Quote Originally Posted by MindGoneHaywire
The Stones didn't have much of a country aspect until what, Beggar's Banquet?
Well, there was "High And Dry" on Aftermath and you could possibly include "The Last Time" from even earlier. But it's like you said, these were just forays into the genre. Some were excellent too like The Byrds' "Mr. Spaceman" in 1966. I think Buffalo Springfield deserves a lot more credit than citing an ex-member founding Poco years later. Listen to their first single "Go And Say Goodbye" from 1966. Very country but also very folk & bluegrass, so it's not quite the pure-toned c&w of Parsons. It doesn't matter where anyone points, nothing deserves the credit for that early 70's country rock movement like Sweetheart Of The Rodeo. You can point to the International Submarine Band and make a good case for Parsons but Sweetheart had much bigger sales so, naturally, it was more influential.

Btw, I agree with 3-Lock that The Beatles' "What Goes On" was c&w but it obviously wasn't something they considered seriously enough to make a career out of. "Dr. Roberts" also has that country guitar picking in it.

Quote Originally Posted by MindGoneHaywire
Regardless, for the most part, the Byrds featured that guitar sound way more than the Beatles or the Beach Boys had, or anyone else for that matter. So, yes, it had been done, but it was more than just a re-invention of the wheel...
The irony is that their ringing 12-string Rick style was inspired by the Beatles who, I'm absolutely convinced, copped it from Buddy Holly and his double-tracked guitar on "Words Of Love". That's not really blues or folk, that's a country picking style and there's a bunch of it on Beatles For Sale. So, I guess the Byrds came full circle in a strange roundabout way.