Ryland Peter Cooder is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.
Gloria Richetta Jones is an American singer and songwriter who first found success in the United Kingdom, being recognized there as "The Queen of Northern Soul". She recorded the 1965 hit song "Tainted Love" and has worked in multiple genres as a Motown songwriter and recording artist, backing vocalist, and as a performer in musicals such as Hair. In the 1970s, she was a keyboardist and vocalist in Marc Bolan's glam rock band T. Rex. She and Bolan were also in a committed romantic relationship and had a son together.
David Perry Lindley was an American musician who founded the rock band El Rayo-X and worked with many other performers including Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt, Warren Zevon, Curtis Mayfield and Dolly Parton. He mastered such a wide variety of instruments that Acoustic Guitar magazine referred to him not as a multi-instrumentalist but instead as a "maxi-instrumentalist." On stage, Lindley was known for wearing garishly colored polyester shirts with clashing pants, gaining the nickname the Prince of Polyester.
Rising Sons was an American folk-rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965. Their initial career was short-lived, but the group found retrospective fame for launching the careers of singer Taj Mahal and guitarist Ry Cooder.
Beatrice Melba Smith known by her stage name Melba Moore, is an American singer and actress.
Chávez Ravine: A Record by Ry Cooder is the twelfth studio album by Ry Cooder. It is the first concept album and historical album by Ry Cooder which tells the story of Chávez Ravine, a Mexican-American community demolished in the 1950s in order to build public housing. The housing was never built. Ultimately the Brooklyn Dodgers built a stadium on the site as part of their move to Los Angeles.
Chicken Skin Music is Ry Cooder's fifth studio album, released in 1976, on the Reprise label.
Bop Till You Drop is Ry Cooder's eighth album, released in 1979. The album was the first digitally recorded major-label album in popular music, recorded on a digital 32-track machine built by 3M.
"It's Gonna Work Out Fine" is a song made famous by Ike & Tina Turner in 1961 as a single issued on the Sue label. It was also included on their 1962 album Dynamite!. The record is noted for being their first Grammy nominated song and their second million-selling single after "A Fool in Love".
"Little Sister" is a rock and roll song written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. It was originally released as a single in 1961 by American singer Elvis Presley, who enjoyed a No. 5 hit with it on the Billboard Hot 100. The single also reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart. Lead guitar was played by Hank Garland and the rhythm guitar was played by Scotty Moore with backing vocals by the Jordanaires featuring the distinctive bass voice of Ray Walker.
Blue Hawaii is the fourth soundtrack album by the American singer Elvis Presley, released on RCA Victor Records in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2426, on October 20, 1961. It is the soundtrack to the 1961 film of the same name starring Presley. In the United States, the album spent 20 weeks at the number one slot and 39 weeks in the Top 10 on Billboard's Top Pop LPs chart. It was certified Gold on December 21, 1961, Platinum and 2× Platinum on March 27, 1992, and 3× Platinum on July 30, 2002, by the Recording Industry Association of America. In the UK, the album spent 18 weeks at no. 1 on the Record Retailers (RR) album chart. On the US Top Pop Albums chart, Blue Hawaii is second only to the soundtrack of West Side Story as the most successful soundtrack album of the 1960s.
"Full Force Gale" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was included on his 1979 album Into the Music.
Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down is the fourteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ry Cooder. It was released by Nonesuch Records on August 30, 2011, and written and produced by Cooder, who recorded its songs at Drive-By Studios, Ocean Studios, and Wireland Studios in California. He played various instruments for the project while working alongside studio musicians such as Flaco Jiménez, Juliette Commagere, Robert Francis, and Jim Keltner.
The Man with the Blue Post-Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar is an album by American singer-songwriter Peter Case, released in 1989. Its title is a reference to the Wallace Stevens poem "The Man With the Blue Guitar."
"Soft-Hearted Hana" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his 1979 album George Harrison. In North America, it was also issued as the B-side of the album's lead single, "Blow Away", while in Britain and some other markets it was the B-side of the follow-up, "Love Comes to Everyone". The lyrics recall Harrison's experiences under the hallucinatory effects of magic mushrooms while holidaying on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The song title refers to Hana, a remote town on the island, and is a play on that of the 1920s ragtime tune "Hard Hearted Hannah".
Terry Evans was an American R&B, blues, and soul singer, guitarist and songwriter. He worked with many musicians including Ry Cooder, Bobby King, John Fogerty, Eric Clapton, Joan Armatrading, John Lee Hooker, Boz Scaggs, Maria Muldaur and Hans Theessink. Cooder stated that he always thought that Evans made a better "frontman."
The Soul of a Man is an album of "twenty haunting spiritual blues songs" recorded in the late 1920s and 1930 by the American gospel blues singer and guitarist Blind Willie Johnson that was released by Charly Records in 2003.
"You Can't Stop a Tattler" is a gospel blues song, written by Washington Phillips (1880–1954) and recorded by him for Columbia Records in 1929. The song is in two parts, intended to occupy both sides of a 10-inch 78 rpm record. However, it remained unreleased for many years. Part 2 was included on the 1971 album This Old World's in a Hell of a Fix. Both parts were included on a 1980 compilation album of songs by Phillips, Denomination Blues.
The Gentle Soul was a folk band formed in 1966 by singer-songwriters Pamela Polland and Rick Stanley. The band's music contained spiritual influences and an emphasis on creative and elaborate vocal harmonies. Their eponymous album appeared on Epic Records, together with a number of non-LP singles. Columbia Records released one record by the Gentle Soul, which was produced by Terry Melcher. The group consisted of Riley Wildflower, Pamela Polland, Rick Stanley and Sandy Konikoff. For a short time, the group included Jackson Browne. The Gentle Soul recordings have become a coveted classic, and the original vinyl album is now a pricey collector’s item.
The Slide Area is the tenth studio album by Ry Cooder. It was released in 1982 and peaked at No. 105 on the Billboard 200.
