Top 10 Country Rock Songs

In many ways, country and rock go hand and hand. You can see their resemblance in the folky roots of rock in the ’70s or the ne’er-do-well spirit of an outlaw country singer. The two genres have intertwined countless times throughout music history, forever blurring the line between the two categories.

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Below, are a few standouts among a much longer list of rock songs that have borrowed elements from country music. From Lynyrd Skynyrd to the Eagles, here are 10 of the best country rock songs of all time.

[RELATED: Southern Rockers Who Weren’t Southern At All]

10. “Bad Moon Rising” (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

Creedence Clearwater Revival, arguably one of the most prominent stewards of the country rock movement, released “Bad Moon Rising” in 1969. The song is led by a bluegrassy rhythm guitar and a bouncy drum beat that give it that country swing. John Fogerty has a marked drawl to his voice – one that is dripping with the influence of folk artists that came before him.

9. “Take It Easy” (Eagles)

Like CCR, the Eagles were bringing some Southern charm to rock by way of the West Coast. The guitar bend and group harmonies in “Take It Easy” are straight out of the country playbook while the references to trucks and girls drive the motif all the way home.

8. “Can’t You See” (The Marshall Tucker Band)

Unlike the two prior acts, The Marshall Tucker Band is country at its core. Given that they hail from South Carolina, it’s no wonder that the group held their country influences in one hand and their rock ones in the other. “Can’t You See” is grounded by an acoustic guitar riff that could easily serve a singer/songwriter in Nashville as well as it did The Marshall Tucker Band in 1973.

7. “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” (The Band)

Like many of their peers (namely Bob Dylan), The Band referenced rural America often throughout their work – particularly during the civil war era. “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” is one of their best offerings in that vein. The storytelling spirit of country music is well accounted for here. The lyrics tell the story of a soldier amid the final days of the civil war: Virgil Kane is the name / And I served on the Danville train / ‘Till Stoneman’s cavalry came / And tore up the tracks again.

6. “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” (The Charlie Daniels Band)

Though Charlie Daniels would likely be categorized as a country artist first and foremost, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” is one of the greatest examples of the fusion between rock and country there’s ever been. While Daniels’ protagonist in the song is keeping the country spirit alive with a fiddle in hand, his devil has strapped on an electric guitar and called in a band of demonic rockers.

While the song is largely interpreted as a retelling of the old “bartering your soul with the devil” thing, for the more imaginative listener, the song can be seen as a metaphor for the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll invading the South amid the country rock movement.

5. “Desperado” (Eagles)

Circling back to the Eagles, we’re looking at the boot-kickin’, gun-holsterin’, heart-breakin’ title track to their 1973 album, Desperado. The entire album lives and dies by its Western motif, but they lay that idea on thick in this song. Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses? / Come down from your fences, open the gate / It may be rainin’, but there’s a rainbow above you / You better let somebody love you, Don Henley sings in the chorus. When listening to this song, one can’t help but empathize with a lonely rancher somewhere in Texas, looking out over his land and dreaming of what might have been.

4. “Seven Bridges Road” (Eagles)

One more Eagles song and then we will leave them alone for a bit, but it’s hard to escape the Eagles’ influence when it comes to establishing country rock in the mainstream. In “Seven Bridges Road,” the band strips things down to their bare bones, driving the song with just an acoustic guitar and their stellar harmonies. They’ve never felt more like a folk outfit than they do here.

3. “Wild Horses” (Rolling Stones)

The Rolling Stones took a trip to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in 1969. There, among the relatively rural settings, the rockers created the now-iconic “Wild Horses.” Mick Jagger tried a country twang on for size while Keith Richards drew out a breezy guitar riff. Though the Stones have adopted American blues for most of their career, they go full-country on “Wild Horses.”

2. “Ramblin’ Man” (Allman Brothers Band)

The Allman Brothers Band, native Floridians, brought some of their swampy roots along with them wherever they went with the help of “Ramblin’ Man.” In fact, the song was so country-leaning that the band tried to give it to Merle Haggard to record (per Genius). The band ultimately made the track more their own by adding in some sprawling guitar solos, securing one of their signature songs.

1. “Sweet Home Alabama” (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

When thinking of country rockers, Lynyrd Skynyrd is at the top of the list. It’s their biggest hit, “Sweet Home Alabama,” that gives them that reputation. Though Lynyrd Skynyrd was also formed in Florida, the band took a liking to Alabama after recording some of their first demos in Muscle Shoals. The band takes up the “Southern cross” in this song, defending it from naysayers like Neil Young who deem it behind the times. Few songs are as pervasive in the collective consciousness as this one.

(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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