Ry Cooder: Chicken Skin Music : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Ry Cooder's unique artistic vision and commitment to growth allow him to graft a succession of Western Hemisphere musical styles to his southern U.S. roots. The country blues and North American folk songs of his first records have partially given way to sounds from South America ("Maria Elena"), the Caribbean (Joseph Spence's version of "Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer," "It's All Over Now") and, on this album, to the small-orchestra sound of Tex-Mex music and the lilt of Hawaiian guitars.

Such versatility is made possible by Cooder's superior instrumental technique and his fervent honesty and modesty. He's not afraid to switch to the background for a number or two, allowing one of his mentors the spotlight. The singing of Sleepy John Estes on "President Kennedy" and the piano of Earl Hines on "Ditty Wa Ditty" have been featured in the past. On this album, Cooder introduces Gabby Pahinui, king of Hawaiian guitarists, and Flace Jiminez, a legendary accordion player.

Similarities within these genres are brought out by the arrangements; "He'll Have to Go," a Jim Reeves country & western song, maintains the original flavor but Jiminez's accordion transports the tune from Bavaria to Mexico City to Venice. The effect is uncanny but never forced. In contrast, "Yellow Roses," an old Hank Snow song, is given a strong Hawaiian treatment, sparked by Pahinui.

The only country-blues numbers here are a pair of Leadbelly songs, "The Bourgeois Blues" and "Goodnight Irene." "Irene" closes the album with one of Cooder's magnificent cross-breedings: a mariachi feel filtered through a classic American folk song. It echoes the words of "Smack Dab in the Middle," the rocker which opens side two:

Pick me a town in any clime
People like a rocking time
Stay awake all day and night
And everybody's feeling good and right.

This might be Cooder's own motto. His ability to integrate such diverse musical traditions should keep quite a few of those towns singing.