[11][12] In early 1969, the script writer and leading actor of Easy Rider, Peter Fonda, asked Bob Dylan to compose a theme song for the film.

"[8][13] The fragment was dutifully passed on to Roger McGuinn, the Byrds' lead guitarist, who added his own lyrical and musical contributions to complete the song, which he titled "Ballad of Easy Rider".

The first was the version included on the Easy Rider soundtrack album, which was listed as a solo performance by McGuinn, although it also featured fellow Byrd Gene Parsons on harmonica.

[8] York had become increasingly disenchanted with his position in the Byrds, and had been vocal about his reluctance to perform material that had been written and recorded before he had joined the band, believing it was spurious of him to do so.

[9][14] The Byrds' version of the song also features the addition of an orchestra, which had been added by Melcher in an attempt to emulate the then-recent hit singles "Gentle on My Mind" by Glen Campbell and "Everybody's Talkin'" by Harry Nilsson.

[1] Other covers on the album included Woody Guthrie's "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)", a poignant account of a plane crash involving migrant farm workers; the gospel-styled "Jesus Is Just Alright", which went on to influence The Doobie Brothers' hit recording of the song; and Pamela Polland's "Tulsa County Blue", which would become a moderate country hit for Anita Carter in 1971.

[16] An outtake recording of "Tulsa County Blue" with York singing was finally released as a bonus track on the 1997 Columbia/Legacy reissue of Ballad of Easy Rider.

[2] Another cover included on the album was "There Must Be Someone (I Can Turn To)", a song principally written by country singer Vern Gosdin, after he returned home one evening to find that his wife had left him and taken their children with her.

[2] The Byrds also recorded a number of traditional songs for the album: the sea shanty "Jack Tarr the Sailor", which McGuinn sang in an approximation of an English accent; a harmony-laden arrangement of the Baptist hymn "Oil in My Lamp"; a rendition of "Way Beyond the Sun", which had been inspired by the song's appearance on the debut album by Pentangle; and a Moog synthesizer dominated version of "Fiddler a Dram".

[2][22] The album also featured the John York composition "Fido", a song written about a stray dog that the bass player had encountered in a Kansas City hotel room while on tour.

[6] The "Ballad of Easy Rider" single was released ahead of the album on October 1, 1969 (b/w "Oil in My Lamp") and reached number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

[3] This renewed success was, in part, due to the band's public profile having been increased as a result of their involvement with Easy Rider and the inclusion of three Byrds-related songs on the film's soundtrack album.

"[3][34] Todd Selbert, writing in Jazz & Pop magazine, was more positive, describing the album as "Pretty good Byrds—their best effort since the stunning The Notorious Byrd Brothers.

The band sounds tight, self-assured, and fully in touch with the music's emotional palette, and Clarence White's guitar work is truly a pleasure to hear.

It was reissued in an expanded form on March 25, 1997 with seven bonus tracks, including the outtakes, "Way Beyond the Sun", "Fiddler a Dram (Moog Experiment)", a rendition of "Tulsa County Blue" with John York singing lead vocals[2] and "Mae Jean Goes to Hollywood"; written by the then little-known Jackson Browne.