) who became the frontman for the Stone Canyon Band; Michael Nesmith who formed the First National Band after his departure from the Monkees; and Neil Young who moved in and out of the genre throughout his career. One of the few acts to successfully move from the country side towards rock were the bluegrass band The Dillards. The greatest commercial success for country rock came in the 1970s, with the Doobie Brothers mixing in elements of R&B, Emmylou Harris (a former backing singer for Parsons) becoming the "Queen of country-rock", and Linda Ronstadt creating a highly successful pop-orientated brand of the genre. Members of Ronstadt's former backing band went on to form the Eagles (made up of members of the Burritos, Poco, and Stone Canyon Band), and emerged as one of the most successful rock acts of all time, producing albums that included Desperado (1973) and Hotel California (1976). Country rock began to fade in the late 1970s in the face of punk and new wave trends. Southern rock Although the Southern states had been, as much as anywhere, the birthplace of rock and roll, after the decline of rockabilly in the late 1950s, it was not until the early 1970s that a distinctive regional style of rock music emerged. (This was despite some successful bands from the region, a major contribution to the evolution of soul music in the Stax-Volt records company and the existence of the Muscle Shoals and FAME Studios). The founders of Southern rock are usually thought to be the Allman Brothers Band, who developed a distinctive sound, largely derived from blues rock, but incorporating elements of boogie, soul, and country; combining hard rock instrumentation and rhythms with accented vocals and Duane Allman's slide guitar. Of the acts that followed the Allmans into the emerging genre, the most successful was Lynyrd Skynyrd, who with songs like "Free Bird" (1973) and "Sweet Home Alabama" (1974) helped establish the "Good ol' boy" image of the subgenre and the general shape of 1970s guitar rock. They were followed by many other bands, including the Atlanta Rhythm Section, ZZ Top, Black Oak Arkansas, the more country-influenced The Marshall Tucker Band, and Wet Willie, Blackfoot, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Johnny Winter, and Edgar Winter Group. After the loss of original members of the Allmans and Lynyrd Skynyrd, the genre began to fade in popularity in the late 1970s, but was