Ry Cooder

Description

At the age of 22, Ry Cooder stepped out of the shadow of Jackie DeShannon, Taj Mahal, the Rolling Stones, and Captain Beefheart, signing his own contract with Warner Brothers Records in 1969. Cooder's self-titled debut album creates an intriguing fusion of blues, folk, rock & roll, and pop, filtered through his own complex and syncopated guitar work, with production by Van Dyke Parks and Lenny Waronker; and string arrangements by Parks and Kirby Johnson. And although he was still finding his footing as a singer, Cooder sets up this unique blend with a combination of great songs, virtuosic playing, and eccentric yet imaginative arrangements. For the material, Cooder, the son of folk music parents, unearths ten gems—covering six decades back to the 1920s—from legends such as Woody Guthrie, Blind Blake, Sleepy John Estes, and Leadbelly, as well as a contemporary composition by Randy Newman.