Remembering the 16-Track Album Peter Fonda Recorded with David Crosby and the Byrds’ Roger McGuinn That Was Never Released

Immersed in the 1960s counterculture, Peter Fonda inspired the Beatles’ 1966 Revolver track, “She Said She Said,” during a party with John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison, the Byrds‘ Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, and other guests at the Los Angeles home of Zsa Zsa Gabor in 1965. Lennon was inspired to write the song after hearing Fonda recall a near-death experience as a child, and repeated, “I know what it’s like to be dead.”

An avid user of LSD during the ’60s, the psychedelic was also behind Fonda crossing paths with Gram Parsons two years later. At the time. Fonda was working on Roger Corman’s 1967 psychedelic drama, The Trip, which was written by actor Jack Nicholson and explores the LSD culture. In the film, Fonda plays Peter Groves, a TV commercial director looking for an escape as his marriage is ending, and is introduced to LSD by his friend John, the “guru,” played by Bruce Dern.

For the film, Fonda suggested that Parsons’ group, the International Submarine Band, supply a song for the soundtrack. When jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela heard Fonda playing guitar at a party and encouraged the actor to also record something.

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[RELATED: 3 Songs Jack Nicholson Sang or Wrote, Including One Written for The Monkees]

“November Night” (1965)

Written by Parsons and co-produced by Masekela, the psychedelic-folk “November Night,” following a love story in the midst of a trip, was released as a single by Fonda, along with a B-side cover of Donovan’s 1965 folk song “Catch the Wind.”

“I heard it and said to Gram, ‘That’s terrific,’” recalled Fonda in Sid Griffin’s 1985 book Gram Parsons: A Music Biography. “I recorded it [‘November Night’], and Gram said how thrilled he was. He taught me how to play it, and I went and practiced it and practiced it and went out and cut it.”

A decade after releasing “November Night,” Fonda recorded more music, singing four songs for the 1977 Richard T. Heffron-helmed drama Outlaw Blues, co-starring Susan Saint James, including the title track, “Jailbirds Can’t Fly,” “I Dream of Highways,” and “Water for My Horses.”

The Lost Album

In 1969, Fonda intended for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young to write an original soundtrack for Easy Rider, but co-screenwriter and director Dennis Hopper didn’t think the band fit the grittier nature of the film and wanted more contemporary rock songs. Instead, the soundtrack features tracks by Steppenwolf, the Band’s “The Weight,” Jimi Hendrix’s “If 6 Was,” the Byrds’ “Wasn’t Born to Follow,” and two songs by McGuinn, who also wrote the title track, “Ballad of Easy Rider.” The song is also credited to Bob Dylan, who wrote “the river flows, it flows to the seawherever that river flows, that’s where I want to be, flow river flow,” on a napkin for Fonda to give to McGuinn.

“Peter Fonda and I had been friends since I worked with Bobby Darin,” recalled McGuinn in 2025. “We kept up a relationship over the years.”

Recorded by McGuinn on acoustic guitar alongside the Byrds’ Gene Parsons on harmonica, the song was initially released in August 1969 on the Easy Rider soundtrack, before the Byrds released their version months later on the album Ballad of Easy Rider.

Years earlier, Fonda, who co-owned Chisa Records with Masekela, Larry Spector, recorded 16 songs with help from Crosby and McGuinn, initially intended for the film. The album-worth of tracks, which also included contributions from Masekela, was eventually shelved by Fonda, who didn’t think it was up to standard for release.

In his 1999 memoir, Don’t Tell Dad, Fonda explained his decision to never release the recordings with Crosby and McGuinn. “That was my right,” he said. “It simply wasn’t there.”

McGuinn and Fonda intended to perform together during the 50th anniversary event for Easy Rider. Following Fonda’s death in August 2019, McGuinn went forward, performing “The Ballad of Easy Rider” and his cover of Dylan’s “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding),” which also appears on the original soundtrack, as a tribute to Fonda.

Photo: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images