Ballad of Easy Rider (album)

Ballad of Easy Rider
Studio album by
the Byrds
ReleasedNovember 10, 1969 (1969-11-10)
RecordedJune 17 – August 26, 1969
StudioColumbia, Hollywood
Genre
Length33:55
LabelColumbia
ProducerTerry Melcher
The Byrds chronology
Preflyte
(1969) 		Ballad of Easy Rider
(1969) 		(Untitled)
(1970)
Singles from Ballad of Easy Rider
  1. "Ballad of Easy Rider"
    Released: October 1, 1969
  2. "Jesus Is Just Alright"
    Released: December 15, 1969

Ballad of Easy Rider is the eighth album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released in November 1969 on Columbia Records.[1] The album was named after the song "Ballad of Easy Rider", which had been written by the Byrds' guitarist and singer, Roger McGuinn (with help from Bob Dylan), as the theme song for the 1969 film, Easy Rider.[2] The title was also chosen in an attempt to capitalize on the commercial success of the film, although the majority of the music on the album had no connection with it.[3][4] Nonetheless, the association with Easy Rider heightened the Byrds' public profile and resulted in Ballad of Easy Rider becoming the band's highest charting album for two years in the U.S.[3]

The album peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and number 41 on the UK Albums Chart.[5][6] The title track was released as a preceding single in October 1969, achieving moderate success on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[1][7] A second single taken from the album, "Jesus Is Just Alright", was released in December 1969, but only managed to reach number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100.[1][7]

The album was the second to be recorded by the Roger McGuinn, Clarence White, Gene Parsons, and John York line-up of the Byrds, although York would be fired shortly after its completion.[8] Upon release, Ballad of Easy Rider was met with mixed reviews, but is today regarded as one of the band's stronger albums from the latter half of their career.[9]

  1. ^ a b c Rogan, Johnny (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited (2nd ed.). Rogan House. pp. 542–547. ISBN 0-9529540-1-X.
  2. ^ Rogan, Johnny (1997). Ballad of Easy Rider (1997 CD liner notes).
  3. ^ a b Hjort, Christopher (2008). So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day (1965-1973). Jawbone Press. pp. 226–227. ISBN 978-1-906002-15-2.
  4. ^ "Ballad of Easy Rider". ByrdWatcher: A Field Guide to the Byrds of Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 2010-11-25. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
  5. ^ "The Byrds Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
  6. ^ Brown, Tony. (2000). The Complete Book of the British Charts. Omnibus Press. p. 130. ISBN 0-7119-7670-8.
  7. ^ a b "The Byrds Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
  8. ^ Fricke, David. (1997). Ballad of Easy Rider (1997 CD liner notes).
  9. ^ "Ballad of Easy Rider review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2010-02-06.