Truckers, Kickers, Cowboy Angels: The Blissed-Out Birth of Country Rock Vol. 3: 1970 in Bloomington, MN

On the third volume of
Bear Family
's seven-entry country-rock chronicle
Truckers, Kickers, Cowboy Angels: The Blissed-Out Birth of Country-Rock
, the label moves into 1970, a year that saw a nascent, long-haired Americana gain popularity but also get a bit weirder. Thanks to
the Band
's success --
Music from Big Pink
turned heads in 1968, but 1969's
The Band
found its way onto the Billboard Top 10, bringing the group to the cover of Time in the opening weeks of 1970 -- there were now hordes of fellow travelers, including hippies like
Jefferson Airplane
, trying on overalls for size.
The Airplane
brought in
Jerry Garcia
to play steel on "The Farm," one of the 38 tunes featured on this double-disc set, a collection of songs that also includes two cuts from
the Grateful Dead
's twin '70 releases,
Workingman's Dead
and
American Beauty
. If the San Franciscan hippies were embracing roots, so were the blissed-out Los Angelenos. Led by
Gram Parsons
, who spent much of 1970 closing out his run with the
Flying Burrito Brothers
, these creatures of the Canyon included
Mike Nesmith
, who was just breaking free from
the Monkees
, and
Rick Nelson
, continuing the path they started in 1969 -- a journey that can be heard on the second volume of Truckers, Kickers, Cowboy Angels -- but the '70s saw the rise of idiosyncratic singer/songwriters like
Jesse Winchester
,
Eric Andersen
Townes Van Zandt
, along with Nashville rebels
David Allan Coe
Kris Kristofferson
, the latter also seeing success via a cover of "Me and Bobby McGee" from
Janis Joplin
. A new wrinkle came in the form of the wooly, hard-driving rockers from the south, a breed typified by
the Allman Brothers Band
but also encompassing
Delaney & Bonnie & Friends
. A lot of the lesser-known names here --
Swampwater
Goose Creek Symphony
Country Funk
Wildweeds
-- fall outside of these parameters, skewing closer to the bright, wide-open sound of
Poco
, a feel that might typify how country-rock felt at the start of the '70s: after all the heaviness of the '60s, it seemed like a new day was dawning. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine