The Long Ryders
Louisville, Kentucky-born singer, songwriter, guitarist, mandolin player, bandleader, author and confirmed anglophile, Sid Griffin has had a lifelong love affair with music, specifically any type of music with a country tinge.
This love and vision of a contemporary sound that contained all the positive elements of country rock - mixed with morsels of punk - resulted in one of, if not the most memorable outfits to be spawned from the mid-80's Paisley Underground scene, The Long Ryders.
The band, in its short recording career, produced one absolute classic, one classic and another that teetered on the brink of 'classicness'.
Despite becoming a much maligned genre, at the time The Long Ryders had the Paisley Underground scene at their mercy and, after opening for U2 on the North American leg of the Joshua Tree tour, looked as if their massive break into the mainstream was just around the corner.
The break was in fact there, but the band was not, as they called it a day after losing two members in 1987.
The Long Ryders evolved out of the ashes of The Unclaimed, a garage punk outfit formed by Griffin in 1979.
They released an EP in 1980, prior to Griffin leaving the outfit with bassist Barry Shank to form what was the seedling of The Long Ryders.
Initially the band consisted of Griffin and Shank with Greg Sowders on drums and Steve Wynn on guitar. This line up was short-lived as Wynn went on to form another seminal Paisley Underground outfit, Dream Syndicate, and Shank left to pursue a degree. Des Brewer was brought in to replace Shank and Stephen McCarthy took over guitar duties.
This line up remained together long enough for the bands 1983 debut EP, 10-5-60.
The title track is a countryinfluenced, garage track that cuts the path for what would be the Long Ryders' trademark sound: lots of guitars and energy, held together with a vocal delivery that is not a million miles away from latter period Joe Strummer.
The EP is good and taken in the context of the band's history it has all the important influences: The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and a tad of bluegrass.
Brewer left after the release of the EP and was replaced by Tom Stevens.
Here we have the classic Long Ryders line up that would stay together until the band's demise.
In 1984 the Long Ryders released their first full length, and career highlight, offering, Native Sons.
It is at this juncture that I became familiar with the band, initially with the record sleeve that was displayed temptingly in the shop window of Vinyl Experience in Hanway Street, just off of Tottenham Court Road.
Being a young vinyl addict that worked in Oxford Street, if I wasn't out buying records during my lunch break, I was in the Blue Posts talking about them.
Anyhow, this ' buy me' record sleeve was in the window and it was a week before the end of the month so the purchase was a no go.
I resisted asking the lads at the shop for a listen as I just knew this was my type of music… ah, the naivety of youth - anyhow once the day came and the vinyl hit the deck there was no turning back; I needed to mainline the Long Ryders on a daily basis. There were many lost souls that used to hang around Hanway Street, but none more so than this vinyl junkie and his copy of Native Sons.
Anyhow, I digress; Native Sons, then as now, conjures up a magical fusion of Gram parsons and The Byrds mixed with punk, pure country, guitars and extremely catchy tunes. This was the sound that summed up the Paisley Underground. The album finished with the anthemic I Had a Dream, which climaxes with a bouncing, guitar-based instrumental overture that sounds as if it is hailing in a new musical dawn.
Of course it is nothing of the sort, but that is how it felt then and to some extent the track still awakens something deep inside of me.
The following year the band, now signed to a major label (Island Records), released State of our Union, containing the single and unforgettable country-influenced, rabble rousing anthem, Looking for Lewis and Clark, which made it kickin' and screamin' into the charts.
It was this release that gained the Long Ryders much wider exposure and led them to the brink of greatness.
Checking out Youtube videos from the time, particularly their 1985 performances on Whistle Test and a live video recorded at the Mean Fiddler, and you will see an ebullient group at the top of their power, having loads of fun and giving the fans the best that they could. Truly memorable stuff.
The band's swansong came in 1987 with the release of Two Fisted Tails, again another extremely strong set of classic tunes.
The album is a fusion of all of the previous sounds and was a fitting, if very unexpected send off.
In 2004, following a 17 year hiatus, The Long Ryders reunited for a European tour, including their first ever performance at Glastonbury (although it would have been more fitting in 1985-87 as then both the festival and the band were forging new frontiers - Glastonbury for acceptance, as it was not always a must attend fashion statement; and the band with their brand of cowpunk country rock).
This was followed in 2009 with their first US appearances in 22 years (two concerts to be exact).
Despite not having released any new material since Two Fisted Tails, The Long Ryders have issued a number of live albums and anthologies that only serve to reignite the record buying public's enthusiasm.
One of The Long Ryders' most rewarding stomping grounds was Spain and to reward the loyalty of those fans the band will be performing an exclusive four-date tour in the country at the beginning of December.
Fortunately for us, one of those eagerly awaited shows will be at Sala El Loco in Valencia on December 5.
I Had a Dream… and it just came true.