevie Ray Vaughan Joins Skynyrd For "Call Me The Breeze"
"
.
Societyofrock.com
. 30 August 2016
. Retrieved
9 April
2022
.
- ^
Fontenot, Robert (February 24, 2019).
"What Is Swamp Rock? A look at this Southern mix of country, funk, and soul"
. Liveabout
. Retrieved
2022-11-09
.
- ^
Baylese, Richard (March 10, 2021).
"Ten top Swamp Rock tracks"
. Americana UK
. Retrieved
2022-09-05
.
- ^
L. C. Hillstrom,
The Vietnam Experience: a Concise Encyclopedia of American Literature, Songs, and Films
(Greenwood, 1998), p. 115
- ^
Baylese, Richard (March 10, 2021).
"Ten top Swamp Rock tracks"
. Americana UK
. Retrieved
21 December
2022
.
- ^
R. Kirkpatrick,
The words and music of Bruce Springsteen
(Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007), p. 51
- ^
G. Thompson,
American Culture in the 1980s
(Edinburgh University Press, 2007), p. 138
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Heartland Rock"
,
Allmusic
, archived from
the original
on 13 February 2011
- ^
a
b
Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (October 8, 2021).
"Sam Fender wields a powerful energy in Seventeen Going Under"
.
Financial Times
. Archived from
the original
on March 27, 2022
. Retrieved
March 27,
2022
.
- ^
J. A. Peraino (30 August 1987),
"Heartland rock: Bruce's Children"
,
New York Times
, archived from
the original
on 12 May 2011
- ^
A. DeCurtis (18 October 2007),
"Kid Rock: Rock n' Roll Jesus"
,
Rolling Stone
, archived from
the original
on 14 May 2011
- ^
S. T. Erlewine,
"The Killers: Sam's Town"
,
Rolling Stone
, archived from
the original
on 29 April 2011
- ^
Beckmann, Jim (April 9, 2014).
"KEXP Presents: The War On Drugs"
.
NPR
.
Archived
from the original on March 30, 2022
. Retrieved
March 30,
2022
.
- ^
V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra, S. T. Erlewine, eds,
All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues
(Backbeat, 3rd edn., 2003), pp. 493, 564, 670, 723
- ^
M. Dutton,
True to the Roots: Americana Music Revealed
(University of Nebraska Press, 2006), p. 18
- ^
P. Fox, B. Ching,
Old Roots, New Routes: The Cultural Politics of Alt.Country Music
(University of Michigan Press, 2008), p. 7
- ^
P. Buckley,
The Rough Guide to Rock
(Rough Guides, 3rd ed., 2003), p. 1169
- ^
"New troubadours: Folk, roots rock & Americana"
.
Msn.com
. Retrieved
11 November
2015
.
External links
[
edit
]
- The dictionary definition of
roots-rock
at Wiktionary
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Components
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Genres by
decade of origin
(sub-subgenres
not included)
| 1950s
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1960s
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1980s
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1990s
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Regional scenes
| North America
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South America
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Europe
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Asia
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Africa
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Oceania
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Radio formats
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Related
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Genres
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Regional scenes
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Related
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