Francais | English | Espanõl

Ry Cooder

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Ryland "Ry" Peter Cooder (born on March 15, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer and composer, known for his slide guitar work, his interest in the American roots music and, more recently, for his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.

Contents

[edit] Career

Born in Los Angeles, California, Cooder first attracted attention in the 1960s, playing with Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, after previously having worked with Taj Mahal in The Rising Sons.

He was a guest session guitarist on various recording sessions with the Rolling Stones in 1968 and 1969, and Cooder's contributions appear on the Stones' Let It Bleed (mandolin on Love in Vain), and Sticky Fingers, on which he contributed the slide guitar to "Sister Morphine". During this period, Cooder joined with Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman , and longtime Rolling Stones sideman Nicky Hopkins to record Jamming with Edward. Shortly after the sessions, Cooder accused Keith Richards of musical plagiarism, but has since refused to comment on his accusations. Cooder also played slide guitar for the 1970 movie Performance, which contained Mick Jagger's first solo single, "Memo from Turner" on which Cooder played slide guitar. The 1975 Rolling Stones compilation album Metamorphosis features an uncredited Cooder on Bill Wyman's Downtown Suzie, which also remains the first Rolling Stones song played and recorded in the open G tuning.

Throughout the 1970s, Cooder released a series of Warner Brothers albums that showcased his guitar work, to some degree. In this respect, Cooder's guitar work on these records is not unlike the guitar playing of Robbie Robertson on the Band's albums: Both virtuosos emphasized song over solo. Cooder's '70's albums spotlight, more than anything, a wide-ranging taste in music. Cooder has been seen as almost a musicologist, exploring bygone musical genres with personalized and sensitive, updated reworkings of revered originals. Cooder's '70s albums (with the exception of Jazz) cannot be neatly pigeonholed by genre, But — to generalize broadly — it might be fair to call Cooder's first album blues; Into the Purple Valley, Boomer's Story, and Paradise and Lunch, folk + blues; Chicken Skin Music and Showtime, a unique melange of Tex-Mex and Hawaiian; Jazz, 1920s jazz; Bop Till You Drop '50's R&B; and Borderline and Get Rhythm, eclectic rock-based excursions.

Cooder has worked as a studio musician and has also scored many film soundtracks, of which perhaps the best known is that for the 1984 Wim Wenders film Paris, Texas. Ry Cooder based this soundtrack, and the haunting title song "Paris, Texas" on Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark Was the Night (Cold Was the Ground)", which he described as "The most soulful, transcendent piece in all American music." His other film work includes Walter Hill's The Long Riders (1980) and Southern Comfort (1981), Last Man Standing (1996) and Mike Nichols' Primary Colors (1998).

In recent years, Cooder has played a role in the increased appreciation of traditional Cuban music, due to his collaboration as producer in the Buena Vista Social Club (1997) recording, which was a worldwide hit. Wim Wenders directed a documentary film of the musicians involved, Buena Vista Social Club (1999) which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2000. Cooder worked with Tuvan throat singers for the score to the 1993 film Geronimo: An American Legend.

Cooder's solo work has been an eclectic mix, taking in dust bowl folk, blues, Tex-Mex, soul, gospel, rock, and almost everything else. He has collaborated with many important musicians, including the Rolling Stones, Little Feat, Captain Beefheart, the Chieftains, John Lee Hooker, Gabby Pahinui, Flaco Jimenez and Ali Farka Toure. He formed the Little Village supergroup with Nick Lowe, John Hiatt, and Jim Keltner.

Cooder's 1979 album Bop Till You Drop was the first popular music album to be recorded digitally. It yielded his biggest hit, a Disco/R&B cover of Elvis Presley's 1960s recording "Little Sister".

Cooder also stepped in for the recording of the slide guitar parts in the 1986 film Crossroads, a take on the infamous tale of the blues legend, Robert Johnson.

[edit] Trivia

  • Cooder is mentioned in one of The Tragically Hip's songs entitled "At the 100th Meridian".
  • Tortoise's self-titled album includes a song named "Ry Cooder".

[edit] Awards

[edit] Discography

  • Rising Sons featuring Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder (recorded 1965/66, released 1992)
  • Ry Cooder (January 1971)
  • Into the Purple Valley (February 1972)
  • Boomer's Story (November 1972)
  • Paradise And Lunch (May 1974)
  • Chicken Skin Music (1976)
  • Showtime (August 1977)
  • Jazz (June 1978)
  • Bop Till You Drop (August 1979)
  • The Long Riders (June 1980)
  • Borderline (October 1980)
  • The Slide Area (April 1982)
  • Paris, Texas (February 1985)
  • Music from Alamo Bay (August 1985)
  • Blue City (July 1986)
  • Crossroads (July 1986)
  • Get Rhythm (December 1987)
  • Johnny Handsome (October 1989)
  • Trespass (January 1993)
  • A Meeting By The River (1993) (with VM Bhatt)
  • Talking Timbuktu (1994) (with Ali Farka Touré)
  • Music by Ry Cooder (1995) (2 disc set of film music)
  • Buena Vista Social Club (September 1997)
  • Mambo Sinuendo (January 2003)
  • Chávez Ravine (May 2005)

[edit] External links

de:Ry Cooder es:Ry Cooder fr:Ry Cooder fy:Ry Cooder ja:ライ・クーダー nl:Ry Cooder no:Ry Cooder pl:Ry Cooder sv:Ry Cooder tr:Ry Cooder

Retrieved from "http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/Ry_Cooder"
Personal tools