"I Know You Rider" is very well known in versions by the Grateful Dead and other performers who have learned it from them. However the song clearly predates the existence of the Dead as a group in any form. The Byrds recorded a great version in 1966 (it wasn't released until years later but is now available on the explanded "Fifth Dimension" CD), and also Vince Martin and Fred Neil issued a version in 1964! It was the lead-off cut of their Elektra album Martin & Neil, Tear Down the Walls -- Fred's first LP -- you can occasionally find this as a Japanese import CD. Is Fred the first guy to perform the song in a version recognizable as being essentially the same song the Dead did later? Or are there other pre-Dead versions I haven't run across?

Please note that in asking this question, I don't mean to ask if there are traditional blues uses of the VERSES the Dead sing. I know there are plenty of those. But "I Know You Rider" as we know it now is a distinctive song in its own right, not just a traditional blues lyric. It's characterized by a distintive melody line, a descending line which is sung over a cycle of major triads (without dominant 7ths), rather than over the normal 12-bar blues changes (I, IV, V with dominant 7ths). It's a song which is rooted in traditional blues but has its own identity and character. The Martin-Neil and Byrds versions are definitely the same song the Dead popularized. But who originated it? Any comments very welcome! E-mail me directly, jjmusic@ix.netcom.com, and/or post results here. Thanks! -- Johnny Harper