Sandwiched between their last primarily folk-rock effort and the restructured band's country-rock phase, the crumbling three-man Byrds went rustic with a smorgasbord of everything that went before and was to come. Part psychedelic, McGuinn's ringing 12-string electric guitar, folk moments and a taste of country - Notorious had it all.
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The Band The Band 1969 [Capitol]
The Band's second album saw Robbie Robertson emerge as the group's chief songwriter, the defining moment coming with the classic 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down'. Despite all except one member being Canadian, the record is saturated in Americana - right down to the sepia photography on its packaging.
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Déjà Vu Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 1970 [Atlantic]
Given the iconoclastic temperaments of the artists involved it was a miracle this album was ever finished, let alone turn out to be a timeless classic. The cover says it all - a bunch of hillbillies ready for a feud. Adding Neil Young to the lineup gave the group a harder edge and country tinge that smacked of down home sensibilities.
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After the Gold Rush Neil Young 1970 [Reprise]
While The Band lamented the emotional upheaval of the destruction of the Old South, Neil Young blasted it with all barrels on the scathing 'Southern Man'. The songs on this album are so lyrically complex that even apparently harmless country-folk love songs are usually laced with dark allusions. With this, Young had arrived as a major artist.
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Workingman's Dead The Grateful Dead 1970 [Warner]
On this record the Grateful Dead went from being a psychedelic San Francisco band specialising in extended jams to the premier roots rock outfit on the West Coast. Although a seemingly unlikely transition, songs like the hit 'Uncle John's Band', 'New Speedway Boogie' and 'Casey Jones' showed they had found their niche.
Rustic Americana was so popular in the early-70s that even Elton John was getting in on the act. Those only familiar with the glam-rocker will want to check this set out, with quality tracks like 'Where to Now St Peter?' and 'Burn Down the Mission' amongst his best. The 1996 CD includes the fabulous original version of 'Madman Across the Water'.
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Paradise and Lunch Ry Cooder 1974 [Reprise]
Ry Cooder is perhaps best described as blues eccentric with an uncanny knack of taking a varied set of songs and turning them into a cohesive masterpiece. A guitar player of wide-ranging abilities that really come through on 'Fool for a Cigarette' and the delightful 'Ditty Wah Ditty' with jazz piano legend Earl Hines.
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The Basement Tapes Bob Dylan & the Band 1975 [Columbia]
These homemade 1967 recordings were bootleg treasures before their official release in 1975. Regardless of all the legend and myth surrounding their making, it is difficult to deny that these rough-hewn songs had a tremendous impact on both the urban folk scene of the 80s and the Americana movement of the following decade. Timeless.
