Easy Rider

Easy Rider is the soundtrack to the cult classic 1969 film Easy Rider. The songs that make up the soundtrack were carefully selected to form a "musical commentary" within the film. The album of the soundtrack was released by ABC-Dunhill Records in August 1969 (catalog no. DSX 50063). It peaked at #6 on the Billboard album charts in September of that year, and was certified gold in January 1970. Description The songs on the soundtrack album are sequenced in the same order as they appear in the film, with the following differences: "The Weight", as originally recorded by The Band for their 1968 debut album Music From Big Pink, was used in the film but could not be licensed for the soundtrack. To deal with this, ABC-Dunhill commissioned Smith, who recorded for the label at the time, to record a cover version of the song for the soundtrack album. Two songs used in the film, Little Eva's "Let's Turkey Trot" and The Electric Flag's "Flash, Bam, Pow", were omitted from the soundtrack album. Distribution of the album transferred from the ABC-Dunhill label to Warner Bros. Records' Reprise Records subsidiary (catalog no. MS 2026) in late 1969. Easy Rider subsequently went out of print, but was reissued in June 2000 by the Universal Music Group's MCA Records label, which had acquired the ABC and Dunhill labels in 1979. Track listing Most of the tracks on the Easy Rider soundtrack were previously released on other albums by their respective artists.