C.C. Riders | Monsieur Jeffrey Evans and his C.C. Riders LP
C.C. Riders were: Monsieur Jeffrey Evans (vocals, guitar), James Arthur (guitar), Jay Reatard (guitar) and Alicja Trout (drums). The band was something of a Memphis super group. Jeffrey Evans had formerly fronted the Gibson Bros. and was winding down '68 Comeback when C.C. Riders formed in 2000. James Arthur, who had recently moved to Memphis from Los Angeles, was an ex-member of Fireworks and The Necessary Evils. Jay Reatard (Reatards) and Alicja Trout (ex-Clears, Mouserocket) were just getting Lost Sounds off the ground when Jeffrey asked them to round out the C.C. Riders lineup. "With C.C. Riders I was basically doing what I always did, covering songs and writing a couple," recalls Jeffrey Evans. "We had a Friday night practice. It was fun. Some people play cards. We played music. We practiced from like eight to ten, so we still had time for dinner before practice and then maybe catch a show afterwards."
In 2001, Alicja and Jay recorded C.C. Riders' self-titled CD. The CD-R was released on Trout's Contaminated label; it was hand numbered and limited to only 100 copies. Among the album's highlights is a flushed out version of Evans' stellar original, "Long, Long Ballad of the Red-Headed Girl" "(The song) has a walk-down chord progression," states Evans. "The song also appears on (the amazing half spiel/half song acoustic record) I've Lived a Rich Life. It was much more orchestral with C.C. Riders. I don't know if I could write a song like that today. We just banged that C.C. Riders record out. We got what we got."
"Live shows were so much fun!" recalls Alicja Trout. "We played about ten to fifteen shows. Jeffrey was always changing stuff up live or forcing an uncomfortably new song on us. That touch of chaos was just what I needed. I know both Jay and I liked to be very prepared, Jay more than me. Jay was a great musician and so it was interesting to see him struggle when something got thrown in his face unplanned in the live arena. Same for me. It was always cool for James Arthur. He's an easy going personality."
C.C. Riders played their last shows and wound down around 2002.
Spacecase Records has pressed up 500 vinyl copies of this C.C. Riders reissue LP. Outside of the Contaminated CD-R release in 2001, this is the only other pressing of the album available.
