Ry Cooder facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ry Cooder
Cooder performing in June 2009
Background information
Birth name	Ryland Peter Cooder
Born	(1947-03-15) March 15, 1947 (age 78) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Origin	Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Genres	Americana roots rock folk blues Tex-Mex country gospel world music
Occupation(s)	Musician songwriter film score composer record producer writer
Instruments	Guitar bass mandolin bouzouki banjo slide guitar
Years active	1967–present
Labels	Warner Bros. Nonesuch Elektra
Associated acts	Taj Mahal Little Feat Lowell George Captain Beefheart Buena Vista Social Club Ali Farka Toure The Rolling Stones Carla Olson

Ryland Peter Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, movie music composer, and record producer. He can play many instruments, but he is most famous for his amazing slide guitar skills. Slide guitar is a way of playing where the musician uses a metal or glass tube on their finger to slide over the strings, creating a smooth, wobbly sound.

Cooder loves exploring traditional music from all over the world. He has worked with many famous musicians, including the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, and Neil Young. He is also known for producing the album Buena Vista Social Club in 1997. This project brought a group of amazing older Cuban musicians together and made them famous worldwide.

Rolling Stone magazine named Cooder number 8 on its 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time." In 2011, he also published a book of short stories called Los Angeles Stories.

Early life

Ryland Peter Cooder was born in Los Angeles, California, on March 15, 1947. He grew up in Santa Monica, California, and started playing the guitar when he was only three years old.

When he was four, he had an accident that damaged his left eye. Because of this, he has worn a glass eye for most of his life.

Musical Career

Starting Out in the 1960s

As a young musician, Cooder played the banjo with famous folk artists like Bill Monroe and Doc Watson. He later used banjo-playing techniques on his guitar.

He first got noticed when he played with the band Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band. He also played with another musician named Taj Mahal in a band called the Rising Sons.

Cooder also worked as a session musician, which means he was hired to play on other artists' albums. He played mandolin and slide guitar on albums by the Rolling Stones, such as Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers. He even recorded an album called Jamming with Edward! with some members of the Stones.

Solo Albums in the 1970s

In the 1970s, Cooder started releasing his own albums. He loved finding old songs from different styles of music, like blues, gospel, and country, and giving them his own unique sound.

For example, on his album Into the Purple Valley, he took an old song about people moving west during the Dust Bowl and gave it a fun, marching beat.

His 1979 album, Bop Till You Drop, was one of the first popular music albums to be recorded digitally. It included his biggest hit song, a cover of Elvis Presley's "Little Sister".

Movie Soundtracks in the 1980s

Cooder became very well-known for creating music for movies. His most famous soundtrack was for the 1984 film Paris, Texas. The music was inspired by an old blues song by Blind Willie Johnson called "Dark Was the Night (Cold Was the Ground)". Cooder said it was "the most soulful, transcendent piece in all American music."

He also wrote music for many other films, including The Long Riders (1980), Streets of Fire (1984), and Crossroads (1986). For Crossroads, he played all the slide guitar parts for the movie about a young guitarist learning the blues.

World Music and Buena Vista Social Club in the 1990s

In the 1990s, Cooder began to mix American music with music from other parts of the world.

• A Meeting by the River (1993): He worked with V.M. Bhatt, a musician from India who plays a special type of guitar he invented.
• Talking Timbuktu (1994): He teamed up with Ali Farka Touré, a famous guitarist from Mali in Africa.

Both of these albums won Grammy Awards.

His biggest project of the decade was Buena Vista Social Club. In 1996, Cooder traveled to Cuba to record an album with a group of legendary Cuban musicians, many of whom were retired. The album was a huge success all over the world. It introduced people to traditional Cuban music and made stars out of musicians like Ibrahim Ferrer and Compay Segundo. A famous movie director, Wim Wenders, made a documentary film about the project that was also very popular.

Storytelling Albums in the 2000s

Cooder continued to make interesting albums in the 2000s, often telling stories with his music.

• Chávez Ravine (2005): This album tells the story of a real neighborhood in Los Angeles that was home to many Latino families before it was torn down in the 1950s. Cooder worked with older musicians from East Los Angeles to create the album.
• My Name Is Buddy (2007): This album is a story about a cat named Buddy, a mouse named Lefty, and a toad named Rev. Tom Toad who travel the country together. The songs are about friendship and helping others.
• I, Flathead (2008): This album is about the drag racing culture in Southern California in the 1960s.

Recent Work: 2010s to Today

Cooder playing an electric bouzouki in August 2015

In the 2010s, Cooder released albums with songs about social and political topics. His 2011 album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, had songs about problems in the world, like the financial crisis. In 2012, he released Election Special to support President Barack Obama in the presidential election.

In 2018, he released the album The Prodigal Son, which featured gospel songs. He often tours with his son, Joachim Cooder, who is a drummer. In 2022, he released an album with his old friend Taj Mahal called Get on Board, playing songs by the famous blues duo Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee.

Awards

Ry Cooder has won many awards for his music, including:

• Seven Grammy Awards for his solo work, collaborations, and productions.
• An honorary doctorate (a special high-level degree) from Queen's University, Canada in 2000.
• A Lifetime Achievement Award from BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2017.

Discography

Cooder has released many albums over his long career.

Solo albums

Collaborations

• Jamming with Edward! (1972) (with members of the Rolling Stones)
• A Meeting by the River (1993) (with Vishwa Mohan Bhatt)
• Talking Timbuktu (1994) (with Ali Farka Touré)
• Buena Vista Social Club (1997)
• Mambo Sinuendo (2003) (with Manuel Galbán)
• San Patricio (2010) (with the Chieftains)
• Get On Board (2022) (with Taj Mahal)

Soundtracks

See also

In Spanish: Ry Cooder para niños