THE LONG RYDERS : FINAL WILD SONGS

 

Disc One (1983-1984) (72:50)

  1. Join My Gang
  2. You Don't Know What's Right, You Don't Know What's Wrong
  3. 10/5/60
  4. And She Rides
  5. Born To Believe In You
  6. Final Wild Son
  7. Ivory Tower
  8. Run Dusty Run
  9. (Sweet) Mental Revenge
  10. Fair Game
  11. Tell It To The Judge On Sunday
  12. Wreck Of The 809
  13. Too Close To The Light
  14. Never Got To Meet The Mom
  15. I Had A Dream
  16. Masters Of War
  17. Black Girl
  18. Wreck Of The 809
  19. Further Along
  20. The Rains Came
  21. You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover

Disc Two (1985) (69:15)

  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. Southside Of The Story
  13. Child Bride
  14. If I Were A Bramble And You Were A Rose
  15. Looking For Lewis And Clark
  16. Lights Of Downtown
  17. Capturing The Flag
  18. Christmas In New Zealand
  19. Encore From Hell

Disc Three (1986) (76:14)

  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. The Rest Of My Days
  11. Spectacular Fall
  12. Ring Bells
  13. 17 ways
  14. Basic Black
  15. Pushin' Uphill
  16. How Do We Feel What's Real?
  17. He's Got Himself A Young Girl (And He Can't Keep Up)
  18. He Can Hear His Brother Calling
  19. Sad Sad Songs
  20. Flak Jacket
  21. Blues Theme

Disc Four (Live 1985) (53:26)

  1. Mason-Dixon Line
  2. Time Keeps Traveling
  3. (Sweet) Mental Revenge
  4. Run Dusty Run
  5. You Don't Know What's Right, You Don't Know What's Wrong
  6. As God Is My Witness
  7. Ivory Tower
  8. I Can't Hide
  9. Masters Of War
  10. Wreck Of The 809
  11. Good Times Tomorrow, Hard Times Today
  12. Six Days On The Road
  13. Southside Of The Story
  14. Still Get By
  15. Tell It To The Judge On Sunday

Label : Cherry Red Records

Venue : Esther Palais de Danse, Goes, The Netherlands (Disc 4)

Recording Date : April 6, 1985 (Disc 4)

Release Date : 2016

Review (AllMusic) : The Long Ryders were the Odd Men Out in the Paisley Underground scene that briefly held sway over Los Angeles in the '80s. Like their peers, they felt a very personal connection with the music of the '60s, but instead of embracing psychedelia, they flew the flag for folk-rock and country-rock, putting Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn, and Doug Sahm on their personal Mt. Rushmore. The Long Ryders were proud traditionalists, but they didn't live in the past. Their music was also informed by early punk and power pop in its hooky energy and sense of commitment, and if they sang of the lessons to be taken from history, they did so as progressives who knew the stories of Harriet Tubman, WDIA-AM, the Dust Bowl, and the Mason-Dixon Line had as much to say about the present as the past. If they fell short of genuine stardom, the Long Ryders more than made a difference during their 1981-1987 lifetime, particularly in their influence on the alt-country movement, which would spread like wildfire not long after they broke up. Nearly everything you need to know about the band can be found on Final Wild Songs, a four-CD box set that collects their debut EP, 1983's 10-5-60, and their three studio albums, 1984's Native Sons, 1985's State of Our Union, and 1987's Two Fisted Tales, as well as a number of rare and unreleased tracks, including a full live set recorded for radio broadcast in the Netherlands. The Long Ryders were a band that wore their beliefs - personal, political, and musical - on their sleeves, and in their heyday they were celebrated for what they had to say as much as the music they made. But Final Wild Songs makes it clear this combo's music has endured because they were a truly great rock & roll band, full of snap and fervent energy. The guitar interplay between Sid Griffin and Stephen McCarthy was pure jangly bliss, and bassist Tom Stevens and drummer Greg Sowders held the tunes together with fire, precision, and outsized personality. The Long Ryders knew when to play moody and subtle, but they could also rock out with ferocious joy, and "Looking for Lewis and Clark" still sounds like an anthem worth marching to 30 years after the fact. Final Wild Songs includes song-by-song notes from the group's members, and their often witty remarks point to how much the Long Ryders cared about music as well as the world around them. And anyone who questions the group's sense of humor should check out the previously flexi-disc only "Christmas in New Zealand" and "Encore from Hell" (the latter featuring the band jamming on stage while Griffin reads profoundly negative reviews of State of Our Union with no small enthusiasm). The Long Ryders mattered then, and still matter today, and Final Wild Songs has enough fire and fun to convince any doubters.