Les Fradkin – I Know You Rider – Single Review

Les Fradkin, the prolific progenitor of progressive and orchestral pop stewed and sweetened under a penetrating pacific sun (now say that five times without a single, insufferable stutter), returns with another track from his impressive, prodigious catalog. Prepare yourself for “I Know You Rider” – a slight but consistently Fradkin-esque blues/country departure clothed in sun-glittering, ‘60s-gleaming California rock. Ready for the next Les Fradkin musical feat? Let’s listen, and talk about it.

Wait. Who does what?

Les Fradkin tackles vocals, 12-String Guitar, Lead Guitar, and Bass.

Greg Witchel huffs and puffs handily the Harmonica.

Paul Harris, who played with Steve Stills, Manassas, John Sebastian, and Roger McGuinn, hammers with care the Yamaha DX5 Keyboards.

Warren Odze, who played with Judy Collins, strikes assertively but never damages the Drums.

What’s the impetus, the meaning behind, and/or the inspiration for “I Know You Rider?”

Per Mr. Fradkin, “[I was] trying to do something modern with the Country Blues and turn it into Pop, similar to The Byrds approach to “Mr. Tambourine Man.” [It was] originally recorded digitally on the Synclavier Digital Music System in 1995, first released in 2000 on the album “Godzology” and now, updated and remixed for 2025.”

Ready? Good.

Listening, and talking about it.

“I Know You Rider” immediately conveys that aforementioned Byrds vibe with Fradkin’s use of shimmering 12-string electric guitar. The arpeggio screams tassel-dangling leather coats, long beads wagging from high collared vests, and a permeating, psychedelic communal awakening. And with a tastefully overlaid melodic lead, I’m fine with simply replaying the intro ad infinitum…but there’s simply more song to explore.

The arpeggio continues with lead guitar responses, and Les Fradkin’s vocals both testify and reach high for hope; they’re joined by a subtle falsetto and eliciting bold and conjoined decrees across vast, open expanses.

The drums rumble forward, expressing rhythms of rough and tenaciously traveled roads and a general sense of onward, slightly ominous motion. There’s the implied answering to a challenge here; a dust-covered, sternly sung journey across hundreds of miles in an effort to verify man’s explorative mettle when met with hidden, indigenous dangers and callous, uncrossibe plateaus. It’s a song for the road forcefully made through unconquered lands, and for settlers who suffered to grant generations a newer, kinder home.

After a melodic guitar solo at about 1:17, and a series of trailing, train-whistling harmonic puffs, the song, after delivering a familiar refrain, simply parks its wagon before claiming a newly settled landscape with its final, sustained, but parched and exasperated notes.

So… is it good?

When applying this question to any Les Fradkin release, the answer is obvious: OF COURSE! This country-western backroad is suffused with Fradkin’s welcome array of layered instrumentation and orchestral pop sensibilities. “I Know You Rider” is from somewhere genuine; it paints a landscape with space-building aural tones and transient borders; it brings you in, saddles you up, and grants passage to the tumultuous and peaceful paths you’ll take. It’s the music of explorative musical decades, and an ageless testament to travelers who built the foundations for more explorations to come. This is Les Fradkin, folks, and he’ll take you to sonic places still teeming with unseen lands, unseemly natural obstacles, and promising, ultimately habitable hope. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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BELOW: Listen to Les Fradkin and check him out on Bandcamp, Soundcloud, YouTube, ReverbNation, Twitter/“X”, Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. Please support Les Fradkin by visiting his website and playing, downloading, and/or purchasing his music. And, as always, thank you for supporting real music.