Sold Date: June 28, 2020
Start Date: June 18, 2020
Final Price: $16.49 (USD)
Bid Count: 1
Seller Feedback: 3538
Buyer Feedback: 44

Artist: Easy Rider
Title: Music From The Soundtrack
Release Year: 1969
Pressing Year: 1969
Label: Dunhill Records
Catalog Number: DSX 50063
Format: 33 RPM • 12” Album • Stereo
UPC: none

The film Easy Rider was the surprise box-office hit of the summer of 1969, a low-budget film about a couple of hippies who use their profits from a drug deal to drive their motorcycles across the Southwest and attend New Orleans' Mardi Gras celebrations, encountering adventures and tragedy along the way.

It turned out to be a telling portrait of America's cultural divide in the late '60s, and no small part of its impact was the soundtrack music, which eschewed a traditional score (the filmmakers couldn't have afforded that, anyway) in favor of rock music. Director Dennis Hopper mostly used songs he'd heard on the radio while he was editing the film.

So, the film's music consisted of such 1968 rock radio favorites with such humorous changes of pace as The Holy Modal Rounders and Fraternity of Man. Hopper had little trouble persuading various record labels to grant the screen rights to these songs at a time when re-used rock wasn't heard much in movies. Roger McGuinn, making his solo performing debut, contributed new recordings of Bob Dylan’s It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) and his own specially written Ballad of Easy Rider (actually co-written with Dylan, who was not credited).

With Easy Rider a success, most labels agreed to license their tracks to Dunhill/ABC for a soundtrack album. Only Capitol Records held out, so The Band’s original version of The Weight was replaced by a near-copy recorded by Dunhill act Smith. The soundtrack album also featured some dialogue and sound effects from the film. The result was a commercial bonanza: The album reached the Top Ten and went gold, becoming the second most successful soundtrack LP of the year.

Just as the film transformed values in Hollywood, this soundtrack album helped give birth to a new business in which soundtrack albums became collections of various pop songs that sometimes out-grossed the films with which they were associated. This album is both a historical document and an entertaining listen, especially to those who know the film.

Side One: Side Two: Steppenwolf: The Pusher Fraternity Of Man: Don’t Bogart Me Steppenwolf: Born To Be Wild The Jimi Hendrix Experience: If 6 Was 9 Smith: The Weight The Electric Prunes: Kyrie Eleison The Byrds: Wasn’t Born To Follow Roger McGuinn: It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) The Holy Modal Rounders: If You Want To Be A Bird Roger McGuinn: Ballad Of Easy Rider

VINYL GRADE: VG
Notes: Slight surface noise. A good cleaning will perk this one up considerably. Not warped.

LABEL GRADE: VG+
Notes: Neither side has ring wear, tape, or writing. Standard white Dunhill and ABC Records logos inside rainbow boxes on black. Text is silver on black.  

SLEEVE GRADE: VG+
Notes: Original plain white paper. No splits, no rips, no marks, no stains, no writing, no tape, some yellowing, some crinkles, a few age spots.

JACKET GRADE: G+
Notes: Slight ring wear, no splits. No marks, no tape, no writing, some crinkling, a few dings (a bit of text obscured on the back cover). Edges, corners, and spine (readable) are slightly worn; the front-cover open edge has several major crinkles. (See my original scan.) 

Shipping is $4.00. NOTE: I will NOT be responsible for items lost or damaged in the mail.

PayPal accepted.

Combined shipping: I will be happy to combine multiple items. If you buy more than one item from me, the shipping cost will be the highest original shipping fee plus $1 per additional item.

This is not a cut-out. It is the original record-club issue.

Note: I haven't cleaned this 51-year-old vinyl record because everybody seems to prefer their own methods. I'll leave the cleaning up to the buyer. Also, I'm not a professional vinyl seller or buyer. This comes from my own collection. Bought at Leggett’s Dept. Store, downtown Radford VA.