[2018-11-30] The Long Ryders "State Of Our Union" and "Two Fisted Tales" 3CD Expanded Editions (Cherry Red UK)

Linda · **Posted:** Fri Sep 21, 2018 7:29 pm

State Of Our Union

Description
The Long Ryders were formed in 1982 by young American musicians influenced by Gram Parsons, C&W, the Byrds, and the punk scene found in their hometown of Los Angeles. The Long Ryders were an antidote to formula stadium rock and wimpy synth-pop.

The band featured Sid Griffin on guitar, autoharp, and harmonica, Stephen McCarthy on guitar, steel guitar, mandolin, and banjo, Tom Stevens, bass, and Greg Sowders, playing drums and percussion.

With a sound reminiscent of the Buffalo Springfield and the Flying Burrito Brothers, but with a harder edge, they anticipated the alternative country music of the 1990s by a decade.

This 3-CD version overseen by Tom Stevens contains the re-mastered album, a set of demos from the band’s archive, and a legendary show from London’s Mean Fiddler.

Re-mastered by Andy Pearce the recordings, in Sid’s opinion, have never sounded so good.

A new booklet designed by Phil Smee contains many rare photos and memorabilia from the band’s own collections as well as liner notes by bassist Tom Stevens.

These albums precede a brand-new studio album to be released in 2019 via Cherry Red (and Omnivore in North America).

Tracklist
[CD1]
State Of Our Union:
1. Looking For Lewis And Clark
2. Lights Of Downtown
3. WDIA
4. Mason-Dixon Line
5. Here Comes That Train Again
6. Years Long Ago
7. Good Times Tomorrow, Hard Times Today
8. Two Kinds Of Love
9. You Just Can’t Ride The Boxcars Anymore
10. Capturing The Flag
11. State Of My Union
Bonus Tracks:
12. If I Were A Bramble And You Were A Rose (B-Side)
13. Southside Of The Story (B-Side)
14. Child Bride (B-Side)
15. Christmas In New Zealand (Spinning Wighats Session)

[CD2]
Demos / Control Center:
1. Good Times Tomorrow, Hard Times Today
2. Mason Dixon Line
3. South Side Of The Story
4. State Of My Union
5. Lights Of Downtown
6. Child Bride
7. Looking For Lewis And Clark
8. Two Kinds Of Love
9. WDIA
10. Here Comes That Train Again
11. You Just Can’t Ride The Boxcars Anymore
12. Years Long Ago (Demo / Tom Stevens)

[CD3]
Live At The Mean Fiddler:
1. Tell It To The Judge On Sunday
2. Still Get By
3. You Just Can’t Ride The Boxcars Anymore
4. Good Times Tomorrow
5. Wreck Of The 809
6. Lights Of Downtown
7. Run Dusty Run
8. Years Long Ago
9. Capturing The Flag
10. I Had A Dream
11. Final Wild Son
12. Baby We All Gotta Go Down
13. State Of My Union
14. Sweet Mental Revenge
15. Looking For Lewis & Clark
16. Send Me A Postcard
17. Highway 61 Revisited
18. Encore From Hell
19. 10-5-60

Amazon USA
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HGHSZZ5/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07HGHSZZ5/?tag=imwan-21

Two Fisted Tales

Description
The Long Ryders were formed in Los Angeles in 1982 by young American musicians influenced by Gram Parsons and the Byrds, with country and punk rock influences wedded together to create the Alt-Country of today. Stephen McCarthy went on to the Jayhawks while Sid Griffin moved to London and became a writer and a broadcaster.

The band featured Sid Griffin on 12-string Rickenbacker guitar, autoharp, and harmonica, Stephen McCarthy, guitar, steel guitar, mandolin, and banjo, Tom Stevens on bass, and Greg Sowders, playing drums and percussion.

With a sound reminiscent of Gram Parsons and the Buffalo Springfield, but with a harder edge, the Long Ryders anticipated the alternative country music of the 1990s by a decade.

This 3-CD version overseen by Tom Stevens contains the re-mastered album, a disc of demos from the band’s personal archives and a memorable live show from Palm Springs.

Re-mastered by Andy Pearce the recordings, in Sid’s opinion, have never sounded so good.

A new booklet designed by Phil Smee contains many rare photos and memorabilia and liner notes by Sid Griffin.

These albums precede a brand-new studio album to be released in 2019 via Cherry Red (and Omnivore in North America).

Tracklist
[CD1]
Two Fisted Tales:
1. Gunslinger Man
2. I Want You Bad
3. A Stitch In Time
4. The Light Gets In The Way
5. Prairie Fire
6. Baby’s In Toyland
7. Long Story Short
8. Man Of Misery
9. Harriet Tubman’s Gonna Carry Me Home
10. For The Rest Of My Days
11. Spectacular Fall
Bonus Tracks:
12. Ring Bells
13. 17 Ways
14. Blues Theme

[CD2]
Demos / Control Center, L.A.:
1. Prairie Fire
2. He’s Got Himself A Young Girl
3. Baby’s In Toyland
4. Man Of Misery
5. Flak Jacket
6. Harriet Tubman’s Gonna Carry Me Home
7. 17 Ways
Demos / Score One, Burbank:
8. Gunslinger Man
9. How Do We Feel What’s Real?
10. Basic Black
11. Light Gets In The Way
12. A Stitch In Time
13. Long Story Short
14. He Can Hear His Brother Calling
15. The Upper Hand
Demos / Penguin Studios, Pasadena:
16. Pushin’ Uphill
17. Ring Bells
18. Sad Sad Songs
19. For The Rest Of My Days
20. Spectacular Fall

[CD3]
Live At Oasis Water Park, Palm Springs, CA:
1. Gunslinger Man
2. Man Of Misery
3. Prairie Fire
4. Lights Of Downtown
5. A Stitch In Time
6. State Of My Union
7. Baby’s In Toyland
8. Harriet Tubman’s Gonna Carry Me Home
9. The Light Gets In The Way
10. Long Story Short
11. Capturing The Flag
12. I Had A Dream
13. Spectacular Fall

Amazon USA
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HGGQ3RB/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07HGGQ3RB/?tag=imwan-21

Rick A · 23 Jul 2006

Having the Cherry Red box I thought I am 'completely' covered BUT now I am not so sure. :facepalm:

Linda · **Posted:** Mon Sep 24, 2018 1:20 pm

Bump: The pre-order links in the first post are now active.

eelkiller · **Joined:** 10 Dec 2006 **Posts:** 1681

Ordered, love the band.

Linda · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2018 8:26 pm

Here's the packshot for the Two Fisted Tales 3CD set. Very nice, and it does includes both variants of the cover art -- one on the outer box and the other as the sleeve for CD1:

Linda · **Posted:** Thu Nov 15, 2018 9:15 pm

And here's what the State Of Our Union set will look like:

Linda · **Posted:** Fri Nov 30, 2018 10:06 pm

Vintage promo videos from these two fantastic albums:

Linda · **Posted:** Tue Dec 04, 2018 6:46 pm

Pre-order details for The Long Ryders' new studio album (which was mentioned in the descriptions for both of these Expanded Editions) are now available in this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=107419

Seth Hollander · **Joined:** 23 May 2015 **Posts:** 58

Got my copy of State Of Our Union the other day (my 4th or 5th time getting this music!).
I found the mastering on the Final Wild Songs box over-compressed, rendering "Looking..." as a wall of throb.
This does sound like (and look like, via waveform viewing) a new mastering. And it is airier and clearer.
If you were on the fence about buying it because you have the box, get off that fence!
The sound improvement (to my ears) makes me think about buying Two Fisted Tales, despite me having all the album and demo tracks once or twice already (on the Prima re-issue, the Anthology compilation, and/or the box).
Hoping my four-year old goes to sleep soon so I can listen to the demo and concert discs tonight!

Linda · **Posted:** Sat Dec 29, 2018 8:22 am

Seasonal sale at Amazon USA for the State Of Our Union 3CD Expanded Edition -- $22.32, plus a further 10%-off coupon that can be clicked on at the link:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HGHSZZ5/?tag=imwan-20

Rick A · 23 Jul 2006

Should have my Long Ryders reissues today and Yes Linda, I had coupons for both. :yay:

eelkiller · **Joined:** 10 Dec 2006 **Posts:** 1681

Both collections sound very nice, there is no need to talk about the quality of the music I assume. FAN****ingTASTIC group.

Rick A · 23 Jul 2006

eelkiller wrote:

Both collections sound very nice, there is no need to talk about the quality of the music I assume. FAN****ingTASTIC group.

Absolutely, actually right after the play of Sloan the Long Ryders will follow.

Rick A · 23 Jul 2006

The second discs in both packages are really great. In some ways their more of an alternate take than a demo, their that good. The second disc(s) in both sets will be my go to discs for the Ryders for the foreseeable future.

eelkiller · **Joined:** 10 Dec 2006 **Posts:** 1681

Rick A wrote:

eelkiller wrote:

Both collections sound very nice, there is no need to talk about the quality of the music I assume. FAN****ingTASTIC group.

Absolutely, actually right after the play of Sloan the Long Ryders will follow.

Sloan? You have good taste.

[2018-11-30] The Long Ryders "State Of Our Union" and "Two Fisted Tales" 3CD Expanded Editions (Cherry Red UK)

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