This 1976 effort contains some of Cooder's most compelling work and finds him re-exploring some of the fundamental influences on a musician known for remarkable eclecticism. Most notable are "Always Lift Him Up", "Smack Dab in the Middle", and a beautiful adaptation of "Stand By Me" (which includes Flaco Jimenez on accordion.) The album opens and closes with covers of Leadbelly, namely "The ...

Manufacturer: Warners

Talking Timbuktu is a groundbreaking record that vividly illustrates the Africa-Blues connection in real time. Ali Farka Toure, one of Mali's leading singer-guitarists, has a trance-like, bluesy style that, although deeply rooted in Malian tradition, bears astonishing similarity to that of John Lee Hooker or even Canned Heat. It's a mono-chordal vamp, with repetitive song lines cut with ...

Manufacturer: Hannibal

Ry Cooder may have been an in-demand session guitarist in the late 1960s, but what set him apart in his early solo career was his extraordinary, if eccentric, taste in songs. Here he explores the repertoires of everyone from Johnny Cash to Bahaman folk master Joseph Spence to Leadbelly with enchanting results. While Cooder's vocal skills are no match for his slide guitar and mandolin talents (the ...

Think of Ry Cooder as a musicologist who makes learning fun. A particularly nifty collection from 1974, Paradise & Lunch is solo Cooder at his best. The song selection is inspired and unpredictable: numbers by Burt Bacharach, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Bobby Womack mingle with ease. "Tattler" is a rare Ry original that happens to be one of the collection's highlights. Jazz legend Earl ...

For all the laudatory work he's done in rediscovering a panoply of artists from roots-based musical genres, Cooder's attempt to pay homage to influences closer to home, namely 1950s rock and R&B, on Bop Till You Drop produced spotty results. While Arthur Alexander's "Go Home, Girl" and Cooder's own composition, "Down in Hollywood", are notable exceptions, most of the album suffers from ...

Manufacturer: Warner Bros / Wea

Manufacturer: Columbia

Manufacturer: Verve

The over-the-top comedic style of Robin Williams lends this Rabbit Ears tale high energy and hilarity. Williams, a master of many voices, twists and twangs through the wild, wild West as the legendary Pecos Bill, who, raised by coyotes, becomes the quintessential cowboy on his mustang, Widow Maker. The larger-than-life Bill befriends and amazes the other riders on the range, organizes the ...

Manufacturer: Madacy

Manufacturer: Reprise