Roxy Gordon (First Coyote Boy): Crazy Horse Never Died
Today we are honored to announce our partnership with the estate of Choctaw, Assiniboine, and Texan poet, journalist, artist, activist, and musician Roxy Gordon (First Coyote Boy) (1945–2000), whose long out-of-print work has been acclaimed by friends such as Townes Van Zandt, Leonard Cohen, and Terry Allen. Our reissue campaign begins on May 12 with Gordon’s remarkable private-press album (and accompanying poetry chapbook) from 1988, which we encourage you to preview and preorder below.
Arrestingly singular and deeply moving, Crazy Horse Never Died sets Gordon’s cold-blooded, bone-lean reflections on the complexities and contradictions of American Indian (and American) history and identity to atmospheric, synth-damaged country-rock that skirts ambient textures and postpunk deconstructions. Listen to “I Used to Know an Assiniboine Girl,” the devastating centerpiece of the record, below.
The gatefold package of this first-ever reissue—a decade in the making and the first in an archival series—includes new and restored artwork and a chapbook, featuring forty-eight pages of lyrics, essays, photographs, and First Coyote Boy’s extraordinary drawings for each song. (The chapbook is included in the LP edition only and also available for purchase separately.)
Pre-Order the LP, CD, and Chapbook
$9.00 – $37.00
Other Options (physical/digital/international)
Stream “I Used to Know an Assiniboine Girl”
“Roxy Gordon is a brother of mine. I don’t like the word ‘poet’; it is usually used too lightly. Roxy, however, is a real one. God bless him and the buffalo he rode in on.” – Townes Van Zandt
“His work is strong. The word goes out. Can a change come on dove’s feet?” – Leonard Cohen
“Roxy Gordon is one of the great outlaw artist American misfits. He writes like an angel and sings like livin’ hell. His voice is as stone, true as the history of blood and dirt.” – Terry Allen
“Someday maybe Steinbeck will be my favorite writer again but, right now, it’s Roxy Gordon.” – John Stewart
- The first-ever reissue, a decade in the making and the first in an archival series, of Roxy Gordon’s scarce and long out-of-print 1988 album, his first widely distributed set of recordings.
- Deluxe LP edition features 140g virgin vinyl; a gatefold jacket with restored, new, and alternate art and photos; and a 48pp. chapbook (PoB-069) with lyrics, essays, photographs, and First Coyote Boy’s extraordinary drawings for each song. (The chapbook is included in the LP edition only and also available for purchase separately.)
- Deluxe CD edition features a gatefold jacket with restored, new, and alternate art and photos, and insert (CD edition does not include the chapbook).
- RIYL: Terry Allen, Leonard Cohen, Jesse Ed Davis, Willie Dunn, Butch Hancock, Willie French Lowery, John Trudell, Keith Secola, Buffy St. Marie, Townes Van Zandt, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Link Wray, Light in the Attic’s Native North America
- Artist page/links/catalog
- Smart link
Roxy Gordon, Coleman County Legend
Roxy, who grew up in Talpa, Texas, has been announced as this year’s “Coleman County Legend” at The Western Film Festival, taking place April 21–22 in Coleman, Texas.
For more information on the festival, visit the festival’s website.
For more information on Gordon’s extraordinary life story, prolific work across various media, and legacy, please visit his website and Facebook page, as well as the PoB artist page.