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Whether serving as a session musician,
solo artist, or soundtrack composer, Ry Cooder's chameleon-like
fretted instrument virtuosity, songwriting, and choices of material
encompass an incredibly eclectic range of North American musical
styles, including rock & roll, blues, reggae, Tex-Mex, Hawaiian,
Dixieland jazz, country, folk, R&B, gospel, and vaudeville. The
16-year-old Cooder began his career in 1963 in a blues band with
Jackie DeShannon and then formed the short-lived Rising Sons in
1965 with Taj Mahal and Spirit drummer Ed Cassidy. Cooder met
producer Terry Melcher through the Rising Sons and was invited
to perform at several sessions with Paul Revere and the Raiders.
During his subsequent career as a session musician, Cooder's trademark
slide guitar work graced the recordings of such artists as Captain
Beefheart (Safe As Milk), Randy Newman, Little Feat, Van Dyke
Parks, the Rolling Stones (Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers), Taj
Mahal, and Gordon Lightfoot. He also appeared on the soundtracks
of Candy and Performance.
Cooder made his debut as a solo artist in 1970 with a self-titled
album featuring songs by Leadbelly, Blind Willie Johnson, Sleepy
John Estes, and Woody Guthrie. The follow-up, Into the Purple
Valley, introduced longtime cohorts Jim Keltner on drums and Jim
Dickinson on bass, and it and Boomer's Story largely repeated
and refined the syncopated style and mood of the first. In 1974,
Cooder produced what is generally regarded as his best album,
Paradise and Lunch, and its follow-up, Chicken Skin Music, showcased
a potent blend of Tex-Mex, Hawaiian, gospel, and soul music, and
featured contributions from Flaco Jimenez and Gabby Pahinui. In
1979, Bop Till You Drop was the first major-label album to be
recorded digitally. In the early '80s, Cooder began to augment
his solo output with soundtrack work on such films as Blue Collar,
The Long Riders, and The Border; he has gone on to compose music
for Southern Comfort, Goin' South, Paris, Texas, Streets of Fire,
Alamo Bay, Blue City, Crossroads, Cocktail, Johnny Handsome, Steel
Magnolias, and Geronimo. Music by Ry Cooder (1995) compiled two
discs' worth of highlights from Cooder's film work.
In 1992, Cooder joined Keltner, John Hiatt, and renowned British
tunesmith Nick Lowe, all of whom had played on Hiatt's Bring the
Family, to form Little Village, which toured and recorded one
album. Cooder next turned his attention to world music, recording
the album A Meeting by the River with Indian musician V.M. Bhatt.
Cooder's next project, a duet album with renowned African guitarist
Ali Farka Toure titled Talking Timbuktu, won the 1994 Grammy for
Best World Music Recording.
His next world crossover would become one of the most popular
musical rediscoveries of the 20th century. In 1997 Cooder traveled
to Cuba to produce and play with a group of son musicians who
had little exposure outside of their homeland. The resulting album,
the Buena Vista Social Club, was a platinum selling international
success that made stars of Compay Segundo, Ibrahim Ferrer and
Rueben Gonzalez and earned Cooder another Grammy. He continued
to work on projects with his Buena Vista band mates, including
a collaboration with Manuel Galban in 2003 titled Mambo Sinuendo.
His other work in the 2000's included sessions with James Taylor,
Aaron Neville, Warren Zevon and Spanish diva Luz Casal. In 2005
Cooder released Chavez Ravine, his first solo album since 1987's
Get Rhythm.
This bio courtesy www.allmusic.com
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