- Pusher - Hoyt Axton - Steppenwolf
- Born to Be Wild - Mars Bonfire - Steppenwolf
- Weight - Robbie Robertson - Smith
- Wasn't Born to Follow - Byrds - Gerry Goffin - Carole King
- If You Want to Be a Bird - Antonia Duren - Holy Modal Rounders
- Don't Bogart Me - Fraternity of Man - Elliot Ingber
- If 6 Was 9 - Jimi Hendrix - Hendrix
- Kyrie Eleison/Mardi Gras (When the Saints) - David Axelrod - Electric Prunes
- It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) - Bob Dylan - Roger McGuinn
- Ballad of Easy Rider - Roger McGuinn
5
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0008811915322
Jefferson Airplane Primary Artist
The Band Primary Artist
Smith Primary Artist
The Chambers Brothers Primary Artist
Blue Cheer Primary Artist
The Holy Modal Rounders Primary Artist
The Jimi Hendrix Experience Primary Artist
The Electric Prunes Primary Artist
Joe Cocker Primary Artist
The Sir Douglas Quintet Primary Artist
Richie Havens Primary Artist
Procol Harum Primary Artist
The Moody Blues Primary Artist
The Seeds Primary Artist
The Who Primary Artist
Thunderclap Newman Primary Artist
The Byrds Primary Artist
The Youngbloods Primary Artist
The Animals Primary Artist
Blues Magoos Primary Artist
Eric Burdon Primary Artist
Fraternity of Man Primary Artist
The Flying Burrito Brothers Primary Artist
Eric Burdon & the Animals Primary Artist
Roger McGuinn Primary Artist
Steppenwolf Primary Artist
London Festival Orchestra Ensemble
Peter Knight Conductor
Willie Chambers Composer
Gram Parsons Composer
Ralph Scala Composer
Elliot Ingber Composer
Nancie Mantz Composer
Jim Phillips Mastering
Meire Murakami Reissue Design
Michael Diehl Reissue Design
Tom Gundelfinger Photography
L. Wagner Composer
Beth Stempel Production Coordination
Steppenwolf Performer
Paul McCartney Composer
Steve Barri Producer
The Band Performer
The Holy Modal Rounders Performer
Bob Dylan Composer
Keith Reid Composer
The Jimi Hendrix Experience Performer
Chester Powers Composer
Chris Hillman Composer
Joe Chambers Composer
The Electric Prunes Performer
Barry Jenkins Composer
Eric Burdon Composer
Vic Briggs Composer
Annette Tucker Composer
Steve Blauner Producer,Interviewer
John Keen Composer
Ronald Gilbert Composer
Chet Powers Composer
Antonia Duren Composer
Lawrence Wagner Composer
Johnnie Weider Composer
Emil Theilhelm Composer
John "Speedy" Keen Composer
Hoyt Axton Composer
Jerry Capehart Composer
Jimi Hendrix Composer
Michael Esposito Composer
Mike Ragogna Liner Notes,Reissue Producer
Justin Hayward Composer
The Byrds Performer
David Axelrod Composer
Gerry Goffin Composer
Danny McCulloch Composer
Gary Brooker Composer
Sky Saxon Composer
Eddie Brigati Composer
Felix Cavaliere Composer
Fraternity of Man Performer
Carole King Composer
John Keene Composer
Grace Slick Composer
Doug Sahm Composer
Victor Briggs Composer
John Weider Composer
John Lennon Composer
Dennis Hopper Interviewer
Joseph Chambers Composer
Robbie Robertson Composer
Billy Edd Wheeler Composer
Mars Bonfire Composer
Eddie Cochran Composer
Roger McGuinn Composer,Performer
Vartan Reissue Art Director
Pete Townshend Composer
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Overview
Easy Rider was the surprise box-office hit of the summer of 1969, a low-budget film about a couple of hippies who use their profits from a drug deal to drive their motorcycles across the Southwest and attend New Orleans' Mardi Gras celebrations, encountering adventures and tragedy along the way. It turned out to be a telling portrait of America's cultural divide in the late '60s, and no small part of its impact was the soundtrack music, which eschewed a traditional score (the filmmakers couldn't have afforded that, anyway) in favor of rock music. Even then, director Dennis Hopper didn't have much special music written, instead mostly using songs he'd heard on the radio in 1968 while he was editing the film. (In the liner notes to the 2000 CD reissue, Hopper claims that he canceled a proposed Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young score when he became enamored with his own selections; other accounts claim the film studio insisted on the music used in the rough cut.)
So, the film's music consisted of such 1968 rock radio favorites as Steppenwolf's "The Pusher" and "Born to Be Wild," the Band's "The Weight," the Byrds' "Wasn't Born to Follow," and the Jimi Hendrix Experience's "If Six Was Nine," with such humorous changes of pace as the Holy Modal Rounders' cosmic folk song "If You Want to Be a Bird" and Fraternity of Man's marijuana-smoking behavior guide "Don't Bogart Me." Hopper had little trouble persuading various record labels to grant the screen rights to these songs at a time when re-used rock wasn't heard much in movies. Roger McGuinn, making his solo performing debut, contributed new recordings of Bob Dylan's "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" and his own specially written "Ballad of Easy Rider," actually co-written with Dylan, who was not credited.
When Easy Rider became a successful film upon release, a decision was made to release a soundtrack album, and most labels agreed to license their tracks to Dunhill/ABC. Only Capitol Records held out, so the Band's version of "The Weight" was replaced by a near-copy recorded by Dunhill act Smith. The soundtrack album also featured some dialogue and sound effects from the film. The result was a commercial bonanza: The album reached the Top Ten and went gold, becoming the second most successful soundtrack LP of the year, after the Nino Rota score to Romeo and Juliet. Just as the film transformed values in Hollywood, the soundtrack album helped give birth to a new business in which soundtrack albums became collections of various pop songs that sometimes out-grossed the films with which they were associated.
Its very success ironically doomed the availability of the Easy Rider soundtrack album, however. By the CD era, the various labels that controlled the songs were no longer happy to license their material, and the album went out of print, although a CD was issued overseas in 1993. Finally, on June 13, 2000, MCA managed to bring the Easy Rider soundtrack album back into print in the U.S. Thirty-one years later, it still sounded like a good thematic collection, reflecting the film's values of drug use and open-road freedom. Songs like "Born to Be Wild" and "The Weight" had long-since been enshrined as rock classics, and the lighter material continued to amuse, confirming Easy Rider as both a historical document and an entertaining listen, especially to those who knew the film. ~ William Ruhlmann
Product Details
Release Date: | 06/13/2000 |
---|---|
Label: | Geffen / Mca |
UPC: | 0008811915322 |
Rank: | 35626 |
Tracks
Album Credits
Performance Credits
The Young Rascals Primary ArtistJefferson Airplane Primary Artist
The Band Primary Artist
Smith Primary Artist
The Chambers Brothers Primary Artist
Blue Cheer Primary Artist
The Holy Modal Rounders Primary Artist
The Jimi Hendrix Experience Primary Artist
The Electric Prunes Primary Artist
Joe Cocker Primary Artist
The Sir Douglas Quintet Primary Artist
Richie Havens Primary Artist
Procol Harum Primary Artist
The Moody Blues Primary Artist
The Seeds Primary Artist
The Who Primary Artist
Thunderclap Newman Primary Artist
The Byrds Primary Artist
The Youngbloods Primary Artist
The Animals Primary Artist
Blues Magoos Primary Artist
Eric Burdon Primary Artist
Fraternity of Man Primary Artist
The Flying Burrito Brothers Primary Artist
Eric Burdon & the Animals Primary Artist
Roger McGuinn Primary Artist
Steppenwolf Primary Artist
London Festival Orchestra Ensemble
Peter Knight Conductor
Technical Credits
Matthew Fisher ComposerWillie Chambers Composer
Gram Parsons Composer
Ralph Scala Composer
Elliot Ingber Composer
Nancie Mantz Composer
Jim Phillips Mastering
Meire Murakami Reissue Design
Michael Diehl Reissue Design
Tom Gundelfinger Photography
L. Wagner Composer
Beth Stempel Production Coordination
Steppenwolf Performer
Paul McCartney Composer
Steve Barri Producer
The Band Performer
The Holy Modal Rounders Performer
Bob Dylan Composer
Keith Reid Composer
The Jimi Hendrix Experience Performer
Chester Powers Composer
Chris Hillman Composer
Joe Chambers Composer
The Electric Prunes Performer
Barry Jenkins Composer
Eric Burdon Composer
Vic Briggs Composer
Annette Tucker Composer
Steve Blauner Producer,Interviewer
John Keen Composer
Ronald Gilbert Composer
Chet Powers Composer
Antonia Duren Composer
Lawrence Wagner Composer
Johnnie Weider Composer
Emil Theilhelm Composer
John "Speedy" Keen Composer
Hoyt Axton Composer
Jerry Capehart Composer
Jimi Hendrix Composer
Michael Esposito Composer
Mike Ragogna Liner Notes,Reissue Producer
Justin Hayward Composer
The Byrds Performer
David Axelrod Composer
Gerry Goffin Composer
Danny McCulloch Composer
Gary Brooker Composer
Sky Saxon Composer
Eddie Brigati Composer
Felix Cavaliere Composer
Fraternity of Man Performer
Carole King Composer
John Keene Composer
Grace Slick Composer
Doug Sahm Composer
Victor Briggs Composer
John Weider Composer
John Lennon Composer
Dennis Hopper Interviewer
Joseph Chambers Composer
Robbie Robertson Composer
Billy Edd Wheeler Composer
Mars Bonfire Composer
Eddie Cochran Composer
Roger McGuinn Composer,Performer
Vartan Reissue Art Director
Pete Townshend Composer
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