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"...Look
At Granny Run...Granddaddy Close Behind…"
I’m
going to add to the chorus of approval given this dinky and brill little box
set and add a few more details. Having had it a few weeks now and listened to
all the discs - I estimate that most of the first 7 are REMASTERS with the
remainder sounding like those CDs already issued - which sound great anyway.
His huge hit album “Bop Til You Drop” from 1979 was the world’s first
all-digital recording and has always sounded clean if not a little flat
somehow. The CD here is definitely not the “UFO Has Landed” remaster (see
separate review) - but - with a judicious amount of volume - it does sound
lovely anyway. Here’s the breakdown of what’s on offer and what’s missing...
"Ry
Cooder 1970 - 1987" by RY COODER was released Monday 11 November 2013 on Warner Brothers
8122796241 (Barcode 081227962418) and is an 11CD mini clamshell box set with each album
in 5" Mini LP repro artwork card sleeves – it breaks down as follows:
Disc
1 (30:13 minutes):
1.
Alimony [Tommy Tucker cover]
2.
France Chance [Joe Callicott cover]
3.
One Meat Ball [Louis Singer & Hy Zaret song - Josh White cover]
4.
Do Re Mi [Woody Guthrie cover]
5.
Old Kentucky Home [Randy Newman cover]
6.
How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live? [Blind Alfred Reed cover]
7.
Available Space [Ry Cooder song] [Side 2]
8.
Pig Meat [Huddie Ledbetter/Leadbelly cover]
9.
Police Dog Blues [Arthur Blake cover]
10.
Goin' To Brownsville [Sleepy John Estes cover]
11.
Dark Is The Night [Blind Willie Johnson cover]
Tracks
1 to 11 are his debut solo LP "Ry Cooder" – released December 1970 in the USA
on Reprise RS 6402 and January 1971 in the UK on Reprise K 44093. Van Dyke
Parks plays Piano (tracks not named).
Disc
2 (37:46 minutes):
1.
How Can You Keep Moving (Unless You Migrate Too) [Traditional Song cover]
2.
Billy The Kid [Traditional Song cover]
3.
Money Honey [Jesse Stone song – Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters cover]
4.
F.D.R. In Trinidad [Fitz MacLean cover]
5.
Teardrops Will Fall [Dickey Doo, Marion Smith song]
6.
Denomination Blues [Washington Philips cover]
7.
On A Monday [Huddie Ledbetter/Leadbelly cover] [Side 2]
8.
Hey Porter [Johnny Cash cover]
9.
Great Dreams From Heaven [Joseph Spence cover]
10.
Taxes On The Farmer Feed Us All [Traditional Song cover]
11.
Vigilante Man [Woody Guthrie cover]
Tracks
1 to 11 are his 2nd album "Into The Purple Valley" – released February 1972 in
the USA on Reprise RS 2052 and in the UK on Reprise K 44142
Disc
3 (39:07 minutes):
1.
Boomer's Story [Carson Robinson, Traditional Song cover]
2.
Cherry Ball Blues [Ski James cover]
3.
Crow Black Chicken [Lawrence Wilson cover]
4.
Ax Sweet Mama [Sleepy John Estes cover]
5.
Maria Elena [Bob Russell and Lorenzo Barcelata cover]
6.
Dark End Of The Street [Chips Moman and Pan Penn song – James Carr cover] [Side
2]
7.
Rally 'Round The Flag [Traditional Song cover]
8.
Comin' In On A Wing And A Prayer [Harold Adamson, Jimmie McHugh song]
9.
President Kentucky [Sleepy John Estes cover]
10.
Good Morning Mr. Railroad Man [Traditional Song cover]
Tracks
1 to 10 are his 3rd album "Boomer's Story" – released November 1972 in the USA
on Reprise MS 2117 and in the UK on Reprise K 44224; Randy Newman plays piano
on “Rally ‘Round The Flag”
Disc
4 (37:22 minutes):
1.
Tamp 'Em Up Solid [Traditional Song cover]
2.
Tattler [Russ Titelman, Ry Cooder and Washington Philips song]
3.
Married Man's A Fool [Blind Willie McTell cover]
4.
Jesus On The Mainline [Traditional Song cover]
5.
It's All Over Now [Bobby Womack cover]
6.
Medley: I'm A Fool For A Cigarette/Feelin' Good [J.B. Lenoir cover] [Side 2]
7.
If Walls Could Talk [Bobby Miller cover]
8.
Mexican Divorce [Coasters cover]
9.
Ditty Wa Ditty [Arthur Blake cover]
Tracks
1 to 9 are his 4th album “Paradise And Lunch” – release May 1974 in the USA on
Reprise MS 2179 and in the UK on Reprise K 44260; Earl Hines plays Piano on
“Ditty Wa Ditty”
Disc
5 (39:59 minutes):
1.
The Bourgeois Blues [Huddie Ledbetter/Leadbelly cover]
2.
I Got Mine [Traditional Song cover]
3.
Always Lift Him Up [Blind Alfred Reed cover]
4.
He’ll Have To Go [Jim Reeves cover]
5.
Smack Dab In The Middle [Jesse Stone song – Charles Calhoun cover]
6.
Stand By Me [Ben E. King cover]
7.
Yellow Roses [Hank Snow cover]
8.
Chloe [Traditional Song cover]
9.
Goodnight Irene [Huddie Ledbetter/Leadbelly cover]
Tracks
1 to 9 are his 5th album "Chicken Skin Music" – released October 1976 in the
USA on Reprise MS 2254 and in the UK on Reprise K 54083
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MORE THAN A FEELING
1976
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Disc
6 (43:57 minutes):
1.
School Is Out
2.
Alimony
3.
Jesus On The Mainline
4.
The Dark End Of The Street
5.
Viva Sequin/Do Re Mi [Side 2]
6.
Volver, Volver
7.
How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live
8.
Smack Dab In The Middle
Tracks
1 to 8 are his 6th LP "Show Time" – released August 1977 in the USA on Warner
Brothers BS 3059 and in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56386
Note:
Track 1 “School Is Out” is a Studio song – the rest of the album is LIVE recorded
14 and 15 December 1976 at The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco and
credited to RY COODER/CHICKEN SKIN REVUE
Disc
7 (38:28 minutes):
1.
Big Bad Bill Is Sweet William Now
2.
Face To Face That I Shall Meet Him [Traditional Song cover]
3.
The Pearls/Tia Juana [Jelly Roll Morton cover]
4.
The Dream
5.
Happy Meeting In Glory [Traditional Song cover]
6.
In A Mist [Bix Beiderbecke cover]
7.
Flashes [Bix Beiderbecke cover]
8.
Davenport Blues [Bix Beiderbecke cover]
9.
Shine
10.
Nobody [Bert Williams cover]
11.
We Shall Be Happy [Traditional Song cover]
Tracks
1 to 11 are the album "Jazz" – released June 1978 in the USA on Warner Brothers
BSK 3197 and in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56488
Disc
8 (40:12 minutes):
1.
Little Sister [Elvis Presley cover]
2.
Go Home, Girl [Arthur Alexander cover]
3.
The Very Thing That Makes You Rich
4.
I Think It's Going To Work Out Fine [Ike & Tina Turner cover]
5.
Down In Hollywood [Ry Cooder song] [Side 2]
6.
Look At Granny Run Run [Howard Tate cover]
7.
Trouble You Can't Fool Me [Frederick Knight cover]
8.
Don't You Mess Up A Good Thing [Fontella Bass & Bobby McClure cover]
9.
I Can't Win [The Invincibles cover]
Tracks
1 to 9 are the album "Bop Till You Drop" – released August 1979 in the USA on
Warner Brothers BSK 3358 and in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56691. Bobby King sings
Backing Vocals on 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 and Lead Vocals on 9. Chaka Khan sings Backing
Vocals on 5 and 8.
Disc
9 (44:06 minutes):
1.
634-5789
2.
Why Don't You Try Me
3.
Down In The Boondocks
4.
Johnny Porter
5.
The Way We Make A Broken Heart
6.
Crazy 'Bout An Automobile
7.
The Girls from Texas
8.
Borderline
9.
Never Make Your Move Too Soon
Tracks
1 to 9 are the album “Borderline” – released October 1980 in the USA on Warner
Brothers BSK 3489 and in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56846
Disc
10 (39:18 minutes):
1.
UFO Has Landed In The Ghetto
2.
I Need A Woman
3.
Gypsy Woman
4.
Blue Suede Shoes
5.
Mama, Don't Treat Your Daughter Mean
6.
I'm Drinking Again
7.
Which Came First
8.
That's The Way Love Turned Out For Me
Tracks
1 to 8 are the album "The Slide Area" – released April 1982 in the USA on
Warner Brothers BSK 3651 and in the UK on Warner Brothers K 56976
Disc
11 (40:52 minutes):
1.
Get Rhythm [Johnny Cash cover]
2.
Low—Commotion
3.
Going Back To Okinawa
4.
13 Question Method [Chuck Berry cover]
5.
Women Will Rule The World
6.
All Shook Up [Elvis Presley cover]
7.
I Can Tell By The Way You Smell
8.
Across The Border Line
9.
Let's Have A Ball
Tracks
1 to 9 are the album "Get Rhythm" – released December 1987 in the USA on Warner
Brothers 25639-1 and in the UK on Warner Brothers WX 121
The
CD labels reflect the original vinyl issues - 1 to 5 are the Riverboat Tan
design, 6 is the Burbank Trees design and the rest the cream Warner Brothers
issues (nice attention to detail). Of all the repro card sleeves only “Into The
Purple Valley” is a gatefold (all the others were single sleeve issues anyway)
but a few like “Boomer’s Story” are missing inserts. I say this because apart
from the almost unreadable album covers - there’s little info to go on (no
booklet) and on hearing this fantastic trawl through Americana, Blues, Jazz,
Gospel, Texmex and old time Blues - you desperately want to know more about the
song origins. Most of the info is available on the net of course, but it would
have put this groovy box set into the stratosphere if had been given a little
bit more effort on the presentation front.
You
also notice the gaps - “The Long Riders” soundtrack from 1980 is missing, as is
the fabulous “Paris, Texas” from 1985. But what is here is just so consistently
good. Admittedly when you get to “Borderline” and “The Slide Area” the quality
control had begun to taper off (as had sales) which is what made the rollicking
“Get Rhythm” from 1987 such a huge hit and return to form.
I’d
like to point out that for fans the real gems in here are “Boomer’s Story”,
“Paradise And Lunch” and “Chicken Skin Music” which are beautiful sounding now.
The gorgeous Mexican-feel instrumental “Marie Elena” on “Boomer’s Story” has
been a rave of mine for years - the wicked combo of “I’m A Fool For A
Cigarette/Feelin’ Good” is fabulous fun too and his warbling accordion version
of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” on “Chicken Skin Music” is so touching - a
wonderfully moving reinterpretation. The old-timey Woody Guthrie feel to the
instrumental “Great Dream From Heaven” on “In The Purple Valley” is the kind of
gem that litters these albums - its so simple yet so effecting - his playing so
sympathetic to the material throughout.
“Bop
Till You Drop” is a near perfect album and is littered with cleverly chosen
covers opening with his take on Presley’s “Little Sister” given that
distinctive Cooder jerky rhythm makeover (with Bobby Kind’s backing vocals
adding so much to the tune). Arthur Alexander’s “Go Home Girl” has a wonderful
ache to it while “Down In Hollywood” (his only original on the album) has ballbreakingly
funny lyrics about Gays in Tinseltown. This classic 1979 LP ends with Chaka
Khan and Bobby Kind getting duet Gospel on “I Can’t Win” – a song brought to
the world by Clifton Knight when he was with the US Soul Group The Invincibles (1966 on Loma Records).
It’s beautifully done.
With
its mixture of Traditionals and Bix Beiderbecke rhythms 1978’s “Jazz” goes all
Old Timey (“Big Bad Bill Is Sweet William Now”) and is one of those records
that got ignored on release but gets rediscovered as a masterpiece years later.
It’s also beautifully produced – the remaster shining like a diamond here – slide
guitars, trombones, big bass drums and banjos coming at you from every angle. “The
Slide Area” and the fabulous “Get Rhythm” albums feature witty nuggets like
“UFO Has Landed In The Ghetto” and “Women Will Rule The World” (go Hilary
Clinton).
Great
stuff - and at a little over two quid per album – “1970-1987” is a frankly bit
of a steal in a sea of overpriced and stodgy Anniversary reissues.
On
Ry Cooder’s blinding cover of Howard Tate’s “Look At Granny Run Run” (written
by that genius duo of Jerry Ragovoy and Mort Shuman) our Ryland tells of
Grandfather’s renewed libido because the Doctor has given him “a brand new
pill...” Get this Americana Musical Tonic winging its way to someone you love as
soon as possible...
