Ry Cooder

ライ・クーダーは、22歳のときにはすでに音楽業界のベテランで、スタジオミュージシャンやサイドマンとして引っ張りだこだった。1969年にワーナー・ミュージックと契約した直後、幼い頃から培ってきた音楽的才能と、お気に入りの楽器であるスチール・ギターの希少価値に自信を持って、自身の名前でファースト・アルバムをリリースしたのである。

彼の名を冠したLPは、ブルース、フォーク、ロックンロール、ポップスが融合した魅力的な作品であり、優れた楽曲、名人芸的な演奏、やや奇抜だが想像力に富んだアレンジが融合したユニークな作品である。民俗学者の両親を持つクーダーは、ウディ・ガスリー、ブラインド・ブレイク、スリーピー・ジョン・エステス、リード・ベリーなどの伝説的なミュージシャンや、最新のランディ・ニューマンの曲など、60年以上前の1920年代から10曲を選曲。しかしながら特筆すべきは、彼自身が作曲したインストゥルメンタル曲"Available Space"の旺盛な魅力!!

"Ry Cooder" - Ry Cooder (voc, g, mand, b); Van Dyke Parks (p); Bobby Bruce (v); Chris Ethridge Roy Estrada, Max Bennett (b); John Barbata, Richie Hayward (dr); Milt Holland (dr, perc); Gloria Jones (backing voc)

Already a seasoned music business veteran at the age of 22, Ry Cooder stepped out from behind the shadows of the likes of Jackie DeShannon, Taj Mahal, the Rolling Stones, and Captain Beefheart, signing his own deal with Warner Brothers records in 1969. Released the following year, Cooder's eponymous debut creates an intriguing fusion of blues, folk, rock & roll, and pop, filtered through his own intricate, syncopated guitar; Van Dyke Parks and Lenny Waronker's idiosyncratic production; and Parks and Kirby Johnson's string arrangements. And while he's still finding his feet as a singer, Cooder puts this unique blend across with a combination of terrific songs, virtuosic playing, and quirky, yet imaginative, arrangements. For material, Cooder, the son of folklorist parents, unearths ten gems -- spanning six decades dating back to the 1920s -- by legends such as Woody Guthrie, Blind Blake, Sleepy John Estes, and Leadbelly, as well as a current Randy Newman composition. Still, as great as his outside choices are, it's the exuberant charm of his own instrumental "Available Space" that nearly steals the show. Its joyful interplay between Cooder's slide, Van Dyke Parks' music hall piano, and the street-corner drumming creates a piece that is both loose and sophisticated. If "Available Space" is the record's most playful moment, its closer, "Dark Is the Night," is the converse, with Cooder's stark, acoustic slide extracting every ounce of torment from Blind Willie Johnson's mournful masterpiece. Some of the eccentric arrangements may prove to be a bit much for both purists and pop audiences alike, but still, Cooder's need to stretch, tempered with a reverence for the past, helps to create a completely original work that should reward adventurous listeners. ~ Brett Hartenbach