Emerging from Los Angeles’ paisley underground during the 1980s, the Long Ryders have stayed loyal to the sonic palette of the 1960s, layering occasional psychedelic and garage-rock touches onto a core sound rooted in the ringing, roots-driven style of early folk-rock and country-rock bands such as the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Among the scene’s acts, only the Bangles came nearer to commercial breakthrough; the Long Ryders’ first two albums, 1984’s Native Sons and 1985’s State of Our Union, charted in the U.K., cultivated a substantial cult audience in the United States, and earned steady college-radio airplay. After the group disbanded, its music became an important catalyst for the alt-country movement that surfaced just a few years later. The 2019 release Psychedelic Country Soul confirmed that the band’s songwriting and performing skills had lost little of their original vitality, while September November, issued in 2023, presented a reflective set shaped by the death of bassist Tom Stevens.
Taking its name from a celebrated Western directed by Walter Hill, the Long Ryders were assembled in 1981 by guitarist, singer, and songwriter Sid Griffin, who had relocated from his native Kentucky to Southern California after learning of the region’s punk and garage-rock communities. Griffin soon joined the garage-punk outfit the Unclaimed, yet sessions with drummer Greg Sowders, previously of the Boxboys, and guitarist Steve Wynn prompted the pursuit of a sound more aligned with Griffin’s own tastes. The trio advertised in a local paper for players versed in “folk-rock, Tex-Mex, soul, surf, psychedelic”; although Wynn soon departed to concentrate on his own project the Dream Syndicate, the notice attracted lead guitarist Stephen McCarthy, and Griffin enlisted bassist Barry Shank from the Unclaimed. Shank’s tenure proved brief, so by the time the band recorded its debut EP 10-5-60 in 1983, Des Brewer had taken the bass chair. That EP highlighted the group’s garage-rock leanings, but Brewer exited shortly afterward; with the arrival of Indiana-born Tom Stevens, the classic Long Ryders lineup solidified.
Securing a contract with the independent Frontier Records label in 1984, the band allowed its country and folk-rock influences to dominate the first full-length album, Native Sons. Produced by Henry Lewy, who had previously worked with the Flying Burrito Brothers, the record featured guest vocals from former Byrd Gene Clark. Critics responded favorably, particularly in the United Kingdom, where the group’s blend of American roots traditions and progressive lyrics found an appreciative audience. Extensive touring throughout the U.S., Britain, and Europe established the Long Ryders as one of the era’s most successful independent acts, and their U.K. profile led to a 1985 deal with Island Records. The resulting album, State of Our Union, performed strongly on American college and alternative stations, while the single “Looking for Lewis and Clark” reached the British charts. Although some U.K. reviewers found its more assertive rock approach less distinctive than Native Sons, the record suggested further commercial possibilities.
The band’s third album, Two-Fisted Tales, appeared in 1987 under the production of Ed Stasium. Its opening single, a cover of NRBQ’s “I Want You Bad,” received widespread radio exposure, and U2 invited the Long Ryders to support several American dates on the Joshua Tree tour. Persistent road work nevertheless took its toll, and by the close of 1987 both Tom Stevens and Stephen McCarthy had left to explore other projects. Although Island offered Griffin and Sowders another recording opportunity, the pair declined in order to preserve band cohesion and formally dissolved the Long Ryders.
In the years after the breakup, Griffin continued recording with the Coal Porters, operated his own imprint Prima Records, and authored well-regarded books on Gram Parsons and Bob Dylan. McCarthy performed with Gutterball, House of Freaks, and the Jayhawks, one of numerous groups that drew inspiration from the Long Ryders. Sowders established a career in music publishing, while Stevens returned to Indiana and completed a degree in computer science.
A reunion tour in 2004 included a performance at the Glastonbury Festival, later documented on the live album State of Our Reunion, and the band played additional U.S. shows in 2009. Late in 2015, Cherry Red Records issued the box set Final Wild Songs, encompassing 10-5-60, Native Sons, State of Our Reunion, and Two-Fisted Tales in their entirety along with rare tracks and a 1985 concert recorded in the Netherlands. To mark the set’s arrival, the Long Ryders scheduled concerts across the U.K., Europe, and the United States in 2016. In 2018, Cherry Red and the band collaborated on expanded, three-CD editions of State of Our Union and Two-Fisted Tales that incorporated demos, outtakes, and live recordings.
During 2017 an unexpected invitation arrived from longtime associate Larry Chatman, who had served on the Long Ryders’ road crew in the 1980s and later worked as personal assistant to West Coast rap figure Dr. Dre. Chatman arranged for the group to use Dre’s premier facility Record One free of charge for a week. Reuniting with producer Ed Stasium, the band tracked new material there in November 2017. The resulting album, Psychedelic Country Soul, surfaced in February 2019—more than three decades after the group’s previous studio release. The subsequent tour marked the final appearances with the original lineup; bassist Tom Stevens died on January 24, 2021, at age 64.
Shortly before Stevens’ passing, the band issued the single “Down to the Well.” In 2022 the Long Ryders joined the Outlaw Country Cruise alongside Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, X, Los Lobos, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and others. That same year they began recording their first album since Stevens’ death, with Murray Hammond of the Old 97’s contributing bass on several tracks and Stephen McCarthy handling additional bass parts. Issued by Cherry Red Records in March 2023, September November featured the tribute “Tom Tom” as well as guest contributions from X’s D.J. Bonebrake and former Coal Porters violinist Kerenza Peacock. In January 2024 the group released an expanded, remastered edition of the 1984 album Native Sons that restored the original LP alongside the 10-5-60 EP, a disc of period demos, and a London concert from March 1985. Compiled by Tom Stevens, the package was accompanied by liner notes declaring it “forever be his last Long Ryders project.”
