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Ry Cooder

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Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician and composer. He is a multi-instrumentalist, but is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries. His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing many genres including Americana, folk, blues, Tex-Mex, soul, gospel, rock, and much more. He has collaborated with many musicians, notably including Captain Beefheart, Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Randy Newman, David Lindley, The Chieftains, and The Doobie Brothers. He briefly formed a band named Little Village. Ry Cooder produced the Buena Vista Social Club album (1997), which became a worldwide hit. Wim Wenders directed the documentary film of the same name (1999), which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2000. He was ranked eighth on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". A 2010 ranking by Gibson placed him at number 32.

Links To Peel[]

In 1967, Ry Cooder was a member of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band and his slide guitar stylings can be clearly heard on Beefheart's Safe As Milk LP, which Peel constantly enthused over on the Perfumed Garden and in his early Top Gear programmes. Cooder soon grew tired of Beefheart's eccentricities, however, and left the band. For a time he played with Taj Mahal, whose early LPs were also heard on Top Gear in 1968-69. He then gained a reputation as a prolific session player, working on the Rolling Stones LPs Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers and on recordings by artists associated with Warner/Reprise Records, including Peel favourites such as Randy Newman and Little Feat.

Cooder also recorded a number of solo albums for Warner/Reprise during the 1970s, and Peel played tracks from them on his programmes. On the show of 12 December 1970, Peel played "My Old Kentucky Home" from Cooder's first LP, and said the track sounded a little like "Kevin Ayers meets Captain Beefheart, which can't be entirely bad." The guitarist also became known for his work on film soundtracks, including Performance (1970), which starred Mick Jagger. "Memo From Turner" from the film was released as a single under Jagger's name, featured Cooder's slide guitar and got at least two plays on Peel's shows,in 1970 . Later, Cooder was reunited with his former bandleader when he and Jack Nitzsche hired Beefheart to sing "Hard Workin' Man" on the soundtrack to the 1978 film Blue Collar, directed by Paul Schrader; this track was also played by Peel. In an interview with Andy Peebles for My Top Ten in 1984, Peel mentioned that Ry Cooder was one of the few early 70's artists that made good records:

"I keep all of the records in case they come in useful for something. But yes, a lot of the records which I used to play in the early 70s, I can’t really understand now what I used to see in them. But the best of them, the ones that I regarded as being the best, like the Beefheart records or those by Little Feat and bands like that, still sound terrific, or Ry Cooder’s records still sound good. Or other things which I used to play, I think, “That is awful”. The funny thing now is if you listen to Radio Two at all, a lot of them are cropping up on there late at night, you know, most weird."::

Ry Cooder's track 'The Dark End Of The Street' was nominated by Peel at number 42 for his own 1977 Festive Fifty. He also liked Cooder's version of Blind Alfred Reed's "How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live?", returning to it several times in his later shows. Peel paid less attention to Cooder's post-1980 work, however, although its blend of blues, folk and world music made the guitarist a firm favourite of Andy Kershaw.

Festive Fifty Entries[]

Shows Played[]

Dark_End_Of_The_Street

Dark End Of The Street

Ry Cooder's 'The Dark End Of The Street', #42 in the 1977 Festive Fifty

1970
1972
1973
1974
  • 04 July 1974: unknown (sourced from David Cavanagh's Good Night & Good Riddance book)
  • 27 August 1974: It's All Over Now (LP - Paradise And Lunch) Reprise
  • 15 October 1974[1]: unknown
1975
  • 12 June 1975: Fool For A Cigarette / Feelin' Good (LP - Paradise And Lunch) Reprise
1976
  • 21 September 1976: unknown track(s) (LP - Chicken Skin Music)
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
  • 07 April 1981: Crow Black Chicken (LP - Boomer's Story) Reprise
  • Peel July 1981: 'Bout An Automobile (Every Woman I Know) (12") Warner Bros.
1986
  • 29 October 1986: Money Honey (LP - Why Don't You Try Me Tonight? The Best Of Ry Cooder) Warner Bros.
1987
1990
1993
2003
  • 03 July 2003: 'How Can A Poor Man Stand such Times and Live (LP- Ry Cooder)' (Reprise Records)

See Also[]

External Links[]

References[]

  1. ↑ Page 352 under the section of 17th October 1984 in the Good Night And Good Riddance book, where the author describes what was played on Peel's show ten years ago.
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