Sometimes I look back (and at my age, a person tends to do that more and more) and remember song's that were too rock and roll to be considered country.

Then, when I listen to the new country music, or watch country music awards shows, it seems like those old songs that were 'too rocky' to play on country would be, well, not rocky enough to be played on today's mainstream country music stations.

When I graduated from Edgerton High School back in 1973 (and yes, we had electricity and even color TV), something we called 'Southern Fried Rock' was really beginning to take hold.  I remember being in vocational school in Austin, Minnesota in the fall of '73 and the spring of '74 and a lot of the rock and roll of the day had some sort of 'country feel' to it.

Creedence Clearwater Revival was one of the biggest bands in the world.  Black Oak Arkansas had a rowdy, southern kind of party feel (Hey Jim Dandy!).  Lynyrd Skynyrd was making noise with that hard southern rockin' sound.  The Doobie Brothers 'Black Water' had a kind of country feel to it. And of course they had this.

While new country has evolved into 1980's rock and roll, I can look (and listen) back to the Allman Brothers 'Ramblin' Man' heard above, and wow....that's a whole lot more country than some of the biggest country hit's of the past couple years!

Nope, it wasn't 'Country' back there in the early 1970's...but you know what?  I had the Allman Brothers album (or maybe a cassette or 8-track) right there along with those two rowdy new guys....Willie something, and Kris somebody.  I loved them all!

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