Friday, April 22, 2011


Paisley Underground Series, #3: The Long Ryders- State of Our Union (1985) MP3 & FLAC


"I was thinking about the late Tim Hardin (looking for Lewis and Clark)."

Integrating country music and psychedelia was nothing new in the early eighties; after all, the late sixties bore witness to the Gram-era Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and Country Joe & The Fish to name but a few, and fifteen years later, the Paisley Underground scene followed suit in equally fine fashion. While there were a lot of bands attempting to resurrect the ghost of Gram Parsons, none came closer than The Long Ryders whose mix of cowpunk, country, Jangle-Pop, and Psychedelia set the stage in every conceivable way for the "No Depression" movement of the nineties. State of Our Union was the band's second full-length and first major label release. While there is a palpable production sheen cast over the proceedings, it ultimately lends this brilliant set of songs a certain punchiness that serves the music well. The album kicks off with a stone-cold classic in "Looking for Lewis and Clark," a powerful political anthem that sets out to punch a few holes in Reagan's "morning in America" myth. Another standout is "Here Comes That Train Again," a gorgeously spacious piece of Jangle-Pop that virtually embodies Gram Parson's vision of cosmic American cowboy music. State of Our Union is one of the most beautiful and enduring albums to emerge from the Paisley Underground scene as well as one of the most eloquently progressive albums of the eighties. Not to be missed.

The State of Our Union (1990 Expanded Edition)
 1. Looking for Lewis and Clark  (3:09)
 2. Lights of Downtown  (3:11)
 3. WDIA  (3:44)
 4. Mason-Dixon Line  (4:23)
 5. Here Comes That Train Again  (3:24)
 6. Years Long Ago  (3:39)
 7. Good Times Tomorrow, Hard Times Today  (3:58)
 8. Two Kinds of Love  (4:20)
 9. You Just Can't Ride the Boxcars Anymore  (3:02)
10. Capturing the Flag  (3:52)
11. State of My Union  (4:48)
-Bonus Tracks-
12. If I Were a Bramble and You Were a Rose  (3:16)
13. Southside of the Story  (2:51)
14. Child Bride  (3:42)
15. Christmas in New Zealand  (4:31)



17 comments:

  1. They sounded and looked! like the Gram-era Byrds. Talkin' bout Country Joe & The Fish, the oda day I was watching with my brother Zachariah (1971) besides them playing, it has Elvin Jones doing some mad solos with James Gang. And it has Don Johnson on it too!?? Gracias for the 'Expanded Edition'.

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  2. El Isabelino, I'll have to check that out, and enjoy the Long Ryders!

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  3. Another of those bands of which I have heard good reviews, but never got the chance to listen to any of their albums... and this one sounds excellent! Reminds me a bit of The Del Lords. Thanks a lot!
    (sorry for my terrible English)

    Cheers!

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  4. I have to be honest. I never heard of The Long Riders. I look forward to giving this a listen. Thanks!

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  5. Dave, your English is great and yes, I'd forgotten about the Del Lords

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  6. scurfie, this will appeal to anyone who likes Gram Parsons/Byrds/Flying Burrito Brothers (all of which will appear in this series at some point)

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  7. Excellent post voixautre.
    I was looking for this one in lossless.
    Another band of alt. country of that era was the Jet Black Berries. Their first LP "Sundown On Venus" is great. No CD release.
    Any chance for this in lossless?

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  8. Marquis, I'll look around for that one. Maybe I'll find a vinyl rip somewhere

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  9. BOR3AS, you're welcome. I've got several more from LRs that I'll post in the series

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  10. Thanks a lot.

    This is a bit Sureal. Have you been looking at my vinyl collection ? :-)

    Surely the next one will be Green on red (!?)
    Since I have a few on CD, may I ask for Gravity Talks or the first EPs, if you have them ?

    If I understand corectly, Violent Femmes are not part of the Paisley Underground, however, In my mind they are very conected to these bands.
    I'm interested in your view about that.

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  11. Lon, thanks for the comment. I have a lot of Green on Red and related things to post. While the Violent Femmes aren't technically related to the Paisley Underground scene, this series will include a lot more material than just Paisley bands. For example, I'm going to include a lot of sixties stuff as well as other great LA underground music of the time including Gun Club, Plimsouls and Dramarama. I might fit Violent Femmes in there somewhere.

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  12. Great ! I love Gun Club and don't know the other two you wrote, so I'm looking forward for these.

    To be honest, almost everything you upload is great and you make my life very difficult :-)

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  13. You have a wonderful site, but I seem to have found it too late. Is there any chance you might be willing to re-up and of these Paisley Underground posts?

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