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1976
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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 UK released Monday 11 November 2013 on Warner Brothers 8122796241 (Barcode 081227962418)
and is an 11CD mini box set.
Each album comes in a 5” mini LP repro card sleeve and 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
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...
