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. The album of the soundtrack was released by ABC-Dunhill Records in August 1969. It peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 chart in September of that year, and was certified gold in January 1970.

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.
The Electric Flag's "Flash, Bam, Pow" appears only partially in the movie, omitting the unnerving begin and end, using only the rhythmic middle part. Originally recorded by the Electric Flag for Roger Corman's 1967 film The Trip, with Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper plus Jack Nicholson as screenwriter, it was acknowledged in the Easy Rider closing credits but was omitted from the soundtrack album.
Little Eva's "Let's Turkey Trot" is playing on the jukebox when the protagonists enter the café, thus this 1963 song was ambient sound and not a chosen song like the other, contemporary ones; it was acknowledged in the film's closing credits but omitted from the soundtrack album.

Distribution of the album transferred from the ABC-Dunhill label to Warner Bros. Records' Reprise Records subsidiary in late 1969. 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.

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.

"The Pusher" – 5:49
*Steppenwolf - Steppenwolf
"Born to Be Wild" – 3:37
*Steppenwolf - Steppenwolf
"The Weight" – 4:29
*Smith
"Wasn't Born to Follow" – 2:03
*The Byrds - The Notorious Byrd Brothers
"If You Want to Be a Bird " – 2:35
*The Holy Modal Rounders - The Moray Eels Eat The Holy Modal Rounders
"Don't Bogart Me" – 3:05
*Fraternity of Man - Fraternity of Man
"If 6 Was 9" – 5:35
*The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold as Love
"Kyrie Eleison/Mardi Gras " – 4:00
*The Electric Prunes - Mass in F Minor
"It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" – 3:39
*Roger McGuinn
"Ballad of Easy Rider" – 2:14
*Roger McGuinn

2004 deluxe edition

Disc one

Remastered re-release of the original 1969 soundtrack.

Disc two - Something in the Air: 1967 – 1969

"Pushin' Too Hard"
*The Seeds - The Seeds
"I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)" /Nancie Mantz )
*The Electric Prunes - The Electric Prunes: I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)
"(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet"
*Blues Magoos - Psychedelic Lollipop
"San Franciscan Nights"
*Eric Burdon & The Animals - Winds of Change
"White Rabbit"
*Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow
"I Can See for Miles"
*The Who - The Who Sell Out
"A Whiter Shade of Pale"
*Procol Harum - Procol Harum
"Groovin'"
*The Young Rascals - Groovin'
"High Flyin' Bird"
*Richie Havens - Mixed Bag
"The Weight"
*The Band - Music From Big Pink
"You Ain't Goin' Nowhere"
*The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo
"Time Has Come Today"
*The Chambers Brothers - The Time Has Come
"With a Little Help from My Friends"
*Joe Cocker - With a Little Help from My Friends
"Summertime Blues"
*Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum
"Nights in White Satin"
*The Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed
"Mendocino"
*Sir Douglas Quintet - Mendocino
"Get Together"
*The Youngbloods - The Youngbloods
"My Uncle"
*The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Gilded Palace of Sin
"Something in the Air"
*Thunderclap Newman - ''Hollywood Dream''