Ballad of Easy Rider

Peter Fonda wanted Bob Dylan's "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" for Easy Rider and could not license it, so he asked Roger McGuinn to cover it instead. Dylan gave Fonda a few lines on a napkin as a theme, and McGuinn expanded them into a song. Dylan later asked for his name to be taken off after seeing the film, which is why most releases credit McGuinn alone; MusicBrainz lists McGuinn as composer and McGuinn and Dylan as lyricists.

McGuinn's solo version, with acoustic guitar and Gene Parsons on harmonica, was recorded in February 1969 at Columbia Studios in Hollywood and runs 2:15; it opens the Easy Rider soundtrack album in August 1969. The Byrds recorded their own, faster version on June 18, 1969, with Terry Melcher producing and an orchestral string overdub. It was issued as a single on October 1, 1969, backed with Oil in My Lamp, and was not released in the UK.

Charts and meaning

The Byrds single reached number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 21 in Italy. David Fricke of Rolling Stone wrote that it captured the weary blues and dashed expectations of a decade's worth of social insurrection, as summarized on the song's Wikipedia page. McGuinn's own account of the lyric was not found.

The upload on hypersongs is the long version, a bonus track on the 1997 Columbia/Legacy reissue of the album at 2:26; the original album and single take runs 2:01. The reissue also carries an alternate mix with a Clarence White guitar solo cut from the album version, and it is not confirmed whether that is the same mix as the long version.

Covers and later performances

Fairport Convention recorded it, issued as a bonus on the 2003 reissue of Unhalfbricking, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers played it live in 1987, dedicated to River Phoenix, as heard on The Live Anthology. McGuinn still performs it; a live version is on his 2007 album Live from Spain.