Country rock arose from the conviction that the wellspring of rock and roll was the work of 1950s and ’60s regionalists such as Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and George Jones, as well as, to some extent, that of the Carter Family and Flatt and Scruggs and other artists who had blossomed in local folk and bluegrass scenes before the establishment of the Nashville recording industry.

Country influences can be heard on rock records through the 1960s, including the Beatles ' 1964 recordings "I'll Cry Instead", "Baby's in Black", "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party", and their 1965 recording "I've Just Seen A Face", the Byrds' 1965 cover version of Porter Wagoner 's "Satisfied Mind", or the Rolling Stones "High and Dry" (1966), as well as Buffalo Springfield 's "Go and Say Goodbye" (1966) and "Kind Woman" (1968).