CoronaVinyl Day 304 (C): Bop Till You Drop by Ry Cooder

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

I didn't have time to post this yesterday, so it's been two straight days of listening to the same album for me.  Today's CoronaVinyl category is "C," and I gained two Ry Cooder albums when from my neighbor a few months back, and I've been listening to his eighth studio album, 1979's Bop Till You Drop.

Cooder is one of those musicians whose name I've heard many times over the years, but for whatever reason, I'm not familiar with his music.  He's a renowned guitarist -- ranked #31 in Rolling Stone's 2015 list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All-Time -- who got his start in the '60s as a blues-based guitarist playing with Taj Mahal and then with Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band.  He also played on two Rolling Stones tracks around that time, playing the mandolin on their cover of Robert Johnson's "Love in Vain" on Let It Bleed and slide guitar on "Sister Morphine" on Sticky Fingers.

He then went solo, releasing his first album in 1970, and throughout his career, he's been kind of a chameleon, playing music in various genres from blues to folk to roots rock to jazz to Latin to country to world music.

Bop Till You Drop has the distinction of being the first digitally recorded major-label popular music album.  It's a covers album, featuring early R&B and rock and roll songs, like Elvis Presley's "Little Sister," Arthur Alexander's "Go Home Girl," Ike & Tina Turner's "I Think It's Going to Work Out Fine," and the Fontella Bass and Bobby McClure duet "Don't Mess Up a Good Thing."  There's also one original, "Down In Hollywood."

Cooder had help from some pretty great fellow musicians, like Chaka Khan (who provides vocals on a few tracks), legendary session drummer Jim Keltner, and soul singer and Cooder collaborator Bobby King, among others.  Overall, it's a pleasant album, although given the title, I expected more bopping.  Many of the songs aren't as peppy as I would have imagined, and some almost have a Jimmy Buffett feel to them.  The album went to #62 on the Billboard album chart, as well as #7 on the Australian album chart.

Cooder has continued to make music in the 40+ years since then, in a variety of genres.  He scored over a dozen films, played slide guitar on The Beach Boys' massive 1988 hit "Kokomo," and during his career, he has performed as a guest musician on recordings by dozens of other artists, including Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, The Everly Brothers, Randy Newman, Arlo Guthrie, John Lee Hooker, Judy Collins, and The Doobie Brothers.  He has won six Grammy Awards, and in 2007, he was awarded the AMA Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalists at the American Music Awards.

Also, if there isn't something like this out there already, I think it's time for there to be a Ry Cooder cover band comprised only of octogenarian females called Dry Cooder.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "The Very Thing That Makes You Rich (Makes Me Poor)"
This is a country-ish bluesy song, with an interesting title.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Don't Mess Up a Good Thing"
Cooder and Chaka Khan share lead vocals on this one.  It's a bluesy, soulful little number.