DESPERADOS: 
THE ROOTS OF COUNTRY ROCK

     Yet the roots of country rock go much deeper. Beginning in the mid sixties and flourishing in Los Angeles clubs like the legendary Troubadour and Palomino, a small, close-knit fraternity of young players on the lam from various rock outfits began integrating their love of traditional roots country and bluegrass music with rock to forge a uniquely original and honest musical form. Basking in the light of honky tonk mavericks Buck Owens' Buckaroos, these desperados on the outskirts of the commercial rock mainstream - including Chris Hillman, Gram Parsons, Gene Clark, Rodney Dillard, Richie Furay, Rusty Young, Clarence White, Bernie Leadon, and ex-Monkee Mike Nesmith - would go on to form groundbreaking country rock groups like the Dillards, Hearts And Flowers, International Submarine Band, the Byrds, Dillard and Clark Expedition, Poco, Flying Burrito Brothers, Great Speckled Bird, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, First National Band, Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris.

     Despite failing to achieve a commercial breakthrough in their time, these country rock pioneers left a lasting impact on popular music by redefining both country music and rock. Their influence can be found in the success of the Eagles as well as today's 'new country' artists like Travis Tritt and Diamond Rio and the alternative country rebel roots music of singer/songwriters such as Victoria Williams and Mark Olson.

     Desperados is 300 pages long (with 16 pages of illustrations) tracing the evolution of country rock out of southern California between 1963 and '73 and all the artists who pioneered that genre. Close to 60 interviews were conducted for the book. Some of the artists covered in the Desperados story (and it is a story rather than an encyclopedia) include: the Dillards, Byrds, Kentucky Colonels, Hearts & Flowers, Gene Clark, Buffalo Springfield, Dillard & Clark, International Submarine Band, Poco, Flying Burrito Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, Mike Nesmith's First National Band, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Ian & Sylvia, the Great Speckled Bird, Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band, Shiloh, Nashville West, The Poor, the Eagles, SHF (Souther, Hillman & Furay), Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris and more.

1. The Byrds at Rome's Pipers Club, May 1968 (Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn, Gram Parsons);
2. Pogo [later Poco], December 1968. (Clockwise from top: Randy Meisner,
George Grantham, Jimmy Messina, Richie Furay, Rusty Young)

3. Ex-Monkee Mike Nesmith, Decked out in his finest Nudie outfit, circa 1973;
4. Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, recording live at the Troubador, October 1969
(Randy Meisner, Rick Nelson, Allen Kemp, Tom Brumley);

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John Einarson is a respected music history writer with several titles published worldwide including the best-selling biography Neil Young: Don't Be Denied (Quarry Press, Omnibus Press), For What It's Worth: The Story of Buffalo Springfield (Quarry Press, North America; Rogan House, UK), Randy Bachman: Takin' Care of Business (McArthur & Co.), A Journey Through The Past (Sonnentanz-Verlag, Germany), Magic Carpet Ride with John Kay on heavy rock pioneers Steppenwolf, and American Woman, charting the career of North American pop hitmakers The Guess Who (both for Quarry Press-Canada, distributed by InBook-USA). An acknowledged expert on Neil Young and the Buffalo Springfield, he has consulted on several related books and is one of only a handful of writers to interview the reclusive Young in depth on his early career. John has written for both radio and television and hosted his own series on Canadian rock music history for CBC. In addition, he has published over seventy articles in such noted music magazines as Goldmine, Record Collector, Mojo, and Rock Express.