''Ballad of Easy Rider'' is the eighth

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

the Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

and was released in November 1969 on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. The album was named after the song "

Ballad of Easy Rider "Ballad of Easy Rider" is a song written by Roger McGuinn, with input from Bob Dylan (although Dylan is not credited as a co-writer), for the 1969 film, ''Easy Rider''. The song was initially released in August 1969 on the ''Easy Rider'' soundt ...

", which had been written by the Byrds'

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

and singer,

Roger McGuinn James Roger McGuinn (born James Joseph McGuinn III; July 13, 1942) is an American musician. He is best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with the Byrds. As a ...

(with help from

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

), as the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

for the 1969 film, ''

Easy Rider ''Easy Rider'' is a 1969 American independent drug culture road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American So ...

''. The title was also chosen in an attempt to capitalize on the commercial success of the film, although the majority of the music on the album had no connection with it. Nonetheless, the association with ''Easy Rider'' heightened the Byrds' public profile and resulted in ''Ballad of Easy Rider'' becoming the band's highest charting album for two years in the U.S. The album peaked at number 36 on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs chart and number 41 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. The title track was released as a preceding

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in October 1969, achieving moderate success on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. A second single taken from the album, " Jesus Is Just Alright", was released in December 1969, but only managed to reach number 97 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The album was the second to be recorded by the Roger McGuinn,

Clarence White Clarence White (born Clarence Joseph LeBlanc; June 7, 1944 – July 15, 1973) was an American bluegrass and country guitarist and singer. He is best known as a member of the bluegrass ensemble the Kentucky Colonels and the rock band the Byrds, ...

Gene Parsons Gene Victor Parsons (born September 4, 1944, in Morongo Valley, California) is an American drummer, banjo player, guitarist, singer-songwriter, and engineer, best known for his work with the Byrds from 1968 to 1972. Parsons has also released so ...

, and

John York John C. York (born April 18, 1949) is a retired American cancer research pathologist, married to Marie Denise DeBartolo York, and former co-owner and current co-chairman of the San Francisco 49ers. Upon release, ''Ballad of Easy Rider'' was met with mixed reviews, but is today regarded as one of the band's stronger albums from the latter half of their career.

Background and ''Easy Rider'' film

Recording sessions The term studio recording means any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance. Studio cast recordings In the case of Broadway musi ...

for ''Ballad of Easy Rider'' were produced by

Terry Melcher Terrence Paul Melcher (born Terrence Paul Jorden; February 8, 1942 – November 19, 2004) was an American record producer, singer, and songwriter who was instrumental in shaping the mid-to-late 1960s California Sound and folk rock movements. His ...

, who had also worked as the Byrds' producer during 1965, on their ''

Mr. Tambourine Man "Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song written by Bob Dylan, released as the first track of the acoustic side of his March 1965 album '' Bringing It All Back Home''. The song's popularity led to Dylan recording it live many times, and it has been includ ...

'' and ''

Turn! Turn! Turn! "Turn! Turn! Turn!", or "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)", is a song written by Pete Seeger in the late 1950s and first recorded in 1959. The lyrics – except for the title, which is repeated throughout the song, and the fin ...

'' albums. The band decided to work with Melcher again as a result of their dissatisfaction with

Bob Johnston Donald William 'Bob' Johnston (May 14, 1932 – August 14, 2015) was an American record producer, best known for his work with Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, and Simon & Garfunkel. Early days Johnston was born into a professional mus ...

's production on their previous album, '' Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde'', and on their recent single, "

Lay Lady Lay "Lay Lady Lay", sometimes rendered "Lay, Lady, Lay", is a song written by Bob Dylan and originally released in 1969 on his ''Nashville Skyline'' album. Like many of the tracks on the album, Dylan sings the song in a low croon, rather than in the ...

". Melcher was happy to accept the band's invitation to produce the album, but his one stipulation was that he would also take on

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

duties for the Byrds, not wishing for a repeat of the conflict he had experienced with Jim Dickson, the group's original manager, in 1965. Melcher's return to the producer's chair began an association with the band that would last until ''

Byrdmaniax ''Byrdmaniax'' is the tenth album by the American Rock music, rock band the Byrds. It was released in June 1971 on Columbia Records at a time of renewed commercial and critical success for the band, due to the positive reception that their two pre ...

'' in 1971, much longer than his first tenure as the Byrds' producer. In early 1969, the

script writer A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. T ...

and

leading actor A leading actor, leading actress, or simply lead (), plays the role of the protagonist of a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person who typica ...

of ''

'',

Peter Fonda Peter Henry Fonda (February 23, 1940 – August 16, 2019) was an American actor. He was the son of Henry Fonda, younger brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget Fonda. He was a prominent figure in the counterculture of the 1960s. Fond ...

, asked Bob Dylan to compose a theme song for the film. Dylan declined, but as a consolation he offered the lines, "The river flows, it flows to the sea/Wherever that river goes, that's where I want to be/Flow, river, flow"—which he hurriedly scribbled onto a napkin, telling Fonda to "give that to McGuinn." The fragment was dutifully passed on to Roger McGuinn, the Byrds' lead guitarist, who added his own

lyrical Lyrical may refer to: *Lyrics, or words in songs *Lyrical dance, a style of dancing *Emotional, expressing strong feelings *Lyric poetry, poetry that expresses a subjective, personal point of view *Lyric video A music video is a video of variab ...

and musical contributions to complete the song, which he titled "Ballad of Easy Rider". After seeing a private screening of ''Easy Rider'' and realizing that he had been named as co-writer of the film's theme song, Dylan demanded that his writing credit be removed, leading McGuinn to theorize in later years that Dylan had disliked the film's ending and anti-hero motif. In 2000, McGuinn recounted to Jud Cost the story of how Dylan disowned credit for the song: "I got a call from Dylan at three o'clock in the morning going 'What's this? I don't want this credit. Take it off.'" Another possible reason for Dylan insisting that his name be removed from the song's credits may have been a suspicion that his name was being exploited to boost the film's credibility. Two versions of the song "Ballad of Easy Rider" were released. The first was the version included on the ''Easy Rider'' soundtrack album, which was listed as a solo performance by McGuinn, although it also featured fellow Byrd Gene Parsons on

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

. The second was the recording by the Byrds, which was included on the ''Ballad of Easy Rider'' album and released as a single. The version of the song found on the soundtrack album and used in the film is a completely different recording to the one released by the Byrds. As recording sessions for the ''Ballad of Easy Rider'' album continued throughout July and August 1969, public interest in the band mounted as a result of their involvement with the ''Easy Rider'' film. This prompted McGuinn to announce that the title of the Byrds' forthcoming album would be ''Captain America'' (the name of Fonda's character in ''Easy Rider''). Ultimately, this

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

would not be used and the album was instead named after the film's theme song in an attempt to emphasize the connection with ''Easy Rider''. Following completion of the album, the Byrds'

bass player A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low bra ...

, John York, was asked to leave the band in September 1969. York had become increasingly disenchanted with his position in the Byrds, and had been vocal about his reluctance to perform material that had been written and recorded before he had joined the band, believing it was spurious of him to do so. The rest of the Byrds had begun to doubt York's commitment and so a consensus was reached among the other three members that York should be fired. He was replaced, at the suggestion of

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

Gene Parsons and

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

ist Clarence White, by

Skip Battin Clyde "Skip" Battin (February 18, 1934 – July 6, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter, bassist, performer, and recording artist. He was a member of the Byrds, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Εarly life C ...

, a freelance

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

and one-time member of the duo

Skip & Flip Skip & Flip was a U.S. pop duo, consisting of Skip ( Clyde Battin) and Flip ( Gary S. Paxton). They met while attending the University of Arizona in the late 1950s. Career Once known as The Rockabillies, they recorded on Rev Records as The Pled ...

Music

The album opens with the McGuinn and Dylan penned title track, which is performed at a substantially quicker

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

than McGuinn's solo version from the ''Easy Rider'' soundtrack. The Byrds' version of the song also features the addition of an

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

, which had been added by Melcher in an attempt to emulate the then-recent

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

s "

Gentle on My Mind "Gentle on My Mind" is a song that was written and originally recorded by John Hartford, and released on his second studio album, '' Earthwords & Music'' (1967). Hartford composed the song after watching ''Doctor Zhivago'' in 1966, as he was i ...

" by

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodt ...

and "

Everybody's Talkin' "Everybody's Talkin (Echoes)" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Fred Neil in 1966 and released two years later. A version of the song performed by American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson became a hit in 1969, reachin ...

" by

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal ove ...

. "Ballad of Easy Rider" was McGuinn's only

songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

contribution to the ''Ballad of Easy Rider'' album, due to his being preoccupied with composing music for a

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

adaptation of

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

's ''

Peer Gynt ''Peer Gynt'' (, ) is a five- act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen published in 1876. Written in Norwegian, it is one of the most widely performed Norwegian plays. Ibsen believed ''Per Gynt'', the Norwegian fairy tale on wh ...

'', which was anagrammatically re-titled as ''Gene Tryp''. The remaining ten tracks on ''Ballad of Easy Rider'' mostly consisted of

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s and interpretations of

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

material. Among these non-original songs was a cover of Dylan's "

It's All Over Now, Baby Blue "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan and featured on his ''Bringing It All Back Home'' album, released on March 22, 1965, by Columbia Records. The song was recorded on January 15, 1965, with Dylan's acoustic ...

", which the band had attempted to record twice before in June and August 1965, during the sessions for their second album, ''Turn! Turn! Turn!''. These earlier recordings had gone unreleased at the time and McGuinn decided to revisit the composition in 1969, slowing down the

and radically altering the arrangement to fashion a more somber and serious version than those recorded in 1965. The Byrds' 1969 rendition of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" was released as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of the "Jesus Is Just Alright" single. Other covers on the album included

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...

's "

Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)" is a protest song with lyrics by Woody Guthrie and music by Martin Hoffman detailing the January 28, 1948 crash of a plane near Los Gatos Canyon, west of Coalinga in Fresno County, California, United Stat ...

", a poignant account of a plane crash involving

migrant farm workers A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outsi ...

; the

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

-styled "Jesus Is Just Alright", which went on to influence

The Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

' hit recording of the song; and

Pamela Polland Pamela Anna Polland (born August 15, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter who made three albums for Epic and Columbia Records in the 1960s and 1970s and whose songs have been recorded by a number of popular artists. In the 1980s, she re-eme ...

's "Tulsa County Blue", which would become a moderate

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

hit for

Anita Carter Ina Anita Carter (March 31, 1933 – July 29, 1999) was an American singer who played upright bass, guitar, and autoharp. She performed with her sisters, Helen and June, and her mother, Maybelle, initially under the name The Carter Sisters an ...

in 1971. Although "Tulsa County Blue" had been brought to the album sessions by John York and had also been sung by him in

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

, the album version features McGuinn on

lead vocal The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

s. An

outtake An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DV ...

recording of "Tulsa County Blue" with York singing was finally released as a

bonus track An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

on the 1997

Columbia/Legacy Legacy Recordings is an American record label that is a division of Sony Music. Formed in 1990 after Sony's acquisition of CBS Records, Legacy originally handled the archives of Sony Music-owned labels Columbia Records and Epic Records. In ...

reissue of ''Ballad of Easy Rider''. Another cover included on the album was "There Must Be Someone (I Can Turn To)", a song principally written by country singer

Vern Gosdin Vernon Gosdin (August 5, 1934 – April 28, 2009) was an American country music singer. He had 19 top-10 solo hits on the country music charts from 1977 through 1990. Three of these hits went to Number One: " I Can Tell By the Way You Dance (You ...

, after he returned home one evening to find that his wife had left him and taken their children with her. The final track on the album was a meditation on the July 20, 1969

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...

Moon landing A Moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2, on 13 September 1959. The United St ...

, titled "Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins", which continued the tradition of ending Byrds' albums on a quirky, tongue-in-cheek note. The Byrds also recorded a number of traditional songs for the album: the

sea shanty A sea shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional Folk music, folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large Merchant vessel, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessels. The term ''shanty ...

"Jack Tarr the Sailor", which McGuinn sang in an approximation of an English accent; a

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

-laden

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

of the

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

Oil in My Lamp "Oil in My Lamp", also known as "Give Me Oil in My Lamp" and "Sing Hosanna", is a traditional Christian hymn based on the Parable of the Ten Virgins. The song has been recorded many times and was a hit in Jamaica in 1964 for Eric "Monty" Morris, ...

"; a rendition of "Way Beyond the Sun", which had been inspired by the song's appearance on the debut album by Pentangle; and a

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

dominated version of "Fiddler a Dram". Ultimately, "Way Beyond the Sun" and "Fiddler a Dram" would not be included in the album's final track listing and would remain unreleased until the former appeared on ''

The Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

in 1990, and the latter was included on the 1997 reissue of ''Ballad of Easy Rider''. The album also featured the John York composition "Fido", a song written about a stray dog that the bass player had encountered in a

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

room while on tour. The inclusion of the song made ''Ballad of Easy Rider'' the second Byrds' album in a row to feature a paean to a canine companion (the first being ''Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde'', which had included the song "Old Blue"). A third song about a dog, "Bugler", would appear on the band's 1971 album, '' Farther Along''. "Fido" is notable for featuring a

drum solo A drum solo is an instrumental solo played on a drum kit. A drum solo may be set or improvised, and of any length, up to being the main performance. In rock, drum solos are unique in that traditionally they are minimally or never accompanied, wher ...

, the only example of such a solo on any of the Byrds' studio albums. Drummer Gene Parsons also contributed the song "Gunga Din", which related the story of two separate incidents: the first being the Byrds' appearance at a

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

where

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

had been billed to perform but had failed to appear; and the second involving John York and his mother being refused admittance to a restaurant, due to York wearing a leather jacket.

Release and reception

''Ballad of Easy Rider'' was released on November 10, 1969 in the United States (catalogue item CS 9942) and January 16, 1970 in the United Kingdom (catalogue item S 63795). The album is notable for being the first Byrds' album to be commercially issued exclusively in

stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

in both the U.S. and the UK, although there is some evidence to suggest that

mono Mono may refer to: Common meanings * Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease" * Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono * Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single Music Performers * Mono (Japanese b ...

promo copies of the album were distributed in the United Kingdom. To emphasize the connection between the album and ''Easy Rider'', the back cover of the LP featured

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

written by Fonda. His musings were written in a free-form,

stream of consciousness In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. The term was coined by Daniel Oliver (physician), Daniel Ol ...

style and optimistically opined (in a manner reminiscent of the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

of "Jesus Is Just Alright") that "whoever the Byrds are is just alright. OH YEAH!" The album peaked at number 36 on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs chart, during a chart stay of seventeen weeks, which was a substantial improvement over its predecessor, ''Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde''. The reverse was true in the United Kingdom, however, where the album reached number 41 on the

, while ''Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde'' had reached number 15. The "Ballad of Easy Rider" single was released ahead of the album on October 1, 1969 (b/w "Oil in My Lamp") and reached number 65 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Although this single was issued in most international territories, it was not released in the United Kingdom. A second single taken from the album, "Jesus Is Just Alright", was released on December 15, 1969 and reached number 97 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, but failed to chart in the UK. Upon release, the ''Ballad of Easy Rider'' album somewhat revived the Byrds' commercial fortunes, giving them their first U.S. Top 40 album since ''

Younger Than Yesterday ''Younger Than Yesterday'' is the fourth studio album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released on February 6, 1967 on Columbia Records. It saw the band continuing to integrate elements of psychedelia and jazz into their music, a proce ...

'' in 1967. This renewed success was, in part, due to the band's public profile having been increased as a result of their involvement with ''Easy Rider'' and the inclusion of three Byrds-related songs on the film's soundtrack album. Columbia Records was eager to capitalize on this newfound popularity and launched an advertising campaign for the ''Ballad of Easy Rider'' album, proclaiming "The movie gave you the facts, the Ballad interprets them." However, as Byrds expert Tim Conners has stated on his website, with the exception of the title track, none of the songs on the album had much to do with the film. In fact, the Byrds' biographer

Johnny Rogan John Rogan (14 February 1953 – 21 January 2021) was a British author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He wrote influential biographies of the Byrds, Neil Young, the Smiths, Van Morrison and Ray Davies. ...

has remarked that the album cover's sepia-toned photograph of Lemuel Parsons (Gene Parsons' father) sitting astride an archaic 1928

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...

could almost be seen as a parody of the film's biker ethos. The album was met with mixed reviews at the time of its release, with Ed Leimbacher, in the December 1969 issue of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine, criticizing the music on the album as "only intermittently successful" and concluding that "the Byrds are still on the wing, but seem a little woozy and wobbly." Todd Selbert, writing in ''Jazz & Pop'' magazine, was more positive, describing the album as "Pretty good Byrds—their best effort since the stunning ''

The Notorious Byrd Brothers ''The Notorious Byrd Brothers'' is the fifth album by the American rock band the Byrds, and was released in January 1968, on Columbia Records. The album represents the pinnacle of the Byrds' late-‘60s musical experimentation, with the band blen ...

''." In more recent years, music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

has dismissed ''Ballad of Easy Rider'' as "the poorest Byrds album", but also admitted that the album "improves with listening." Mark Deming's review for the

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

website was more positive: "''Ballad of Easy Rider'' sounds confident and committed where ''Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde'' often seemed tentative. The band sounds tight, self-assured, and fully in touch with the music's emotional palette, and Clarence White's guitar work is truly a pleasure to hear." ''Ballad of Easy Rider'' was remastered at 20-

bit The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communications. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represente ...

resolution as part of the

Byrds series. It was reissued in an expanded form on March 25, 1997 with seven bonus tracks, including the outtakes, "Way Beyond the Sun", "Fiddler a Dram (Moog Experiment)", a rendition of "Tulsa County Blue" with John York singing lead vocals and "Mae Jean Goes to Hollywood"; written by the then little-known

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...

Track listing

Side one

" (

) – 2:01 #*NOTE: Bob Dylan is not officially credited as a songwriter on "Ballad of Easy Rider". #"Fido" (

John York John C. York (born April 18, 1949) is a retired American cancer research pathologist, married to Marie Denise DeBartolo York, and former co-owner and current co-chairman of the San Francisco 49ers.Oil in My Lamp "Oil in My Lamp", also known as "Give Me Oil in My Lamp" and "Sing Hosanna", is a traditional Christian hymn based on the Parable of the Ten Virgins. The song has been recorded many times and was a hit in Jamaica in 1964 for Eric "Monty" Morris, ...

" (

, arranged

) – 3:13 #"Tulsa County Blue" ka "Tulsa County"(

) – 2:49 #" Jack Tarr the Sailor" (traditional, arranged Roger McGuinn) – 3:31

Side two

#" Jesus Is Just Alright" (Arthur Reid Reynolds) – 2:10 #"

" (Bob Dylan) – 4:53 #"There Must Be Someone" (

, Cathy Gosdin, Rex Gosdin) – 3:29 #"Gunga Din" (Gene Parsons) – 3:03 #"

" (

, Martin Hoffman) – 3:50 #"Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins" ( Zeke Manners, Scott Seely) – 1:41

1997 reissue bonus tracks

"Way Beyond the Sun" (traditional, arranged Roger McGuinn) – 2:57

#"Mae Jean Goes to Hollywood" (

) – 2:44 #"Oil in My Lamp" lternate Version(traditional, arranged Gene Parsons, Clarence White) – 2:02 #"Tulsa County Blue" lternate Version(Pamela Polland) – 3:39 #"Fiddler a Dram (Moog Experiment)" (traditional, arranged Roger McGuinn) – 3:10 #"Ballad of Easy Rider"

ong Version Ong or ONG may refer to: Arts and media * Ong's Hat, a collaborative work of fiction * “Ong Ong”, a song by Blur from the album The Magic Whip Places * Ong, Nebraska, US, city * Ong's Hat, New Jersey, US, ghost town * Ong River, Odisha, India ...

(Roger McGuinn, Bob Dylan) – 2:26 #"Build It Up" nstrumental(Clarence White, Gene Parsons) – 5:34 #*NOTE: this song ends at 2:35; at 3:35 begins "Radio Spot: Ballad of Easy Rider Album #1", which ends at 4:30; at 4:38 begins "Radio Spot: Ballad of Easy Rider Album #2".

Personnel

Sources: The Byrds *

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

(plus

and

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

on "Fiddler a Dram (Moog Experiment)") *

–

, vocals *

John York John C. York (born April 18, 1949) is a retired American cancer research pathologist, married to Marie Denise DeBartolo York, and former co-owner and current co-chairman of the San Francisco 49ers.electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck The ...

, vocals *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, guitar, banjo, vocals Additional personnel *

Byron Berline Byron Douglas Berline (July 6, 1944 – July 10, 2021) was an American fiddle player who played many American music styles, including old time, ragtime, bluegrass, Cajun, country, and rock. Life and career Berline was born in Caldwell, Kansas ...

–

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

on "Tulsa County Blue" (and on "Mae Jean Goes to Hollywood") *

Glen D. Hardin Glen Dee Hardin (born April 18, 1939) is an American piano player and arranger. He has performed and recorded with such artists as Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Emmylou Harris, John Denver, and Ricky Nelson. Career Hardin was born in Welling ...

–

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

on "Gunga Din" *

–

backing vocal A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

on "

" * string section on "

Ballad Of Easy Rider "Ballad of Easy Rider" is a song written by Roger McGuinn, with input from Bob Dylan (although Dylan is not credited as a co-writer), for the 1969 film, ''Easy Rider''. The song was initially released in August 1969 on the ''Easy Rider'' soundt ...

" and " Jesus Is Just Alright"

Release history

References

Bibliography

*Rogan, Johnny, ''The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited'', Rogan House, 1998, *Hjort, Christopher, ''So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day (1965-1973)'', Jawbone Press, 2008, . {{Authority control 1969 albums The Byrds albums Albums produced by Terry Melcher Columbia Records albums CBS Records albums Embassy Records albums