etherbored Posted November 25, 2013 Report Share Posted November 25, 2013 highly recommended! at +/- $40.00, well under $4.00 per disc, it's also a steal. the quality of the mini-lp sleeves is the highest i've seen outside of japan. the masters used are obviously from the japan warner mini-lp series from a few years ago and sound excellent. Rhino released an eleven-disc Ry Cooder box set on 11 November 2013. As the title suggests, 1970-1987 collects the American musician’s solo albums over a 17 year period (the Warner era), starting with his 1970 eponymous debut and calling a halt at 1987′s Get Rhythm. Expect the usual no-frills approach with vinyl replica card sleeves, housed in a clamshell box, with no booklet(s). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted November 25, 2013 Report Share Posted November 25, 2013 Ry was a favorite of mine for those first 5 albums. I saw him open for Beefheart in December 1970. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blind-blake Posted November 26, 2013 Report Share Posted November 26, 2013 (edited) It was through his recordings that I got turned on to Joseph Spence, Blind Willie Johnson, Sleepy John Estes, Arsenio Rodriguez, and so many other greats. I love the way he transformed Johnny Cash's Hey Porter and Woody Guthrie's Vigilante Man into country blues tour-de-forces, and no one could interpret Blind Blake any better. His version of Ditty Wa Ditty with Earl Hines is a blast. I still revel in his supernaturally beautiful version of Maria Elena on Boomers Story and his haunting version of Dark Was The Night. Music just doesn't get any better than that. If you like Ry (I usually hate using first names, like I know him personally or something -- but I've been a fan for so long, WTF), be sure and check out his recordings with guitarists Manuel Galban, Ali Farke Toure, and the Indian dude (someone help me out here). And my God, Across the Borderline on The Border soundtrack (with Freddie Fender on vocals and Flaco Jimenez on button accordion) ---- not to mention (although I'm doing it anyway) Roosevelt in Trinidad on Into the Purple Valley! Simply spectacular guitar playing! I may never have discovered calypso, Norteno, Hawaiian slack key guitar, and several other genres of music without him. OK, he's made some duds (particularly on some of his later Warner Bros. records, which is why I might avoid the box and instead pick and choose his best), but where he succeeded, he's been amazing. (Yes, I may have indulged in a little hyperbole here-- as William Blake wrote "Exuberance s beauty" or something like that -- but not by much.) The Indian guitarist is Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. A very interesting player. Edited November 26, 2013 by blind-blake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted November 26, 2013 Report Share Posted November 26, 2013 (edited) Nice that this set includes SHOWTIME, which is otherwise unavailable Stateside in physical form (IIRC). Spun BOOMER'S STORY again recently; first time in a long time to spend some time with that one. I forgot how killer his version of "Dark End of the Street" was... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8bAZFgUV4s Edited November 26, 2013 by Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blind-blake Posted November 26, 2013 Report Share Posted November 26, 2013 (edited) A terrific old video Edited December 3, 2013 by blind-blake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted November 27, 2013 Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 Would have been all over this set some three or four years ago ... got all the albums on single discs (including "Showtime", btw), so there's no need. But yes, the early albums are wonderful indeed and most of the later ones have some fine stuff, too. My top favorite probably is "Chicken Skin Music". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blind-blake Posted December 3, 2013 Report Share Posted December 3, 2013 Another great video Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcello Posted December 3, 2013 Report Share Posted December 3, 2013 That's my buddy producer, musician, songwriter and all around Renaissance Man, Russ Titelman on bass. His sister is Cooder's wife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etherbored Posted December 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2013 yep - all that, including what blind-blake said (except for the allusion to a clunker in this box with "OK, he's made some duds particularly on some of his later Warner Bros. records, which is why I might avoid the box and instead pick and choose his best" - IMHO, there's not one here). again, the mastering for those in this set is better than any prior issues i've heard (and darn near sounds remixed too, but that may be a stretch). 'boomer's story', as all of them do (although i've yet to spin 'showtime') sound stunning. impossible to pick a favorite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blind-blake Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 That's my buddy producer, musician, songwriter and all around Renaissance Man, Russ Titelman on bass. His sister is Cooder's wife.[/quote Wow. That's pretty cool. What does he say about his work with Ry? Any interesting stories? How do u know Russ and what's he up to these days? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeith Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 What a shame he only lived to be 17! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigshot Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 The sound quality on this box is phenomenal. The same goes for the similar Joni Mitchell box set. Are there any more in this series? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etherbored Posted December 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 um, well, chicago and the eagles.... i'm gonna say no.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danasgoodstuff Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 No Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcello Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 That's my buddy producer, musician, songwriter and all around Renaissance Man, Russ Titelman on bass. His sister is Cooder's wife.[/quote Wow. That's pretty cool. What does he say about his work with Ry? Any interesting stories? How do u know Russ and what's he up to these days? Thanks! I've never talked about Ry Cooder with Russ. There's always so much to talk about, though. If you look him up, he goes back to the later early days of Phil Spector, and became a producer of many pop acts like Randy Newman, George Harrison, Stevie Winwood, James Taylor, Ricki Lee Jones, Eric Clapton and many, many others. Buit when we meet the conservation can go anywhere. Well read, heavily involved in all of the arts, an encyclopedic knowledge of the Great American Song Book and a all around enthusiastic patron of the Arts. He has a producers deal right now, with I believe Decca. Here's a link to a interview for The New York Songwriters Circle: http://youtu.be/7h-2BfHkwng The Russ Titelman Story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etherbored Posted December 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 EXCELLENT ! ! ! thanks for that link. i hold titleman in the *highest* regard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blind-blake Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Thanks Marcello. Some very intriguing material. I didn't realize that the core band for Jagger's Performance soundtrack included Randy Newman, Cooder, and Jack Nitschke. Will have to check that one out. (I also didn't realize that Traffic did the original music). It's truly amazing the scope of Russ Titleman's work. Must be a very cool thing to be able to talk to the man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcello Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Here's how things happen: I met Russ several years ago when he produced a recording of trumpeter Dominick Farinacci for E1 Music because Joe Locke played on a song. When Joe did a week at Dizzy's with his band (vocalist Kenny Washington, George Mraz, Geoffrey Keezer and Clarence Penn) I sent him a message via Facebook ( I had never been in contact him before as Dominick contact Joe directly for the recording) and invited him to come hear the band as my guest. He came that night and really loved the band so much that I think he came every night after that and stayed for almost all of the sets, each time bringing with him friends and associates. On the last night he brought with him Chuck Mitchell of E1 Music who just flipped over Joe and the band and before he left, we had a deal for a recording with options ("For The Love Of You"). Russ didn't ask to produce, by the way, or ask for anything else. He just loved the band. As a matter of fact, his photo of the band is on the rear cover. As a matter of fact, he's producing a singer with Clarence Penn, the drummer and he also had a hand in Jaimeo Brown's "Trancendence". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Just finished listening to the box. Was surprised how much I liked the last 2 albums: Borderline and Get Rhythm. Superior stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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