Name: Into the Purple Valley
Brand: Cooder, Ry
SKU: 322245
Price: 14.74 USD
Availability: InStock

Into the Purple Valley

Rating

Album: Into the Purple Valley
#	Song Title		Time
1)	How Can You Keep Moving (Unless You Migrate Too)	More Info...
2)	Billy The Kid	More Info...
3)	Money Honey	More Info...
4)	F.D.R. In Trinidad	More Info...
5)	Teardrops Will Fall	More Info...
6)	Denomination Blues	More Info...
7)	On A Monday	More Info...
8)	Hey Porter	More Info...
9)	Great Dream From Heaven	More Info...
10)	Taxes On The Farmer Feeds Us All	More Info...
11)	Vigilante Man	More Info...

Album: Into the Purple Valley
#	Song Title		Time
1)	How Can You Keep Moving (Unless You Migrate Too)	More Info...
2)	Billy The Kid	More Info...
3)	Money Honey	More Info...
4)	F.D.R. In Trinidad	More Info...
5)	Teardrops Will Fall	More Info...
6)	Denomination Blues	More Info...
7)	On A Monday	More Info...
8)	Hey Porter	More Info...
9)	Great Dream From Heaven	More Info...
10)	Taxes On The Farmer Feeds Us All	More Info...
11)	Vigilante Man	More Info...

Performer Notes

Personnel: Ry Cooder (vocals, guitar, mandolin); Donna Weiss, Gloria Jones, Claudia Lennear, Donna Washburn (vocals); Jerry Jumonville (saxophone); George Bohannon, Joe Lane Davis , Ike Williams (horns); Jim Dickinson (piano); Van Dyke Parks (keyboards); John Craviotta (drums); Milt Holland (percussion).
Photographer: Marty Evans.
Arranger: Ry Cooder.
Guitarist Cooder was a respected session musician prior to launching a solo career. His distinctive style blossomed fully on this, his second album, which is a brilliant compendium of American country/folk styles. Tight but sparse accompaniment takes the artist through songs largely drawn from the Dustbowl Ballads of the Depression era, including Woody Guthrie's "Vigilante Man" and Leadbelly's "On A Monday."
Traditional songs like "Billy the Kid" nestle next to more contemporary fare like Johnny Cash's "Hey Porter" and wildcard entries like a cover of Bahamanian guitarist Joseph Spence's "Great Dream from Heaven." Cooder's ungainly voice captures the plaintive, retro-styled atmosphere, but it is his chilling slide guitar work (not to mention his facility with mandolin, Hawaiian slack key guitar, and other stringed instruments) for which this album is renowned.

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (3/2/72, p.57) - "...Cooder gets off some incredible slide guitar licks...he's still doing those terrific, uncanny things with his instrument..."

Uncut (2/03, p.78) - "...[The album] established him as both a serious musicologist and a major interpretive artist in his own right..."