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Great moments in (somewhat) obscure rock ‘n’ roll: Ry Cooder, “Billy the Kid,” 1972

Renowned rock and blues guitarist, Cooder is probably best-known for his work with others (including The Rolling Stones, Doobie Brothers, Rita Coolidge, Arlo Guthrie, Van Morrison, and many others).  But he also produced many solo albums.  This song comes from his second solo effort:

Feel free to post links to other Ry Cooder favorites in the comments.

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17 responses to “Great moments in (somewhat) obscure rock ‘n’ roll: Ry Cooder, “Billy the Kid,” 1972”

  1. I first learned of Cooder from the credits on the Stones' Sticky Fingers, and even though I couldn't at the time precisely identify his contributions, I have since grown to hear them. I'm a special fan of his LPs Jazz and Bop 'Til You Drop. Though I don't especially like his wildly successful recording for Water Lily Acoustics with V.M. Bhatt, I am a huge fan of WLA's prime mover, Kavi Alexander. He has released a handful of utterly sublime records, all analogue. Check out Hamza El Din, Lily of the Nile: https://www.discogs.com/release/3583006-Hamza-El-Din-Lily-Of-The-Nile

  2. Ry Cooder with Shoukichi Kina doing everybody's favorite 'Hana' on the big stage: It's delightful, though a bit rich for my taste (which runs towards Kina doing it solo, singing and accompanying himself on the shamisen). Still, it's in my Top 100 on YouTube:

  3. Cooder playing perfect slide guitar on Captain Beefheart's "Sure 'Nuff 'n Yes I Do" (on the album Safe As Milk).

  4. The whole of Paradise and Lunch is still just terrific… Oh lord, 50 years ago … https://youtu.be/MYHWSZ7-3bg

  5. Paradise & Lunch might be a “desert island” record for me. I cherish it to death! But my favorite cut from Ry is the finale on Boomer’s Story, “Good Morning Mister Railroad Man”, which is an interpolation of Woody Guthrie’s “Danville Girl”. And by the way Woody’s rendition of Billy the Kid is no joke. If you’re interested in old Billy Bonny I recommend William Utley’s A Short and Violent Life as the most trutstworthy biography I’ve encountered.

    https://youtu.be/WkJWHr5HWQQ

  6. Paul D. Van Pelt

    Ryland Cooder and John Hartford were friends, as well as I recall. Musicianship and talent attract a lot of attention.

  7. Paradise and Lunch features a cover of what might be my favorite pop song, Burt Bacharach's "Mexican Divorce." I much prefer Bacharach's own performance of it to any covers I've heard, but still, it's cool Cooder chose to perform it. (Another candidate for favorite pop song, Raspberries' "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)."

  8. My favorite by far is his slide guitar on "Memo from Turner":

    Caveat auditor: The lyrics contain a homophobic slur. This is a Mick Jagger track from the soundtrack to the 1970 movie "Performance."

  9. Mark van Roojen

    Yep. Maybe his best. "Jesus on the Mainline" and all that.

    Paradise and Lunch is also very good.

    Bop til you Drop (Which I bought in a used record shop on a hitch hiking trip to SFO down from PDX) is very good (except for a certain vaguely homophobic cut) but brittle sounding as the first digitally recorded record would be.

  10. I enjoy the sound of Bop Till You Drop. I'm a big fan of the opening and closing tracks, "Little Sister" and "I Can't Win." Chaka Khan makes a nice appearance, too. But the sonics (and the songs and performances) on the album just prior to BTYD, Jazz, are gorgeous.

  11. To clarify, I mean the sonics on the vinyl releases of the albums. I haven't heard the CDs.

  12. Jazz is pretty wonderful, too. (What album of his isn’t?)
    https://youtu.be/jCRCRicNLhQ

  13. I saw him live in 2018, and he was so good I was questioning whether it was really happening.

  14. I don't think anyone has mentioned his contributions to John Haitt's classic album "Bring the Family." Check out the song "Alone in the Dark":



  15. Neil Easterbrook

    I'll vote for
    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ry+cooder+bop+till+you+drop+full+album

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