Ballad of Easy Rider

The star and script writer of Easy Rider, Peter Fonda, had initially intended to use Bob Dylan's song "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" in the film, but after failing to license the track, Fonda asked Roger McGuinn of the Byrds to record a cover version of the song instead. Fonda also wanted Dylan to write the film's theme song, but Dylan declined, quickly scribbling the lines, "The river flows, it flows to the sea/Wherever that river goes, that's where I want to be/Flow, river, flow" on a napkin and telling Fonda to "give this to McGuinn. He'll know what to do with it." The lyric fragment was dutifully passed on to McGuinn, who took the lines and expanded upon them with his own lyrical and musical contributions to produce the finished song. The version of "Ballad of Easy Rider" used in the film and included on the Easy Rider soundtrack album is listed as a solo performance by McGuinn and features the singer accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, with fellow Byrd Gene Parsons playing harmonica. ==The Byrds' version==

The Byrds' version of the song was recorded on June 18, 1969, and is performed at a quicker tempo than the soundtrack version. The song was also lengthened by producer Terry Melcher by editing a copy of the first verse onto the end of the second, effectively creating a third verse. It also became a number 21 hit in the FIMI National Charts in Italy. Although the single was issued in most international territories, it was not released in the United Kingdom. The B-side of the Byrds' single was the traditional song "Oil in My Lamp", although there are copies of the single known to exist with the Goffin-King song "Wasn't Born to Follow" on the B-side instead. However, the song was played only rarely between 1971 and the band's break-up in 1973. An extended, alternate mix of the song, featuring more prominent percussion and Clarence White's lead guitar solo (which had been edited out of the version found on the album), was included as a bonus track on the 1997 Columbia/Legacy reissue of Ballad of Easy Rider. ==Cover versions==

"Ballad of Easy Rider" has been covered by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention and their version of the song was included as a bonus track on the 2003 re-release of the band's 1969 album, Unhalfbricking. A live cover by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from 1987, which the band dedicated to River Phoenix, was featured on the deluxe edition of their career-spanning set, The Live Anthology. ==References==