Looking For Lewis And Clark: The Long Ryders Anthology

Long Ryders | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 21, 1998)
• Original Release Date: July 21, 1998
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B000009HEC
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #393,598 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. 10-5-60

2. And She Rides

3. Born to Believe in You

4. You Don't Know What's Right, You Don't Know What's Wrong

5. Join My Gang

6. Final Wild Son

7. Ivory Tower

8. Still Get By

9. Run Dusty Run

10. (Sweet) Mental Revenge

See all 20 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Looking for Lewis and Clark [Long Version]

2. State of My Union

3. Two Kinds of Love

4. If I Were a Bramble and You Were a Rose

5. Christmas in New Zealand

6. Basic Black [#][Demo Version]

7. Pushin' Uphill [#][Demo Version]

8. He Can Hear His Brother Calling [#][Demo Version]

9. 17 Ways [#]

10. He's Got Himself a Young Girl (And He Can't Keep Up) [#][Demo Version]

See all 20 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

"If we'd been 10 years older or seven years younger," says founder Sid Griffin, "we'd have cracked it." Instead, the premier country-punk band of 1980s Los Angeles remains a cult favorite and a pioneering influence on countless alt-country musicians. Along with coleader Stephen McCarthy, Griffin forged a new path by fusing punk's energy with country's plainspoken honesty. This enlightening 40-song, two-CD collection includes cuts from each of their five albums and adds an assortment of B-sides, outtakes, and unreleased demos. High-powered riffs and urgent rhythms are tempered in various places by harmonica, banjo, lap steel, mandolin, Autoharp, and even poppy background vocals. The Ryders provide a crucial link between Gram Parsons and Uncle Tupelo. --Marc Greilsamer

Entertainment Weekly

...[T]he jangle-twang anthems pack an emotional and musical punch.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Collection of Songs from an Underappreciated Band, January 11, 2000

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Looking For Lewis And Clark: The Long Ryders Anthology (Audio CD)

The California music scene of the late-seventies and early eighties produced numerous roots-rockers: Rank and File, the Blasters, Dream Syndicate, the True Believers. One of the finest was was the Long Ryders, founded by Kentucky native and Gram Parsons devotee Sid Griffin.

In the album's liner notes David Fricke says, "The Ryders sang about fading ideals and stubborn idealists...with a wide-angle vision of the American musical experience, one in which Stephen Foster, Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, Gram Parsons, the Velvet Underground and the Ramones were not just equals but righteous brethren."

This 2-disc release includes all 5 tracks from their debut EP 10-5-60, plus key selections from their three studio albums, along with live tracks, demos and b-sides from their all too short career.

"Looking for Lewis and Clark" is the single that should have broken the band to a wider audience. That single is included here in its extended 10" version along with the loving "If I Were a Bramble and You Were a Rose," a non-album b-side. [It would have been nice to include the other two non-album b-sides from that same single.]

The combination of punk attitude, Parsons-era Byrds and Burrito Brothers and traditional country (they covered Mel Tillis' "Sweet Mental Revenge") made for some memorable and authentic music. Griffin and Stephen McCarthy were the bands principal songwriters and played guitars, autoharp, mandolin, harmonica, banjo and steel guitar.

"I beleived this band NEEDED to be here," says Griffin in the liner notes. "We needed to play this music. There wasn't anything pre-fab or dishonest about this band." And indeed there wasn't as the 40 tracks on this collection will attest to. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A British view, January 18, 2000

By 

Jeremy Robertson (Bradford-on-Avon, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Looking For Lewis And Clark: The Long Ryders Anthology (Audio CD)

For some reason, The Long Ryders always seemed more popular in the UK than the USA. I still remember hearing 'Looking for Lewis and Clark on breakfast radio and thinking "What a great riff!" I even managed to catch them live once, in a poorly attended nightclub gig in Bristol. This double CD brings it all back. From the early classics like Run Dusty Run through the material from State of our Union and beyond, every track is a gem. I was particular impressed with the unreleased demos - if these are demos, the final versions would have had a lot to live up to! The closing Neil Young cover "Prisoners of Rock'n'Roll" kind of sums up the band's career - locked in an unappreciative world, fighting against the forces of bland music!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Long Ryders rock the barn down!!, April 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Looking For Lewis And Clark: The Long Ryders Anthology (Audio CD)

With hits like "Gunslinger Man" and "And She Rides", the Long Ryders have always fed my intellectual appetite for country punk with intelligence.