CD-Charts Position 1
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Crossroads: Original Soundtrack

by: Ry Cooder

Release Date October 01, 1999
Thankfully the 80s hair metal duel is excluded from this album. Cooder's slide at the beginning of the duel is great, but the song then descends into something more suited to 'This is Spinal Tap'.

The soundtrack contains an interesting take on Robert Johnson's 'Crossroads', a haunting version of Lenoir's 'Down in Mississippi', the awesome 'Nitty Gritty Mississippi', great slide on 'Feeling Bad Blues' and 'Walking Away Blues', and wonderful gospel vocals on 'Somebody's Callin' My Name'.

CD-Charts Position 2
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The Long Riders

by: Ry Cooder

Release Date January 15, 1996
Brilliant stuff produced by Ry Cooder with consummate skill using musicians of the highest calibre. Their understanding of the music and it's era has produced a remarkable, emotive and hugely entertaining period piece that evokes great feeling.

CD-Charts Position 3
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Chicken Skin Music

by: Ry Cooder

Release Date October 01, 1999
This is the most essential of a list of essential Ry Cooder albums. If you only ever buy one of his CDs, make it this one.

I wore the vinyl out and had to buy it again and then I had to buy the CD. Someone borrowed the CD, they moved and I never got it back so I had to buy it again.

The playing is immaculate, it is simply wonderful music. The Mexican influences are great and really bring an extra dimension. This is the culmination of everything RC did before and overshadows everything he has done since.

Buy this album.

CD-Charts Position 4
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Borderline

by: Ry Cooder

Release Date October 01, 1999
This is a great straight rock album featuring some great musicians including Jim Keltner on drums, Tim Drummond on bass. John Hiatt of "Riding with the King" also contributes.

All numbers are short rocky numbers with catchy tunes. Each track is great.

"Every woman I know, Crazy 'bout an automobile, and here I am standing with nothin' but rubber heels!" stands out.

After listening to "The Girls From Texas" you may take care to get involved with sweet Texan girls. All songs have a humorous side.

Buy, you will not be disappointed.
(Note that this has little to do with Buena Vista Social Club, which is a great album about Cuban music brought about by Ry Cooder)

CD-Charts Position 5
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Paris, Texas [1984]

starring: Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell, Sam Berry, Bernhard Wicki
directed by: Wim Wenders

Release Date September 02, 2002
I saw a Sam Shepherd play recently, so I was quite surprised to see that Sam Shepherd wrote this screenplay. But having seen two pieces of his work, you can detect a style. Shepherd examines the dark side of families, the frustrations, the pain, the fights and their consequences. He likes long monologues uncovering a web of events and feelings. I think the dialogue in this film is superb.

The landscape and the music is also rich in metaphor. Kinski is a wisperish, idealised beauty. The other adult characters are weatherbeaten by life's demands. This is a long, slow and often banal film, but it says something about real lives. I first saw this film over twenty years ago. It lingers and haunts, and that thematic strum of the guitar stays with ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
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Music By Ry Cooder

by: Ry Cooder

Release Date June 19, 1995
There are some real atmospheric classics on this cd - check out theme from Southern Comfort, Angola & Swamp Walk.

There's actually possibly too much variation however this shouldn't be too much of a problem if you programme the playing schedule.

Best time to listen is either on a hot summer's day relaxing in a hammock or if you need to chill in a traffic jam. Either way, the playing is sublime & well worth investigating.

CD-Charts Position 7
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My Name Is Buddy

by: Ry Cooder

Release Date March 05, 2007
After hearing/reading/listening to this album absolutely spellbound, I was left with tears in my eyes as the final song, "There's a bright side somewhere", was playing. The brilliant musicianship, the simplicity of the music, and the expression of hope in this whole album, touched me so deeply. And that's what I want from Ry Cooder: to hear him and enjoy the sound, but also to identify with him, and to be taken on his journey with him through each and every one of his recordings. I can always trust him to speak directly to me through his music. "My Name Is Buddy" is no exception. Thanks Ry Cooder for being true on your journey, and giving me a legacy of music that never dissappoints as long as my ears, mind and heart are open to receive.

CD-Charts Position 8
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Ry Cooder

by: Ry Cooder

Release Date May 15, 1995
This is a brilliant complilation by Ry Cooder and includes a superb version of Blind Willie Johnson's timeless classic, "Dark Is The Night." Sheer class!

CD-Charts Position 9
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Boomer's Story

by: Ry Cooder

Release Date August 31, 1992
I cannot believe that there are so few comments about this album. It is, simply, one of the best. To go into how a copy of it turned up in a village in Somerset Uk in 1974 and changed my life would be too much. So, I'll just ask... No, on reflection, (too tired) I won't. I'll just say that it has a fantastic selection of great songs sung by Ry -- oh , so beautifully, and recorded beautifully. I am as far removed from a `techie' as anyone could be (see -- I cannot even spell it!), but when I bought my first expensive stereo in 1992, this was the test-disc I took to the shop. Mind, I also took `Sister' by Sonic Youth, which made the `experts' look at me with a mixture of dis-belief and un-belief, which, summed together, equlled distain. I am over it now. Just. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
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Into the Purple Valley

by: Ry Cooder

Release Date January 25, 1988
This was Ry Cooder's third solo record and while the first two contain a number of great tracks, demonstrating his great skill on guitar and mandolin, with "Into the purple valley" he really got into his stride, turning out a well-balanced record with a great variety of styles and sounds but a unifying aesthetic.

There is a real Woody Guthrie feel to "How Can You Keep On Moving (Unless You Migrate Too)" and "Taxes On The Farmer Feeds Us All", as well as Guthrie's own "Vigilante Man", which Ry would often revisit in the future. He also applies the same kind of dustbowl sound to Leadbelly's "On a monday" and Johnny Cash's "Hey porter". The Drifter's "Money Honey" has a similar feel but more electric and this electric R&B feel carries on into "Teardrops ... Read More: