Photo by Ross Gilmore
Ry Cooder is 76 years ago today.
A guitarist, singer and composer, Cooder 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.
Cooder grew up in Santa Monica, California, and attended Santa Monica High School. His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing folk, blues, Tex-Mex, soul, gospel and rock.
He has collaborated with many musicians, including Larry Blackmon, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Randy Newman, Taj Mahal, Earl Hines, Little Feat, Captain Beefheart, The Doobie Brothers, The Chieftains, John Lee Hooker, Pops and Mavis Staples, Flaco Jiménez, Ibrahim Ferrer, Terry Evans, Bobby King, Freddy Fender, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Ali Farka Touré.
He formed the band, Little Village, with Nick Lowe, John Hiatt and Jim Keltner.
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.
Cooder first attracted attention in the 1960s, playing with Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, after previously having worked with Taj Mahal and Ed Cassidy in the Rising Sons. He also played with Randy Newman at this time, including on 12 Songs. Van Dyke Parks worked with Newman and Cooder during the 1960s. Parks arranged Cooder's, "One Meatball."
Cooder was a session musician on various recording sessions with the The Rolling Stones in 1968 and 1969, and his contributions appear on the albums, Let It Bleed (mandolin on "Love in Vain"), and Sticky Fingers, on which he contributed the slide guitar on "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!
Cooder also played slide guitar for the 1970 film soundtrack, Performance, which contained Jagger's first solo single, "Memo from Turner." The 1975 compilation album, Metamorphosis, features an uncredited Cooder contribution on Bill Wyman's "Downtown Suzie."
Cooder has worked as a studio musician and has also scored many film soundtracks including Wim Wenders film, Paris, Texas (1984). Cooder based this soundtrack and 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."
In 2009, Cooder performed in The People Speak, a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries and speeches of everyday Americans. It was based on historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.
Cooder performed with Bob Dylan and Van Dyke Parks on the documentary broadcast on December 13, 2009 on the History Channel. They played "Do Re Mi" and reportedly a couple of other Guthrie songs that were excluded from the final edit.
Cooder also traveled with the band, Los Tigres del Norte, and recorded the 2010 album, San Patricio, with the Chieftains, Lila Downs, Liam Neeson, Linda Ronstadt, Van Dyke Parks, Los Cenzontles and Los Tigres.
Here, Cooder performs “How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live,” 1987