Easy Rider (soundtrack)

Easy Rider is the soundtrack to the cult classic 1969 film Easy Rider. The songs that make up the soundtrack were carefully selected to form a "musical commentary" within the film.[1] The album of the soundtrack was released by ABC-Dunhill Records in August 1969 (catalog no. DSX 50063).[2] It peaked at #6 on the Billboard album charts in September of that year,[3] and was certified gold in January 1970.[1]

Easy Rider (soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
ReleasedAugust 1969
GenreSoundtrack, psychedelic rock, acid rock, folk rock, country rock, hard rock
Length37:38
LabelDunhill Records
Reprise Records
ProducerVarious artists
Singles from Easy Rider (soundtrack)
  1. "Ballad of Easy Rider"
    Released: August 1969

Description

The songs on the soundtrack album are sequenced in the same order as they appear in the film, with the following differences:

  • "The Weight", as originally recorded by The Band for their 1968 debut album Music From Big Pink, was used in the film but could not be licensed for the soundtrack. To deal with this, ABC-Dunhill commissioned Smith, who recorded for the label at the time, to record a cover version of the song for the soundtrack album.[4][5]
  • Two songs used in the film, Little Eva's "Let's Turkey Trot" and The Electric Flag's "Flash, Bam, Pow", were omitted from the soundtrack album.[6][7]

Distribution of the album transferred from the ABC-Dunhill label to Warner Bros. Records' Reprise Records subsidiary (catalog no. MS 2026) in late 1969.[8] Easy Rider subsequently went out of print, but was reissued in June 2000 by the Universal Music Group's MCA Records label, which had acquired the ABC and Dunhill labels in 1979.[5][9]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link

Track listing

Most of the tracks on the Easy Rider soundtrack were previously released on other albums by their respective artists.

On LP, cassette and reel-to-reel releases of Easy Rider, tracks 1-5 appeared as side 1, and tracks 6-10 as side 2.

  1. "The Pusher" (Hoyt Axton) – 5:49
  2. "Born to Be Wild" (Mars Bonfire) – 3:37
    • Steppenwolf - Steppenwolf (1968)
  3. "The Weight" (Jaime Robbie Robertson) – 4:29
  4. "Wasn't Born to Follow" (Carole King/Gerry Goffin) – 2:03
  5. "If You Want to Be a Bird (Bird Song)" (Antonia Duren) – 2:35
  6. "Don't Bogart Me" (Elliot Ingber/Larry Wagner) – 3:05
  7. "If 6 Was 9" (Jimi Hendrix) – 5:35
  8. "Kyrie Eleison/Mardi Gras (When the Saints)" (Traditional, arranged by David Axelrod) – 4:00
  9. "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" (Bob Dylan) – 3:39
  10. "Ballad of Easy Rider" (Roger McGuinn/Bob Dylan) – 2:14
    • Roger McGuinn (1969)

2004 deluxe edition

Disc one

Remastered re-release of the original 1969 soundtrack.

Disc two - Something in the Air: 1967 - 1969
  1. "Pushin' Too Hard"
  2. "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)"
  3. "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet"
  4. "San Franciscan Nights"
    • Eric Burdon & The Animals - Winds of Change (1967)
  5. "White Rabbit"
  6. "I Can See for Miles"
  7. "A Whiter Shade of Pale"
  8. "Groovin'"
  9. "High Flyin' Bird"
  10. "The Weight"[10]
  11. "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere"
  12. "Time Has Come Today"
  13. "With a Little Help from My Friends"
  14. "Summertime Blues"
  15. "Nights in White Satin"
  16. "Mendocino"
  17. "Get Together"
  18. "My Uncle"
  19. "Something in the Air"

Notes
  1. Denisoff & Romanowski 1991, p. 169.
  2. Osborne 2002, p. 162.
  3. Both Sides Now Publications, Dunhill Album Discography, https://www.bsnpubs.com/abc/dunhill/dunhill.html. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  4. Kubernik 2006, p. 105.
  5. Ruhlmann, William, AllMusic review of Easy Rider (Music from the Soundtrack), https://www.allmusic.com/album/easy-rider-music-from-the-soundtrack-mw0000049299, Rovi Publications. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  6. "Let's Turkey Trot" and "Flash, Bam, Pow" are acknowledged in the film's closing credits.
  7. "Flash, Bam, Pow" was originally recorded by the Electric Flag for Roger Corman's 1967 film The Trip. Easy Rider stars Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper both appeared in The Trip, and co-star Jack Nicholson was the film's screenwriter.
  8. Both Sides Now Publications, Reprise Album Discography, Part 5: F/FS-2001 to MS-2199 (1961-1974), https://www.bsnpubs.com/warner/reprise/reprise2000.html. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  9. Refer to Wikipedia's web page on ABC Records for details on ABC's labels' acquisition by MCA.
  10. Kubernik, p. 105.

References
  • Denisoff, R. Serge; Romanowski, William D. (1991), Risky Business: Rock in Film (illustrated ed.), Transaction Publishers, p. 169, ISBN 9780887388439
  • Kubernik, Harvey (2006), Hollywood Shack Job: Rock Music in Films And on Your Screen, CounterCulture Series (illustrated ed.), UNM Press, p. 105, ISBN 9780826335425
  • Osborne, Jerry (2002), Movie/TV Soundtracks & Original Cast Albums Reference Book & Price Guide (4 ed.), Jerry Osborne Enterprises, p. 162, ISBN 9780932117373
  • Rovi staff (September 6, 2012), Easy Rider Soundtrack, AllMusicpage a Rovi Corporation website, retrieved September 6, 2012 External link in |publisher= (help)

Further reading
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.