Ry Cooder "Chicken Skin Music" 1976****

Ry Cooder is probably best known as a soundtrack composer, producer and serial collaborator. The story of how he discovered the Cuban veterans of the Buena Vista Social Club and brought them out of retirement and into international stardom, well that's the stuff of legend. We'll get into the details when we present that record. His own recordings showcase his deep knowledge of American history and roots music as well as his instrumental prowess, most notably on slide guitar. As usually happens with his albums, "Chicken Skin Music" reads like an encyclopedia of American traditional music, incorporating the sounds of Mexico and Hawaii. He opens and closes with a couple of Leadbelly songs. Often an inspiration for Cooder, Leadbelly was certainly a larger-than-life character: A folksinger and brawler, he spent a big part of his life incarcerated and was discovered and recorded in the infamous Angola prison camp in Louisiana during 1933/1934 by the archivist Lomax brothers. His good behaviour and winsome ballad "Goodnight Irene" moved the notoriously hard governor enough to grant him early release. "The Bourgeois Blues" is an anti-racist song written from personal experience, warning black people about the harsh treatment they can expect in northern cities, where they flocked in great numbers during the recession. It won him lifelong friends in the American Communist Party and lifelong enemies in the FBI. In his own fine version Cooder accompanies himself on bottleneck guitar, bajo sexto, mandola and French accordion. It's followed by traditional "I Got Mine", a jug band-style song embellished with horns and "Always Lift Him Up", a country song he mixes with the Hawaiian tune "Kanaka Wai Wai" (with Cooder on Hawaiian Slack-Key Guitar). The old country hit "He'll Have to Go" and the classic "Stand by Me" are transformed by Flaco Jimenez's accordion into great Tex-Mex mariachi ballads. "Smack Dab in the Middle" is a rhythmic R&B number, followed by country ballad "Yellow Roses" and guitar instrumental "Chlo-e". Especially for those last 2 songs Cooder flew all the way to Honolulu to record with Hawaiian guitar legends Gabby Pahinui and Atta Isaacs. "Goodnight Irene" closes the album with another Mexican flavoured performance with Jimenez and his band. All in all, a solid album exhibiting Cooder's instrumental talent, expertise in all styles of American roots music and penchant for unusual and exotic sounds which would culminate with his forays into African and Latin American music in the 90's onwards...

**** for The Bourgeois Blues, He'll Have to Go, Smack Dab in the Middle

*** for I Got Mine, Always Lift Him Up/Kanaka Wai Wai, Stand by Me, Yellow Roses, Chlo-e, Goodnight Irene