River Rescue: The Very Best of Ry Cooder

Ry Cooder has many influences - from the early days as part of Taj Mahal's backing group (Ryland P Cooder, Rhythm Guitar) to the global success of Buena Vista Social Club. This collection pre-dates the latter and post-dates the former. It features 19 of his best tracks from his recordings on Warner from, 1972-1994. Includes 'Paris, Texas', 'Little Sister', 'The Pearls/ Tia Juana' and more!

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 and roll, blues, reggae, Tex-Mex, Hawaiian, Dixieland jazz, country, folk, Rand 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 long time 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. (This biography was provided by the artist or their representative.)


1. River Come Down (PKA Bamboo)
2. UFO Has Landed In The Ghetto
3. Low-Commotion
4. Smack Dab In The Middle
5. Tattler
6. Dark End Of The Street
7. The Very Thing That Makes You Rich (Makes Me Poor)
8. Going Back To Okinawa
9. Money Honey
10. Why Don't You Try Me
11. Paris, Texas
12. Chloe
13. The Pearls/Tia Juana
14. I Think It's Going To Work Out Fine
15. Down In Hollywood
16. Which Came First
17. Crazy 'Bout An Automobile (Every Woman I Know)
18. Get Rhythm
19. Little Sister

Ry Cooder