Final Wild Songs

2016 box set by The Long Ryders

Final Wild Songs

Box set by

The Long Ryders

Released| 22 January 2016
Recorded| 1983–1987
Genre|

* Paisley Underground
* garage rock
* psychedelia
* folk rock
* country rock

Length| 4:31:53
Label| Cherry Red
Producer|

* Earle Mankey
* The Long Ryders
* Henry Lewy
* Paul McKenna
* Will Birch
* Ed Stasium

The Long Ryders chronology
| State of Our Reunion
(2007)  | Final Wild Songs
(2016)  | Psychedelic Country Soul
(2019)

|
|

Final Wild Songs is a four-CD compilation box set by American band the Long Ryders, released in 2016 by Cherry Red Records.[1] It collects the debut EP 10-5-60, the three studio albums Native Sons, State of Our Union and Two-Fisted Tales, as well as a number of rare and unreleased tracks, including a full 1985 live set recorded for radio broadcast in the Netherlands.[2]

The collection was researched and compiled by the Long Ryders' Tom Stevens and Sid Griffin and remastered from original master tapes, where available.[3] "Still Get By", originally track 2 on Native Sons, is omitted from disc one, as requested by its writer Stephen McCarthy for unknown reasons, according to Tom Stevens.[4]

## Reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic| [2]
Americana UK| 10/10[5]
Classic Rock| 9/10[6]
Mojo| [7]
Peterborough Telegraph| 9/10[8]
PopMatters| [9]
Q| [10]
Record Collector| [11]
R2| [12]
Scottish Daily Express| [13]
Shindig!| [14]
The Sun| [15]
Uncut| [16]
Vive Le Rock| 8/10[17]

Final Wild Songs received positive critical reception upon release. Americana UK called it "truly glorious" and "an absolute essential purchase, even if one already has the original albums",[5] and Vive Le Rock said it was "a great set for long-time fans and curious newcomers alike".[17] In a four-star rating, Uncut wrote, "What’s clear now is that the Ryders are the bridge between country rock and what became Americana. ... They were country, and punk, and rock’n’roll. They did foot-on-the-floor boogie, cajun, a bit of psychedelic rock. They wore their fringes like Roger McGuinn. They were Tom Petty, without the heartbreak."[16] Mojo stated, "They unwittingly invented Americana, but seldom receive credit for it. This 4-CD box set puts the record straight."[7] R2 magazine wrote, "The set is tail-ended by a Dutch live recording from 1985, but it's much of a muchness really. It's the quality of the original releases themselves, plus the accompanying B-sides, outtakes and demos, that make this collection essential."[12]

## Track listing

[edit]

### Disc one: 1983–1984

[edit]

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Original release| Length

|
|
|
|

1.| "Join My Gang"| Sid Griffin| 10-5-60, 1983| 2:44
2.| "You Don't Know What's Right, You Don't Know What's Wrong"| Stephen McCarthy, Des Brewer| 10-5-60| 4:03
3.| "10-5-60"| Griffin, Barry Shank| 10-5-60| 3:11
4.| "And She Rides"| Griffin, Greg Sowders| 10-5-60| 4:30
5.| "Born to Believe in You"| Griffin| 10-5-60| 3:07
6.| "Final Wild Son"| Griffin, McCarthy| Native Sons, 1984| 2:35
7.| "Ivory Tower"| Shank| Native Sons| 3:00
8.| "Run Dusty Run"| Griffin, Sowders| Native Sons| 2:24
9.| "(Sweet) Mental Revenge"| Mel Tillis| Native Sons| 2:50
10.| "Fair Game"| Griffin, McCarthy| Native Sons| 2:35
11.| "Tell It to the Judge on Sunday"| Griffin| Native Sons| 3:06
12.| "Wreck of the 809"| McCarthy, Tom Stevens| Native Sons| 3:54
13.| "Too Close to the Light"| Griffin, McCarthy, Stevens, Sowders| Native Sons| 4:00
14.| "Never Got to Meet the Mom"| Griffin| Native Sons| 2:14
15.| "I Had a Dream"| McCarthy| Native Sons| 3:50
16.| "Masters of War" (from 5x5 sessions, A&M Studios, Hollywood, February 1985)| Bob Dylan| Looking for Lewis and Clark: the Long Ryders Anthology, 1998| 4:33
17.| "Black Girl" (Live at McCabe's, Santa Monica, 18 May 1984)| Traditional| Previously unreleased| 2:52
18.| "Wreck of the 809" (Live at McCabe's, Santa Monica, 18 May 1984)| McCarthy, Stevens| Previously unreleased| 3:35
19.| "Further Along" (Live at McCabe's, Santa Monica, 18 May 1984)|

* Traditional
* arr. by Gram Parsons
* Chris Hillman

| Previously unreleased| 4:53
20.| "The Rains Came" (Live at CBGB's, New York City, 19 April 1984)| Huey P. Meaux| Previously unreleased| 2:36
21.| "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" (Live at the West End, Chicago, 3 November 1984)| Willie Dixon| Previously unreleased| 5:49
Total length:| 72:52

### Disc two: 1985

[edit]

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Original release| Length

|
|
|
|

1.| "Looking for Lewis and Clark"| Griffin| State of Our Union, 1985| 3:09
2.| "Lights of Downtown"| McCarthy| State of Our Union| 3:11
3.| "WDIA"| Griffin, McCarthy| State of Our Union| 3:44
4.| "Mason-Dixon Line"| McCarthy| State of Our Union| 4:23
5.| "Here Comes That Train Again"| McCarthy| State of Our Union| 3:24
6.| "Years Long Ago"| Stevens| State of Our Union| 3:39
7.| "Good Times Tomorrow, Hard Times Today"| Griffin| State of Our Union| 3:58
8.| "Two Kinds of Love"| Griffin| State of Our Union| 4:20
9.| "You Just Can't Ride the Boxcars Anymore"| Stevens| State of Our Union| 3:02
10.| "Capturing the Flag"| Griffin, McCarthy, Stevens, Sowders, Will Birch| State of Our Union| 3:52
11.| "State of My Union"| Griffin, Sowders| State of Our Union| 4:48
12.| "Southside of the Story"| Griffin, Sowders| B-side from "Looking for Lewis and Clark (Extended Version)", 1985| 3:21
13.| "Child Bride"| McCarthy, Sowders| B-side from "Looking for Lewis and Clark"| 2:47
14.| "If I Were a Bramble and You Were a Rose"| Griffin| B-side from "Looking for Lewis and Clark (Extended Version)"| 4:49
15.| "Looking for Lewis and Clark" (Recorded live for BBC's the Old Grey Whistle Test, 1 October 1985)| Griffin| Previously unreleased| 3:25
16.| "Lights of Downtown" (Captain's Mix)| McCarthy| Previously unreleased| 3:09
17.| "Capturing the Flag" (Captain's Mix)| Griffin, McCarthy, Stevens, Sowders, Birch| Previously unreleased| 3:27
18.| "Christmas in New Zealand"| Griffin, McCarthy, Stevens, Sowders| Flexi disc, 1985| 4:39
19.| "Encore from Hell" (Recorded live at the Mean Fiddler, London, December 1985)| Griffin, McCarthy, Stevens, Sowders| Flexi disc, 1986| 3:30
Total length:| 69:17

### Disc three: 1986

[edit]

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Original release| Length

|
|
|
|

1.| "Gunslinger Man"| Griffin| Two-Fisted Tales, 1987| 3:14
2.| "I Want You Bad"| Terry Adams, Phil Crandon| Two-Fisted Tales| 2:42
3.| "A Stitch in Time"| Stevens| Two-Fisted Tales| 4:09
4.| "The Light Gets in the Way"| McCarthy| Two-Fisted Tales| 3:56
5.| "Prairie Fire"| Griffin, Sowders| Two-Fisted Tales| 2:48
6.| "Baby's in Toyland"| Griffin| Two-Fisted Tales| 4:16
7.| "Long Story Short"| Griffin| Two-Fisted Tales| 3:46
8.| "Man of Misery"| McCarthy| Two-Fisted Tales| 3:34
9.| "Harriet Tubman's Gonna Carry Me Home"| Griffin| Two-Fisted Tales| 3:35
10.| "For the Rest of My Days"| McCarthy| Two-Fisted Tales| 4:45
11.| "Spectacular Fall"| Griffin| Two-Fisted Tales| 4:50
12.| "Ring Bells"| Griffin| B-side from "I Want You Bad", 1987| 2:12
13.| "17 Ways" (Demo; recorded at Control Center, Los Angeles, April 1986)| Stevens| Looking for Lewis and Clark: the Long Ryders Anthology| 3:15
14.| "Basic Black" (Demo; recorded at Score One, Burbank, 17 July 1986)| Griffin| Looking for Lewis and Clark: the Long Ryders Anthology| 4:49
15.| "Pushin' Uphill" (Demo; recorded at Penguin Studios, Pasadena, September 1986)| McCarthy| Looking for Lewis and Clark: the Long Ryders Anthology| 3:25
16.| "How Do We Feel What's Real?" (Demo; recorded at Score One, Burbank, 17 July 1986)| Stevens| Previously unreleased| 3:11
17.| "He's Got Himself a Young Girl (and He Can't Keep Up)" (Demo; recorded at Control Center, Los Angeles, April 1986)| Griffin| Looking for Lewis and Clark: the Long Ryders Anthology| 2:56
18.| "He Can Hear His Brother Calling" (Demo; recorded at Score One, Burbank, 17 July 1986)| McCarthy| Looking for Lewis and Clark: the Long Ryders Anthology| 5:12
19.| "Sad Sad Songs" (Demo; recorded at Penguin Studios, Pasadena, September 1986)| Stevens| Previously unreleased| 2:31
20.| "Flak Jacket" (Demo; recorded at Control Center, Los Angeles, April 1986)| Griffin| Looking for Lewis and Clark: the Long Ryders Anthology| 5:22
21.| "Blues Theme" (Two-Fisted Tales outtake; recorded November–December 1986)| Davie Allan, Mike Curb| Metallic B.O., 1989| 3:29
Total length:| 76:16

### Disc four: Live 1985

[edit]

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

1.| "Mason-Dixon Line"| McCarthy| 4:20
2.| "Time Keeps Traveling"| Griffin| 3:38
3.| "(Sweet) Mental Revenge"| Tillis| 2:55
4.| "Run Dusty Run"| Griffin| 2:26
5.| "You Don't Know What's Right, You Don't Know What's Wrong"| McCarthy, Brewer| 3:56
6.| "As God Is My Witness"| Griffin| 4:08
7.| "Ivory Tower"| Shank| 3:03
8.| "I Can't Hide"| Cyril Jordan, Chris Wilson| 3:01
9.| "Masters of War"| Dylan| 4:22
10.| "Wreck of the 809"| McCarthy, Stevens| 4:17
11.| "Good Times Tomorrow, Hard Times Today"| Griffin| 4:10
12.| "Six Days on the Road"| Earl Green, Carl Montgomery| 4:14
13.| "Southside of the Story"| Griffin, Sowders| 2:47
14.| "Still Get By"| McCarthy| 2:44
15.| "Tell It to the Judge on Sunday"| Griffin| 3:26
Total length:| 53:28

Note

* Recorded live at the Esther Palais de Danse in Goes, the Netherlands, 6 April 1985.

## Personnel

[edit]

Credits are adapted from the album liner notes.[18]

The Long Ryders

* Sid Griffin – guitar, harmonica, autoharp, bugle, vocals
* Steve McCarthy – guitar, mandolin, steel guitar, lap steel, banjo, keyboards, vocals
* Tom Stevens – bass, double bass, cello, acoustic guitar, vocals (except disc one: 1–5)
* Greg Sowders – drums, percussion, keyboards
* Des Brewer – bass, vocals (disc one: 1–5)

Additional musicians

* Gene Clark – additional vocals (disc 1: 7)
* Dave Pearlman – steel guitar (disc 1: 9)
* Phil Kenzie – tenor and baritone saxophone (disc 1: 11)
* Lee Chaifetz – vocals (disc 1: 19)
* Victoria Williams – vocals (disc 1: 19)
* Snake Davis and his Longhorns – saxophone (disc 2: 3)
* Vic Collins – pedal steel guitar (disc 2: 3)
* Alan Dunn – accordion (disc 2: 13)
* Steve Wickham – violin (disc 2: 14)
* Christine Collister – vocals (disc 2: 14)
* Debbi Peterson – vocals (disc 3: 2)
* Vicki Peterson – vocals (disc 3: 2)
* David Hidalgo – accordion (disc 3: 4)

Technical

* Earle Mankey – producer, engineer (disc 1: 1–5)
* The Long Ryders – producer (disc 1: 1–5, 16; disc 3: 12)
* Henry Lewy – producer, engineer (disc 1: 6–15)
* Paul McKenna – producer (disc 1: 6–15)
* Will Birch – producer (disc 2: 1–14, 16–18)
* Ed Stasium – producer, mixing (disc 3: 1–12, 21)
* Neill King – engineer (disc 2: 1–14)
* Paul Hamingson – engineer, mixing engineer (disc 3: 1–12), mixing (disc 3: 12)
* Mark McKenna – assistant engineer (disc 3: 1–12)
* Tom Root – assistant engineer (disc 3: 1–12)
* Vince McCartney – assistant mixing engineer (disc 3: 1–12)
* Nick Stewart – remix (disc 2: 16, 17)
* Bill Inglot – engineer (disc 3: 14–16, 18, 19)
* Paul B. Cutler – engineer (disc 3: 13, 17, 20)
* Willem Mindermann – engineer (disc 4)
* Danny Mindermann – engineer (disc 4)
* Andy Pearce – mastering
* Phil Smee – artwork

|

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Final Wild Songs". sidgriffin.com. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
2. ^ a b Deming, Mark. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
3. ^ "Final Wild Songs". thelongryders.com. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
4. ^ "Episode #20 Tom Stevens of The Long Ryders talks about his contributions to their new album Psychedelic Country Soul (Podcast)". Paisley Stage, Raspberry and Rhyme. March 2, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
5. ^ a b Aird, Jonathan (April 28, 2016). "Shindig! Review". Americana UK. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
6. ^ Hughes, Rob (January 22, 2016). "Classic Rock Review". Classic Rock. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
7. ^ a b Fyfe, Andy (2016). "Mojo Review". Mojo. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
8. ^ "Peterborough Telegraph Review". Peterborough Telegraph. 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
9. ^ Whitelock, Ed (January 25, 2016). "PopMatters Review". popmatters.com. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
10. ^ Blake, Mark (2016). "Q Review". Q. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
11. ^ Dalton, Nick (2016). "Record Collector Review". recordcollectormag.com. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
12. ^ a b Ranson, Gerry (2016). "R2 Review". R2. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
13. ^ "Scottish Daily Express Review". Scottish Daily Express. 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
14. ^ Patterson, Tom (2016). "Shindig! Review". Shindig!. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
15. ^ "The Sun Review". The Sun. 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
16. ^ a b McKay, Alastair (February 9, 2016). "Uncut Review". uncut.co.uk. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
17. ^ a b Truman, John (2016). "Vive Le Rock Review". Vive Le Rock. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
18. ^ Final Wild Songs (Media notes). The Long Ryders. Cherry Red Records. 2016.`{{cite AV media notes}}`: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

* v
* t
* e

The Long Ryders

* Sid Griffin
* Stephen McCarthy
* Greg Sowders

* Tom Stevens

Studio albums|

* Native Sons
* State of Our Union
* Two-Fisted Tales
* Psychedelic Country Soul
* September November

Live albums|

* Three Minute Warnings: the Long Ryders Live in New York City
* State of Our Reunion

Compilations|

* Metallic B.O.
* Looking for Lewis and Clark: the Long Ryders Anthology
* The Best of the Long Ryders
* Final Wild Songs

Extended plays|

* 10-5-60

Related articles|

* Coal Porters

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