Rock Goes Country: Country Honk

While Gram Parsons developed a friendship with The Rolling Stones and rekindled their interest in country music, their “countrified” version of “Honky Tonk Women” known as “Country Honk” was not directly influenced by Parson. From the 1969 album “Let it Bleed,” “Country Honk” was released several months after “Honky Tonk Woman” hit the number one spot in the UK and the UK.

As sources indicate, the original concept for “Honky Tonk Woman” was to be recorded in a country vein; however, the song evolved in the hit version we know today.  While Parsons didn’t directly influence “Country Honk,” he did recommend that Byron Berline play the fiddle part on the recording. “Country Honk” has slight lyrical differences from the better known “Honky Tonk Woman.”

Gram Parsons Version

In 1970, Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers recorded a version of “Honky Tonk Woman” that marries both the original and “Country Honk” versions of the song. The song was never released by the band, but appeared on the posthumous album “Sleepless Nights” in 1976.