The fourth volume of
Bear Family
's seven-edition country-rock history
Truckers, Kickers, Cowboy Angels: The Blissed-Out Birth of Country Rock
kicks off with
Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen
's locomotive rendition of "Hot Rod Lincoln," possibly the hardest-rocking cut yet featured in this series. It's a good indication of how things were changing in 1971, the year chronicled in this double-disc set. What began as a mellow breeze blowing out of Southern California grew grittier as it swept across the country, picking up musicians who were perhaps a little rowdier than the previous generation's. That's another way of saying that there are a lot of bands featured on this installment of Truckers, Kickers, Cowboy Angels:
Commander Cody
,
New Riders of the Purple Sage
Randy Bachman
's
Brave Belt
Cochise
Cowboy
Head Hands & Feet
Twin Engine
, and
Poco
, every one of them bringing a heavier backbeat. When combined with a slight diminishment of the literate singer/songwriters that dominated
Vol. 3
-- the moody
Mickey Newbury
shows up toward the end of the collection, but both
Kris Kristofferson
and
John Prine
seem comfortable showcased alongside the shaggier country-rockers here -- helps give this installment a funkier feel, a suspicion confirmed by the funkier acts included here:
Link Wray
Lonnie Mack
riding the roots movement,
Hoyt Axton
roaring through "Never Been to Spain,"
Sir Douglas Quintet
sending out "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights,"
Freddy Fender
, wherever he is, and this comp's great re-discovery,
Alex Harvey
, a sensational singer/songwriter who wrote "Delta Dawn" and "Tulsa Turnaround" (and has nothing to do with the British rocker who shares his name). This kind of relaxed, down-and-dirty groove is so addictive that it's easy not to realize that
Gram Parsons
is M.I.A. (the
Chris Hillman
-led
Flying Burrito Brothers
are here, though), but that only underscores how by 1971 the movement
Gram
set into motion grew into its own thing. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine