Product Description
RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 20, 2026 - MITCH RYDER - SONGS FOR THE ROAD - DVD & CD SET
The legend is back with a DVD/CD set, recorded live in Berlin, Germany on March 6, 2025.
MITCH RYDER
Songs From The Road
Ruf Records
While Mitch Ryder has continued to release American albums in the six decades since his early hits “Devil with the Blues Dress On,” “Jenny Take A Ride” and “Sock It to Me,” he has enjoyed limited success in the United States while becoming a major chart topper in Germany. “What’s happening in America is my demographic is a bunch of old people,” he told me in 2024.
“My demographic in Europe is quite different. We have all ages. We have people bringing their children. The children bring their grandchildren. We have been working every year in Europe twice – two months every year since 1975. Over the years bringing over American bands since 1975.”
The CD Songs From The Road was recorded at Frannz Club in Berlin, Germany, in March of 2025 and DVD recorded at Gemeindesaal in Lindewerra, Germany. The double disk is on Ruf Records, which releases product in both Germany and United States. This is the first domestic Mitch Ryder release to feature live cuts recorded in Germany.
With the exception of The Doors’ “Soul Kitchen,” the songs are all written by William Levise, Ryder’s real name, with the exception of “The Artist,” “Tough Kid,” and “War” written by him and his wife. At his age (by the time you read this, he will be 81) his voice has a certain flutter, but it only adds a certain spice to songs that still hit the mark
“I don’t have much time left for this game,” he sings with a degree of gusto matched by a band that includes Laura Chavez and Sean Athens on guitar, Tomek Germann on bass, Denis Palatin on drums, and keyboardist Lea Worms. “The last time I was in the top 100 in Billboard was in ‘83. All of prior releases in the top 100 were in 1965 to ‘70, and it’s a different ballgame the way they chart those top 100 and the blues charts. I’m sure some of Ruf’s artists have appeared on the on blues charts in America, but I’m not aware of any of them appearing in the Billboard Hot 100. The way the music business is in America now nobody really has a strong hand. There’s a lot of consolidation and collaboration find many, many partners to make something happen. There’s nobody that’s really in control anymore.”
There’s no reason this album shouldn’t bring Ryder a level of success that matches his early American hits (none of which he wrote), and Ruf is to be commended for giving American Ryder fans the same sound that has made him a European staple for so long.
– Don Wilcock