Long Ryders Announce First LP in 30 Years and Deluxe Reissues
Long before alt-country, Americana, Wilco and the Avett Brothers came on the scene, there were the Long Ryders. And now, after more than a 30-year absence from the recording studio, the band is returning with a new album set for release early next year.
Produced by Ed Stasium, Psychedelic Country Soul finds the Long Ryders as vibrant and valid as ever. Jangling 12-string and driving acoustic guitars, along with sweet and earthy harmonies, figure into the first Ryders LP since 1987's Two Fisted Tales.
Psychedelic Country Soul -- which comes out on Feb. 15 -- is “the album we were always trying to make," singer and guitarist Sid Griffin said in a press release. "Each flavor which made the band unique is there be it C&W, rock ’n’ roll, troubadour folk music, raw R&B or out-there psychedelia.”
Unlike other artists who have followed the Americana path over the years, the Long Ryders incorporate all of their diverse influences into a sound that's as contemporary as it is nostalgic. Even though they've performed the occasional reunion show over the years, this is the band's first venture back into the recording studio in more than three decades.
“For years, for decades, the band’s dear friend Larry Chatman said he would never forget Sid and company for hiring him for tour after tour in the '80s," Griffin recalled. "'I’ll pay you guys back one day' was Larry’s mantra. Fast forward to 2016, and I got a call from Larry, who is now Dr. Dre’s personal assistant. Larry made the Long Ryders an offer they could not refuse: a week in Dr. Dre’s state-of-the-art studio in Los Angeles.”
The album was recorded in eight days, then mixed at Stasium’s home studio. Fellow Paisley Underground cohorts the Bangles stopped by to add harmonies to some of the songs. The album includes 12 new tracks, including a cover of Tom Petty's "Walls."
In addition to the new album, two of the Long Ryders' LPs from the '80s are getting the deluxe-reissue treatment. State of Our Union (from 1985) and Two Fisted Tales will be issued as three-disc sets featuring the original album remastered, plus discs of B-sides, demos, outtakes and live cuts. The reissues come out on Nov. 30.
You can see the track listings for all of the albums below.
The Long Ryders, 'Psychedelic Country Soul' Track Listing
1. Greenville
2. Let It Fly
3. Molly Somebody
4. All Aboard
5. Make It Real
6. If You Want To See Me Cry
7. What The Eagle Sees
8. California State Line
9. The Sound
10. Walls
11. Bells Of August
12. Psychedelic Country Soul
The Long Ryders, 'State of Our Union: Deluxe' Track Listing
Disc One:
1. Looking For Lewis And Clark
2. Lights Of Downtown
3. Wdia
4. Mason-Dixon Line
5. Here Comes That Train Again
6. Years Long Ago
7. Good Times Tomorrow, Hard Times Today
8. Two Kinds Of Love
9. You Just Can’t Ride The Boxcars Anymore
10. Capturing The Flag
11. State Of My Union
12. If I Were A Bramble And You Were A Rose (B-Side)
13. Southside Of The Story (B- Side)
14. Child Bride (B-Side)
15. Christmas In New Zealand (Spinning Wighats Session
Disc Two:
Demos / Control Center
1. Good Times Tomorrow, Hard Times Today
2. Mason Dixon Line
3. South Side Of The Story
4. State Of My Union
5. Lights Of Downtown
6. Child Bride
7. Looking For Lewis And Clark
8. Two Kinds Of Love
9. Wdia
10.Here Comes That Train Again
11.You Just Can’t Ride The Boxcars Anymore
12.Years Long Ago (Demo)
Disc Three:
Live at the Mean Fiddler
1. Tell It To The Judge On Sunday
2. Still Get By
3. You Just Can’t Ride The Boxcars Anymore
4. Good Times Tomorrow
5. Wreck Of The 809
6. Lights Of Downtown
7. Run Dusty Run
8. Years Long Ago
9. Capturing The Flag
10. I Had A Dream
11. Final Wild Son
12. Baby We All Gotta Go Down
13. State Of My Union
14. Sweet Mental Revenge
15. Looking For Lewis & Clark
16. Send Me A Postcard
17. Highway 61 Revisited
18. Encore From Hell
19. 10-5-60
The Long Ryders, 'Two Fisted Tales : Deluxe' Track Listing
Disc One:
1. Gunslinger Man
2. I Want You Bad
3. A Stitch In Time
4. The Light Gets In The Way
5. Prairie Fire
6. Baby’s In Toyland
7. Long Story Short
8. Man Of Misery
9. Harriet Tubman’s Gonna Carry Me Home
10. For The Rest Of My Days
11. Spectacular Fall
Bonus Tracks
12. Ring Bells
13. 17 Ways
14. Blues Theme
Disc Two:
Control Center – L.A.
1. Prairie Fire
2. He’s Got Himself A Young Girl
3. Baby’s In Toyland
4. Man Of Misery
5. Flak Jacket
6. Harriet Tubman’s Gonna Carry Me Home
7. 17 Ways Score One, Burbank
8. Gunslinger Man
9. How Do We Feel What’s Real?
10. Basic Black
11. Light Gets In The Way
12. A Stitch In Time
13. Long Story Short
14. He Can Hear His Brother Calling
15. The Upper Hand
16. Pushin’ Uphill
17. Ring Bells
18. Sad Sad Songs
19. For The Rest Of My Days
20. Spectacular Fall
Disc Three:
Oasis Water Park, Palm Springs, Calif.
1. Gunslinger Man
2. Man Of Misery
3. Prairie Fire
4. Lights Of Downtown
5. A Stitch In Time
6. State Of My Union
7. Baby’s In Toyland
8. Harriet Tubman’s Gonna Carry Me Home
9. The Light Gets In The Way
10. Long Story Short
11.Capturing The Flag
12.I Had A Dream
13.Spectacular Fall