(This post originally appeared on my other blog Strawberry Flats, which was dedicated to my love of roots music.)

The flip side of the country-rock revolution of the late’ 60s and early’ 70s was the progressive bluegrass movement. Interestingly enough, I don’t hear too many fans of the former (the Byrds, Gram Parsons, The Grateful Dead, The Band, etc.) talk about the latter. For example, friends of mine who dig The Gilded Palace of Sin and American Beauty have never heard early records from The Seldom Scene and J.D. Crowe (whose Ramblin Boy, a.k.a. Blackjack, album contains a killer version of the Burritos’ “Sin City”). There seems to be some kind of disconnect or divide rooted in the hippie/square culture wars. Most articles and books on Woodstock-era country rock are written from rock and roll’s point of view and thus treat the bluegrass scene as a minor character. This is strange considering it played a pivotal , if subtle role, in the shaping of country-rock. One of progressive bluegrass’ great groups, Muleskinner, straddled both genres: guitarist Clarence White played in the Byrds, Nashville West and the Kentucky Colonels; guitarist Peter Rowan played with Bill Monroe, Earth Opera, Seatrain and Old & In the Way; mandolin player David Grisman played with Earth Opera, Red Allen, Old & In the Way, the Even Dozen Jug Band (with a pre-Lovin’ Spoonful John Sebastian and Maria Muldaur), and Jerry Garcia/The Dead; fiddler Richard Greene played with Bill Monroe and Seatrain; and banjoist Bill Keith played with Bill Monroe and Jim Kweskin.

All this cross-pollination helped produce one of the all-time great bluegrass-rock & roll fusions: Muleskinner’s lone album for Warner Brothers, originally released in 1973. Apparently, this record slipped quietly into oblivion, but any fan of country-rock really must hear it. Here’s a taste of the great Muleskinner.