Ry Cooder (album)

Summary

Ry Cooder is the debut album by roots rock musician Ry Cooder, released in 1970.

Ry Cooder
Studio album by
ReleasedDecember 1970
Recorded1970
GenreRoots rock, blues, country blues, folk, Americana
Length33:28
LabelReprise
ProducerVan Dyke Parks, Lenny Waronker
Ry Cooder chronology
Ry Cooder
(1970)
Into the Purple Valley
(1972)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link
Christgau's Record GuideB[1]

Track listing edit

Side 1 edit

  1. "Alimony" (Brenda Lee Jones, Welton Young, Robert Higginbotham) - 2:55
  2. "France Chance" (Joe Callicott) - 2:45
  3. "One Meat Ball" (Louis C. Singer, Hy Zaret; arranged by Van Dyke Parks) - 2:27
  4. "Do Re Mi" (Woody Guthrie) - 3:03
  5. "My Old Kentucky Home (Turpentine & Dandelion Wine)" (Randy Newman) - 1:45
  6. "How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?" (Alfred Reed) - 2:45

Side 2 edit

  1. "Available Space" (instrumental) (Ry Cooder) - 2:11
  2. "Pigmeat" (Huddie Ledbetter) - 3:07
  3. "Police Dog Blues" (Arthur Blake; adapted by Ry Cooder) - 2:43
  4. "Goin' to Brownsville" (John Estes; adapted by Ry Cooder) - 3:24
  5. "Dark Is the Night" (instrumental) (Blind Willie Johnson; adapted by Ry Cooder) - 2:48

Personnel edit

  • Ry Cooder - guitars, vocals, mandolin, bass guitar
  • Van Dyke Parks - piano
  • Chris Ethridge (contribution not specified in sleeve notes) - bass guitar
  • Richie Hayward (contribution not specified in sleeve notes) - drums
  • Roy Estrada (contribution not specified in sleeve notes) - bass guitar
  • Milt Holland (contribution not specified in sleeve notes) - drums, percussion
  • John Barbata (contribution not specified in sleeve notes) - drums
  • Max Bennett (contribution not specified in sleeve notes) - bass guitar
  • Bobby Bruce (contribution not specified in sleeve notes) - violin
  • Gloria Jones & Co. - backing vocals
  • Kirby Johnson - orchestration and conductor on "One Meat Ball", "Do Re Mi", "Old Kentucky Home" and "How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?"

Production edit

  • Van Dyke Parks - producer, arrangement on "One Meat Ball"
  • Lenny Waronker - producer
  • Judy Betz - production assistant
  • Lee Herschberg - engineer, mix-down
  • Doug Botnick - engineer
  • Thaddeus James Lowe - engineer
  • Rudy Hill - engineer
  • Bob Kovach - engineer

Other credits edit

  • Airstream - for the 1937 trailer pictured on the front of the album sleeve
  • Frank Bez - for the photo of the Airstream trailer (photographed at dry lake El Mirage)
  • Susan Titelman - for the photo of Cooder on the back of the album sleeve
  • Ed Thrasher - for art direction
  • John Uomoto - for the title neon lettering

References edit

  1. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: C". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 23, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  • LP Sleeve Notes

Billboard charts edit

Chart Peak
Pop albums 216