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The Ry Cooder Story — Music
The Ry Cooder Story

“The Ry Cooder Story“ delves deep into the legendary career of master guitarist Ry Cooder. Prepare to embark on a journey spanning 60 years of musical genius. From his humble beginnings as a session musician with the likes of The Rolling Stones or Randy Newman, to his rise as a solo artist (“Bop Till You Drop“), film composer (“Paris, Texas“), or world musician (Buena Vista Social Club), Ry Cooder’s contributions to the world of music are unparalleled. Each episode provides comprehensive insights into Cooder’s creative process, collaborations, and profound influence on countless artists.

This podcast uses a new production method. Thanks to a text-to-speech generator, all voices are spoken by an AI. But don’t worry: it sounds like good radio, with pleasant sound, changing voices, and – most importantly – decent English.

This podcast frequently uses small snippets of musical recordings in podcast episodes for educational, review, and commentary purposes. In all cases, without exception, we believe this is protected by fair use in the U.S., fair dealing in the U.K. and EEA, and similar exceptions in the copyright laws of other nations. No more of the original than necessary is used, and excerpts are edited into long-form narratives, making the use transformative in nature.

Written, produced and edited by Frank Schnelle

Theme and background music by Chris Haugen

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Copyright: © Frank Schnelle

Latest Episodes:

34 Hollow Bamboo (2000) / Mambo Sinuendo (2002) Feb 13, 2025

Show notes

At the beginning of the new millennium, Cooder was once again deeply involved in world music. He released two back-to-back collaborative albums, this time with Indian flutist Ronu Majumdar and Cuban guitar wizard Manuel Galbán. As with his collaborations with V.M. Bhatt and Ali Farka Touré ten years earlier, he mostly took a back seat and helped them do their own thing. We also talk briefly about the Cuban follow-ups of the Buena Vista Social Club and some of Cooder's other session projects.

This podcast frequently uses small snippets of musical recordings in podcast episodes for educational, review, and commentary purposes. In all cases, without exception, we believe this is protected by fair use in the U.S., fair dealing in the U.K. and EEA, and similar exceptions in the copyright laws of other nations. No more of the original than necessary is used, and excerpts are edited into long-form narratives, making the use transformative in nature.

Written, produced and edited by Frank Schnelle

Theme and background music by Chris Haugen

Additional background music by Quincas Moreira

Voices produced with text-to-speech AI

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and YouTube

The Ry Cooder Story Website

Support us on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

33 Primary Colors (1998) Jan 30, 2025

Show notes

Cooder said goodbye to Hollywood in 1998 with his score for Primary Colors. Based on Joe Klein's originally anonymous book, the film tells the story of Bill Clinton's rise to the White House. Cooder's musical contribution is brief and eclectic, a mix of reinvented American classics, some ingenious recycling, and a few original compositions.

This podcast frequently uses small snippets of musical recordings in podcast episodes for educational, review, and commentary purposes. In all cases, without exception, we believe this is protected by fair use in the U.S., fair dealing in the U.K. and EEA, and similar exceptions in the copyright laws of other nations. No more of the original than necessary is used, and excerpts are edited into long-form narratives, making the use transformative in nature.

Written, produced and edited by Frank Schnelle

Theme and background music by Chris Haugen

Voices produced with text-to-speech AI

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and YouTube

The Ry Cooder Story Website

Support us on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

32 The End of Violence (1997) Jan 16, 2025

Show notes

Shot after Cooder recorded the Buena Vista Social Club album in Havana, but before the production of the accompanying documentary, The End Of Violence has a great score that gives the film a real grandeur. The main theme is excellent as always, and there are some very interesting forays into the realm of electronic music.

This podcast frequently uses small snippets of musical recordings in podcast episodes for educational, review, and commentary purposes. In all cases, without exception, we believe this is protected by fair use in the U.S., fair dealing in the U.K. and EEA, and similar exceptions in the copyright laws of other nations. No more of the original than necessary is used, and excerpts are edited into long-form narratives, making the use transformative in nature.

Written, produced and edited by Frank Schnelle

Theme and background music by Chris Haugen

Voices produced with text-to-speech AI

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and YouTube

The Ry Cooder Story Website

Support us on Patreon

Watch The End Of Violence at the Internet Archive

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

31 Buena Vista Social Club (1997) Dec 19, 2024

Show notes

The Buena Vista Social Club was by far Cooder's biggest commercial success. At the time, he probably thought it was business as usual – working with a bunch of interesting and skilled musicians from a different musical culture, as he'd done so many times before. But this time he hit the jackpot. The importance of the album and the subsequent documentary cannot be overstated. It is the most popular recording of Cuban music in history, and it opened up the island's culture to the West as never before.

This podcast frequently uses small snippets of musical recordings in podcast episodes for educational, review, and commentary purposes. In all cases, without exception, we believe this is protected by fair use in the U.S., fair dealing in the U.K. and EEA, and similar exceptions in the copyright laws of other nations. No more of the original than necessary is used, and excerpts are edited into long-form narratives, making the use transformative in nature.

Written, produced and edited by Frank Schnelle

Theme and background music by Chris Haugen

Additional background music by Jimmy Fontanez, Quincas Moreira

Voices produced with text-to-speech AI

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and YouTube

The Ry Cooder Story Website

Support us on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

30 Last Man Standing (1996) Dec 05, 2024

Show notes

Last Man Standing, Cooder's last collaboration with Walter Hill, was a remake of a Japanese classic, 1961's Yojimbo. Hill and Cooder let loose once again, creating a dark, nihilistic action film starring Bruce Willis as the man with no name. Though very unconventional and focused almost exclusively on atmosphere, Cooder's score is surprisingly diverse and varied. - In this episode we also talk about the 1995 Family Tour with David Lindley and Cooder's session work in the mid-90s.

This podcast frequently uses small snippets of musical recordings in podcast episodes for educational, review, and commentary purposes. In all cases, without exception, we believe this is protected by fair use in the U.S., fair dealing in the U.K. and EEA, and similar exceptions in the copyright laws of other nations. No more of the original than necessary is used, and excerpts are edited into long-form narratives, making the use transformative in nature.

Written, produced and edited by Frank Schnelle

Theme and background music by Chris Haugen

Additional background music The Mini Vandals

Voices produced with text-to-speech AI

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and YouTube

The Ry Cooder Story Website

Support us on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

29 A Meeting By The River (1993) / Talking Timbuktu (1994) Nov 21, 2024

Show notes

For Cooder, the mid-nineties were a period of astonishingly numerous world music collaborations. Between 1993 and 1995 alone, he worked with Indian string legend V.M. Bhatt (A Meeting By The River), Ali Farka Touré of Mali (Talking Timbuktu), Nenes and Shoukichi Kina of Okinawa (The Great Music Experience), The Chieftains of Ireland (The Long Black Veil), and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan of Pakistan (Dead Man Walking). So in this episode we take a trip around the world (kind of) and tell the story of all these very exciting collaborations.

This podcast frequently uses small snippets of musical recordings in podcast episodes for educational, review, and commentary purposes. In all cases, without exception, we believe this is protected by fair use in the U.S., fair dealing in the U.K. and EEA, and similar exceptions in the copyright laws of other nations. No more of the original than necessary is used, and excerpts are edited into long-form narratives, making the use transformative in nature.

Written, produced and edited by Frank Schnelle

Theme and background music by Chris Haugen

Additional background music The Mini Vandals

Voices produced with text-to-speech AI

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and YouTube

The Ry Cooder Story Website

Support us on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

28 Geronimo – An American Legend (1993) Nov 07, 2024

Show notes

Geronimo – An American Legend, released in 1993, was Cooder's eighth score for director Walter Hill. The movie is about the last resistance of the Native Americans against the superiority of white civilization. It's very serious and pretty dark. After the jazzy Trespass, this was something completely new for Cooder. For the first time, he composed something like a classical film score, a real tapestry of sound. And while the movie opts for the narrative perspective of the white soldiers, Cooder chooses a strict musical duality between a Native American and a white Western part.

This podcast frequently uses small snippets of musical recordings in podcast episodes for educational, review, and commentary purposes. In all cases, without exception, we believe this is protected by fair use in the U.S., fair dealing in the U.K. and EEA, and similar exceptions in the copyright laws of other nations. No more of the original than necessary is used, and excerpts are edited into long-form narratives, making the use transformative in nature.

Written, produced and edited by Frank Schnelle

Theme and background music by Chris Haugen

Additional background music The Mini Vandals

Voices produced with text-to-speech AI

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and YouTube

The Ry Cooder Story Website

Support us on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

27 Trespass (1992) Oct 24, 2024

Show notes

Walter Hill's gritty 1992 action film Trespass flew under the radar at the time, but Cooder again broke new ground with his score. The music is unlike anything he had done before, and it heralds a phase closely associated with a new collaborator: jazz trumpeter Jon Hassell. In this episode we also look at Cooder's session work from the late eighties and early nineties. Having long since outgrown his role as a mere contract worker, Cooder now became more of a mentor and producer.

This podcast frequently uses small snippets of musical recordings in podcast episodes for educational, review, and commentary purposes. In all cases, without exception, we believe this is protected by fair use in the U.S., fair dealing in the U.K. and EEA, and similar exceptions in the copyright laws of other nations. No more of the original than necessary is used, and excerpts are edited into long-form narratives, making the use transformative in nature.

Written, produced and edited by Frank Schnelle

Theme and background music by Chris Haugen

Additional background music The Mini Vandals

Voices produced with text-to-speech AI

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and YouTube

The Ry Cooder Story Website

Support us on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

26 Little Village (1992) Oct 10, 2024

Show notes

In this episode we tell the story of Little Village, a band that existed for a short time in 1991-92. It consisted of Ry Cooder, John Hiatt, Jim Keltner and Nick Lowe, who had played together on Hiatt's album Bring The Family a few years earlier. Together they made another great album, but one that sounded different for a number of reasons. It wasn't a real hit, but it wasn't a disappointment either, just another ingenious effort from four very special musicians. We also take a quick look at Cooder and David Lindley's 1990 tour.

This podcast frequently uses small snippets of musical recordings in podcast episodes for educational, review, and commentary purposes. In all cases, without exception, we believe this is protected by fair use in the U.S., fair dealing in the U.K. and EEA, and similar exceptions in the copyright laws of other nations. No more of the original than necessary is used, and excerpts are edited into long-form narratives, making the use transformative in nature.

Written, produced and edited by Frank Schnelle

Theme and background music by Chris Haugen

Additional background music The Mini Vandals

Voices produced with text-to-speech AI

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and YouTube

The Ry Cooder Story Website

Support us on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

25 Johnny Handsome (1989) Sep 26, 2024

Show notes

We're back for our third season! Episode 25 focuses on 1989's Johnny Handsome, another underrated but truly spectacular Walter Hill film. Cooder's score is one of his best, if not THE best. It's surprising, moving, and has a great interplay between slide guitar, keyboards, and horn section. We also take a look at several other productions, including Pecos Bill, Tales From The Crypt, The Ghost Of Faffner Hall, several session albums, and the great Bobby King and Terry Evans debut, Live And Let Live!, which is as close to a Cooder album as you can get without actually being a Cooder album.

This podcast frequently uses small snippets of musical recordings in podcast episodes for educational, review, and commentary purposes. In all cases, without exception, we believe this is protected by fair use in the U.S., fair dealing in the U.K. and EEA, and similar exceptions in the copyright laws of other nations. No more of the original than necessary is used, and excerpts are edited into long-form narratives, making the use transformative in nature.

Written, produced and edited by Frank Schnelle

Theme and background music by Chris Haugen

Additional background music The Mini Vandals

Voices produced with text-to-speech AI

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and YouTube

The Ry Cooder Story Website

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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