Paradise and Lunch

Ry Cooder

album cover

A Greasy Serving of Americana

The Band was into big myths and war stories. Dylan spouted truth so obvious it scolded you for missing it. And Ry Cooder, perhaps the most criminally overlooked auteur of the early '70s, chased plain-folks wisdom, the stories and songs swapped after family dinner in rural America.

The big idea with Cooder is that the source material can come from anywhere. He seizes on an ordinary children's song or churchy hymn, some needlepoint-sampler artifact of lost Americana, and with nothing more than a shot of electrifying rhythm guitar, jolts it alive. His previous albums find him goosing Appalachian folk, dust-bowl balladry, old-time jazz, and Tejano songs, each time shaping those patchwork instrumentals around his rambling narratives. Paradise and Lunch, his masterwork, goes for the backwoods and the swamp: The multi-instrumentalist resurrects durable Deep South church marches and wildcat blues as bawdy entertainments, and transforms a Bobby Womack soul anthem ("It's All Over Now," better known as a Rolling Stones hit) into a loping, wicked New Orleans stomp.

Each of the nine selections has the air of something fantastical (and at times pre-posterous) to it, as though Cooder and his excellent accomplices (which include, on a boisterous "Ditty Wah Ditty," the legendary jazz pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines) find themselves in an odd, utterly pleasurable barroom tableau, and they intend to keep rollicking along until things clarify. Cooder's knack for conjuring atmosphere served him well later on the '70s—particularly on a series of haunting film scores, including Paris, Texas and Crossroads. But no visuals are necessary to appreciate the gruff and greasy medicine show that is Paradise and Lunch.

Genre: Rock
Released: 1974, Reprise
Key Tracks: "Jesus on the Mainline," "It's All Over Now"
Catalog Choice: Boomer's Story; Chicken Skin Music
Next Stop: Little Feat: Dixie Chicken
After That: John Prine: John Prine
Book Page: 185

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Comments:

#1 from Jose Reyna, Grand Rapids, MI - 01/08/2009 3:07

This is but one of several excellent recordings by Ry Cooder; any of his works are worthy to list. I especially appreciate his work with the Cuban artists and his recent trilogy; Chavez Ravine, My name is Buddy, and I, Flathead.

#2 from Adam, New Jersey - 01/12/2009 12:07

How about a follow up with Doug Sahm?

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