In 1991 the band recorded a four-song demo that their manager Dirk Peterson submitted a copy to music attorney Fred Davis, the son of Clive Davis which led to the band being signed to Mercury Records in mid 1991. Immediately upon signing to Mercury, the label had them re-record two songs from their four-song demo as a sampler to send out to radio stations across the country, one of those tracks being "Long Way from Home."[8]
During the summer of 1991 Mercury and their parent company, PolyGram heavily promoted the band's sampler tapes which caught the attention of MGM who selected "Long Way from Home" to serve in the trailer as well as the film's opening song for their upcoming movie Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man starring Mickey Rourke and Don Johnson. Upon the song's addition to the movie's official soundtrack album, Mercury chose to release it as a single on August 6, 1991 making it the band's debut single.[9]
Content
"Long Way from Home" is a southern rock anthem that blends elements of hard rock and blues rock, characterized by fast-paced guitar riffs, emotive vocals, and a steady rhythm section. Written in G Major with a tempo of approximately 133 beats per minute, the song is set in a standard 4/4 time signature and falls under the Allegro (fast and bright) tempo category. Despite its energetic pace, the track conveys a darker emotional tone, with lyrics exploring themes of alienation, personal struggle, and the longing for belonging. Carswell’s vocal delivery is complemented by Jon Byrd’s lead guitar work and Brad Durden’s keyboards, contributing to the song's dynamic shifts between calmer, reflective sections and more intense, rougher passages. The extended instrumental sections, particularly the guitar solo in the finale, showcase the band’s jam-band roots.[10]
Commercial success
Although "Long Way from Home" was the band's debut single and was heavily promoted by Mercury, PolyGram and MGM for its involvement with Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, much like the film it was featured in, "Long Way from Home" failed to garner success and significant amounts of airplay, though it did receive a brief amount of radio time from regional rock stations.[11][12]
Reception
Hard Rock 80 praised the song as "a real marvel," describing it as an eight-minute anthem that shifts between calm, reflective passages and rougher, more intense sections, culminating in a fast guitar solo that serves as a “breathtaking” finale. The cultural review site SensCritique gave the song a rating of 6.4 out of 10, reflecting moderate to positive reception among its user base. AllMusic awarded the track a 4-star rating, noting its construction with a vibe and instrumental style reminiscent of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird," and suggesting that Copperhead demonstrated the potential to help revive the southern rock genre in the 1990s.[13][14]
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