Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man—The Byrds Live At The Fillmore West

The song Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man details a moderately unpleasant on-air exchange between Emery and Roger McGuinn, the lead singer of the 1960s rock group The Byrds, concerning their 1968 appearance at The Grand Ole Opry. In that performance, the Byrds attempted unsuccessfully to convince traditional country music fans that their developing country rock sound was a legitimate part of the tradition. They were met with jeers and catcalls, in what may be interpreted as a sign of the increasing animosity at the time between rural or working-class (mostly Southern) whites (represented by Opry attendees and Emery's listeners) and young devotees of the counterculture (represented by the Byrds, with their long hair and "hippie" attire). Years later, though, there would be some reconciliation and even convergence of the opposing lifestyles in the "Outlaw" movement, popularized by the likes of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings.

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Music