SidGriffin.com - Long Ryders

+ The Long Ryders are set to play their first US dates in 21 years when they perform a brace of reunion shows next January.

+ Click here for further details

>>>> The DVD release of live footage of the Long Ryders sole reunion tour in 2004 will be released on Prima DVD in late 2008. Included as extras is some footage of the band live in the UK in March 1985!

The Long Ryders heartily approve of the audio recording and videotaping of their shows. However those who videoed or filmed the band on their recent reunion tour PLEASE, PLEASE do send Sid Griffin a copy at P.O. Box 2539, London, England NW3 6DF, United Kingdom. A very sincere thanks to those who have sent footage in already!

A Long Ryders' rare version of Bob Dylan's Masters Of War appeared on a free give away CD in Mojo magazine's July 2005 issue whose theme was Dylan. Simultaneously Uncut magazine's free CD had the Long Ryders' And She Rides on it! And besides a DVD of live performance footage taken from their 2004 reunion tour there is also a separate Long Ryders Live 2004: State Of Our Re-union CD which was released on Prima Records late in 2007.

Barcelona 5 November 2004. Photo: Mike Kostek

The last Long Ryders gig ever. Note Sid Griffin's Lennonesque "Elvis Beatle" appearance (circa Revolver) and 1966 Gibson ES-345 guitar.

Backstage at McCabe's in Santa Monica, CA with
Gene Clark - Aug 10, 1984. Photo:the late Gary Nichamin

From L to R: Stephen McCarthy, Tom Stevens, the late great Gene Clark, a geeky Sid Griffin and Greg Sowders who now hasn't smoked a cigarette in years.

The Long Ryders are: Sid Griffin guitar, harmonica, autoharp, therapy & vocals, Greg Sowders drums, percussion & song publishing, Tom Stevens bass, acoustic bass, computer genius & vocals and Stephen McCarthy main guitar, banjo, mandolin, lap steel & vocals.

Early bass players included Des Brewer and Professor Barry Shank. Larry Chatman played on the band's final US tour in 1987 but did not record with the Long Ryders although his picture does appear in the original Metallic B.O. cassette. (Shank is now a full professor at Ohio State University and Chatman now is Dr. Dre's main personal assistant. Obviously leaving the band was a wise career move.)

Polaroid shot circa 1986

>>>> Click to download the Long Ryders doing "Wreck Of The 809" live from McCabe's in Santa Monica, Ca. back in 1984.

>>>> The Long Ryders hope to play concerts again one day "soon", if not summer 2009 then summer 2010. Continental Europe remains the likely place.

:: Storm Productions have posted Long Ryders footage from 2004's reunion tour up on their website

:: Last ever gig!! Barcelona 5 November 2004 (Click to enlarge):

Photos: Mike Kostek

>>>> State of the Reunion Tour Summer 2004 - Photo Page!!

:: There are some cosmic photos of Sid Griffin and the Long Ryders for sale at the Photobox Gallery

:: Listen to 2 new MP3s from The State of the Reunion Tour: Teenage Kicks and You're Gonna Miss Me

:: *Video* Audience camcorder recording of the Long Ryders at Dingwalls, London, 30 June 2004 - Gunslinger Man Video Clip ~ Courtesy of Tot ~

:: The Long Ryders - Outside King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow - July 3, 2004:


With opening act Greg Trooper (far left)

:: Listen to Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (completely unrehearsed, opening act Greg Trooper sings it) and Stephen McCarthy's charming (and very danceable) The Light Gets In The Way, both recorded live at the Irish Centre, Leeds, UK - The State of Our Reunion Tour - 7 July 2004. A live Long Ryders CD recorded on the tour was released in late 2007.

Click here to see pictures of the Long Ryders: Glastonbury Festival 2004.

:: On June 14, 2004 Prima Records Ltd. released the single CD set The Best Of The Long Ryders. The CD contains over an hour of the Long Ryders' best music with several of the tracks appearing on CD for the first time in Europe. In November 2004 Uncut magazine in England put "Looking For Lewis & Clark" on their free giveaway CD, naming The Best Of The Long Ryders as one of the best reissues of the year!

:: The Long Ryders live DVD Rockin' At The Roxy is now out in the USA in NTSC format, through Ventura Distribution. See below. A UK version is available from Classic Pictures in Twickenham. Recommended though not for the faint-hearted.

:: Ex-Long Ryder Stephen McCarthy was a member of the proud (and now sadly disbanded) act The Jayhawks, a great band made even better by his presence. Today McCarthy is writing musicals back in his native Richmond, Virginia.

:: The BBC is searching its archives for the April 1985 Long Ryders concert at the Mean Fiddler in Harlesden, north London. The show was filmed for the Whistle Test TV program and if the footage is located the BBC intend to release it as a DVD, possibly with an accompanying live CD of the entire performance. Stay tuned!

:: In early 2001, The Manic Street Preachers played a groundbreaking gig in Havana, and before they played Fidel Castro addressed the crowd. The music Castro walked onstage to was Looking For Lewis And Clark. Sadly the famous dictator did not sing along with Sid's song but acknowledged the crowd's applause as it continued playing.

:: Pete Frame's latest book More Rock Family Trees (Omnibus Press ISBN 0-7119-6879-9) contains a very fine full page Long Ryders tree along with a page devoted to The Rain Parade and a double page spread on the entire LA "Paisley Underground" scene. These works of art were commissioned by Demon Records in 1985 and Pete's amazing and informative Long Ryders family tree is reproduced in the CD booklet for The Best Of The Long Ryders.

Photo: Richard D. Schoenberg