Roots rock is a genre ofrock music that looks back to rock's origins infolk,blues, andcountry music.^[1] First emerging in the late 1960s, it is seen as a response to the perceived excesses of the then dominantpsychedelic and the developingprogressive rock.^[2] Becauseroots music (Americana) is often used to mean folk andworld musical forms, roots rock is sometimes used in a broad sense to describe any rock music that incorporates elements of this music.^[3]

The 2000s saw a new interest in "roots" music. One proof of that is the specificGrammy Award given since 2015, notably toJon Batiste in 2022. According to the Grammy website, "This category recognizes excellence in Americana, bluegrass, blues or folk recordings in modern and/or traditional vocal and instrumental styles, as well as original material by artists who use traditional and/or modern roots elements, sounds and instrumental techniques as the basis for their recordings."^[4]

In 1966, as many rock artists moved towards expansive and experimentalpsychedelia,Bob Dylan spearheaded the back-to-basicsroots revival when he went to Nashville to record the albumBlonde on Blonde, using notable local musicians likeCharlie McCoy.^[5] This, and the subsequent more clearly country-influenced albums,John Wesley Harding (1967) andNashville Skyline (1969), have been seen as creating the genre ofcountry folk, a route pursued by a number of, largely acoustic, folk musicians.^[5] Other acts that followed the back to basics trend in different ways were the Canadian/American groupThe Band and the California-basedCreedence Clearwater Revival, both of which mixed basic rock and roll with folk, country, and blues, to be among the most successful and influential bands of the late 1960s.^[6] At the same time theGrateful Dead, a band previously associated with theSan Francisco sound and known for ferocious psychedelic improvisation, followed in the footsteps ofCrosby, Stills & Nash to focus onAmericana-styled songwriting for their 1970 albumsWorkingman's Dead andAmerican Beauty. The same movement saw the beginning of the recording careers of Californian solo artists likeRy Cooder,Bonnie Raitt, andLowell George.^[7]

The blues boom overlapped, both chronologically and in terms of personnel, with the earlier, wider rhythm and blues phase, which had begun to peter out in the mid-1960s leaving a nucleus of instrumentalists with a wide knowledge of blues forms and techniques, which they would carry into the pursuit of more purist blues interests.^[8][9] Blues Incorporated andJohn Mayall and the Bluesbreakers were well known in the London Jazz and emerging R&B circuits, but the Bluesbreakers began to gain some national and international attention, particularly after the release ofBlues Breakers with Eric Clapton album (1966), considered one of the seminal British blues recordings.^[10] From 1966 to 1968, young Englishmen formed blues rock bands such as Cream,Fleetwood Mac, Keef Hartley Band, Ten Years After, and Free. In America,Paul Butterfield Blues Band,^[11]Canned Heat, andJohnny Winter performed at Woodstock Festival 1969.

Dylan's lead was also followed bythe Byrds, who were joined byGram Parsons in 1968. Earlier in the year Parsons had already recordedSafe at Home with theInternational Submarine Band, which made extensive use ofpedal steel guitar and is seen by some as the first true country-rock album.^[2] The result of Parsons tenure in the Byrds wasSweetheart of the Rodeo (1968), generally considered one of the finest and most influential recordings in the genre.^[2] The Byrds continued for a brief period in the same vein, but Parsons left soon after the album was released to be joined by another ex-Byrds memberChris Hillman in formingthe Flying Burrito Brothers. Over the next two years they recorded the albumsThe Gilded Palace of Sin (1969) andBurrito Deluxe (1970), which helped establish the respectability and parameters of the genre, before Parsons departed to pursue a solo career.^[2]

Country rock was a particularly popular style in the California music scene of the late 1960s, and was adopted by bands including C.C.R.,Poco, andNew Riders of the Purple Sage.^[2] Some folk-rockers followed the Byrds into the genre, among them theBeau Brummels^[2] and theNitty Gritty Dirt Band.^[12] A number of performers also enjoyed a renaissance by adopting country sounds, including:the Everly Brothers, whoseRoots album (1968) is usually considered some of their finest work; formerteen idolRicky Nelson (after dropping the "Y" from his name and letting his hair grow) who became the frontman for the Stone Canyon Band;Michael Nesmith who formed theFirst National Band after his departure fromthe Monkees; andNeil Young who moved in and out of the genre throughout his career.^[2] One of the few acts to successfully move from the country side towards rock were thebluegrass bandThe Dillards.^[2]

The greatest commercial success for country rock came in the 1970s, withthe Doobie Brothers mixing in elements ofR&B,Emmylou Harris (a former backing singer for Parsons) becoming the "Queen of country-rock", andLinda Ronstadt creating a highly successful pop-orientated brand of the genre.^[13] Members of Ronstadt's former backing band went on to form theEagles (made up of members of the Burritos, Poco, and Stone Canyon Band), and emerged as one of the most successful rock acts of all time, producing albums that includedDesperado (1973) andHotel California (1976).^[13] Country rock began to fade in the late 1970s in the face of punk and new wave trends.

Although the Southern states had been, as much as anywhere, the birthplace of rock and roll, after the decline of rockabilly in the late 1950s, it was not until the early 1970s that a distinctive regional style of rock music emerged.^[14] (This was despite some successful bands from the region, a major contribution to the evolution ofsoul music in theStax-Volt records company and the existence of theMuscle Shoals andFAME Studios). The founders of Southern rock are usually thought to bethe Allman Brothers Band, who developed a distinctive sound, largely derived fromblues rock, but incorporating elements ofboogie, soul, and country; combining hard rock instrumentation and rhythms with accented vocals andDuane Allman's slide guitar.^[14]

Of the acts that followed the Allmans into the emerging genre, the most successful wasLynyrd Skynyrd, who with songs like "Free Bird" (1973) and "Sweet Home Alabama" (1974) helped establish the "Good ol' boy" image of the subgenre and the general shape of 1970s guitar rock.^[14] They were followed by many other bands, including theAtlanta Rhythm Section,^[15]ZZ Top,Black Oak Arkansas,Potliquor,Barefoot Jerry, Grinderswitch,Wet Willie,Blackfoot,Johnny Winter,Edgar Winter Group, Sea Level, and the more country-influencedThe Marshall Tucker Band. After the loss of original members of the Allmans and Lynyrd Skynyrd, the genre began to fade in popularity in the late 1970s, but was sustained the 1980s with acts like the Outlaws,Georgia Satellites,^[16] the Fabulous Thunderbirds,Stevie Ray Vaughan^[17] & Double Trouble,Jimmie Vaughan,^[18] Pointblank,.38 Special, andMolly Hatchet.^[14]

Swamp rock originated in the mid-1960s as a fusion ofrockabilly andsoul music withswamp blues,country music andfunk.^[19] The style also drew frombeat music,country blues,Cajun music andNew Orleans rhythm and blues.^[20][21] Part of the early swamp rock scene were John Fogerty & C.C.R.,Leon Russell, Dale Hawkins, Tony Joe White, andDelaney & Bonnie.^[22]

The term heartland rock was first used in the early 1970s to describeMidwesternarena rock groups likeKansas,REO Speedwagon, andStyx, but came to be associated with a more socially concerned form of roots rock more directly influenced byfolk,country, androck and roll.^[23] It has been seen as an American Midwest andRust Belt counterpart to West Coast country rock and the Southern rock of the American South.^[24] Led by figures who had initially been identified with punk and new wave, it was most strongly influenced by acts such as Bob Dylan, the Byrds, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Van Morrison, 1960s garage rock, and the Rolling Stones.^[25]

Exemplified by the commercial success of singer songwritersBruce Springsteen,Bob Seger, andTom Petty, along with less widely known acts such asSouthside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes andJoe Grushecky and the Houserockers, it was partly a reaction to post-industrial urban decline in the East and Mid-West, often dwelling on issues of social disintegration and isolation, beside a form of good-time rock and roll revivalism.^[25] The genre reached its commercial, artistic, and influential peak in the mid-1980s, with Springsteen'sBorn in the USA (1984), topping the charts worldwide and spawning a series of top ten singles, together with the arrival of artists includingJohn Cougar/Mellencamp,Steve Earle, and more gentle singer/songwriters such asBruce Hornsby.^[25] It also impacted the United Kingdom in the 1980s throughDire Straits.^[26] It can also be heard as an influence on artists as diverse asBilly Joel^[27] andKid Rock.^[28] Though various heartland rock acts had sustained success through the 1990s, such as Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, The Wallflowers, and to a lesser extent, the BoDeans and Los Lobos, Heartland rock's commercial prosperity and general popularity began to fade away as early as the early 1990s. As rock music in general, and blue collar and white working class themes in particular, lost influence with younger audiences, heartland's artists turned to more personal works.^[25] Subsequently, however, American bandsthe Killers^[29] andthe War on Drugs^[30] and English actSam Fender firmly integrated the heartland rock genre into their respective musical styles.^[26]

The term "roots rock" was coined during the mid-1980s. A number of key bands were defined ascow punk, punk rockers who played country music, includingJason & The Scorchers from Tennessee,Dash Rip Rock from Louisiana, andDrivin N Cryin from Georgia, but the centre of the cow punk movement became Los Angeles, thanks to bands includingthe Long Ryders,Tex & the Horseheads,the Rave-Ups,Lone Justice, andRank and File. Also part of this trend and enjoying some mainstream success wereGun Club,Chris Isaak,Violent Femmes,BoDeans, andLos Lobos.^[31]

In addition thealternative country movement, producing such figures asSteve Earle,Lucinda Williams, andUncle Tupelo, can be seen as part of the roots rock tendency.^[32][33] The movement began to decline in popularity again in the 1990s but produced some bands likeSon Volt,Wilco, andThe Bottle Rockets.^[34] In the mid-1990s,Hootie & the Blowfish,the Wallflowers andGin Blossoms led the way for "a pop-conscious roots-rock resurgence via thealternative charts", according toTrouser Press.^[35]

After disbandingDire Straits in 1995, lead singerMark Knopfler has largely returned to a roots-rock sound acrosshis ten albums.^[36]

• List of roots rock bands and musicians

• The dictionary definition ofroots-rock at Wiktionary

• Rock music genres
• American styles of music
• Crossover (music)
• Retro-style music

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata