# In 1968, Gram Parsons invented country rock. Five years later, he offered a brutal review of the bands that followed in his footsteps

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/in-1968-gram-parsons-invented-country-rock-five-years-later-he-offered-a-brutal-review-of-the-bands-that-followed-in-his-footsteps/
- Published: 2026-11-08T19:30:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-08T20:37:36+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/gram-parsons-country-rock-brutal-review-bands-in-his-footsteps/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Parsons helped establish country rock with *Safe at Home* in 1968.
- By 1973, he criticised the Eagles’ softer take on the sound.
- He objected to country rock being simplified and watered down.

## Summary

Gram Parsons helped bring countercultural rock and traditional country together on the International Submarine Band’s 1968 album *Safe at Home*, an early landmark in country rock. The sound spread quickly, but by 1973 Parsons was criticising bands he felt had softened it, particularly the Eagles.

At a performance at Max’s Kansas City in New York, Parsons said he had never called his music country rock and dismissed the Eagles and others as “bubblegum”. He argued that their music made life seem too easy and reduced country’s depth to a narrow perspective. The article suggests his objection was to the sound being diluted, rather than to country music’s place in rock.

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