Ry Cooder Ry Cooder

Born: 15 March 1947, Santa Monica, California.

Biography:
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is arguably the finest blues guitarist of his generation. Largely self-taught, Cooder began playing "regular" guitar at the very young age, partly due to his own shyness at having been blinded in his left eye following a childhood accident. He spent his teens at the centre of the Los Angeles blues scene, where he regularly took the stage, and received advice from the likes of Gary Davies and Jackie DeShannon. Expanding his repertoire, he took up the banjo, the mandolin, and the bottleneck blues guitar, the latter of which would later become his trademark. After years of live performances, Cooder entered the recording studio in 1968 to work on Captain Beefheart's debut album, and subsequently worked with artists such as Gordon Lightfoot, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Randy Newman, John Lee Hooker and many others. He has also released many acclaimed solo albums, including the self-titled "Ry Cooder" (1970), "Into The Purple Valley" (1972), "Boomer's Story" (1973), "Paradise And Lunch" (1974), "ChickenSkin Music" (1975), "Jazz" (1978), "Bop Till You Drop" (1979), "Borderline - The Slide Area" (1982) and "Get Rhythm" (1987). Cooder actually began working in film in the late 1960s, contributing guitar performances to the soundtrack of the films "Candy" (1968) and "Performance" (1970), before scoring his first solo movie "Blue Collar" in 1978. Since then, Cooder has contributed moody, guitar-driven scores to a number of films, including Jack Nicholson's "Goin' South" (1979), Walter Hill's "The Long Riders" (1980), Wim Wenders' "Paris, Texas" (1984), "Streets of Fire" (1984, replacing James Horner), "Last Man Standing" (1996, replacing Elmer Bernstein), and "Primary Colors" (1998). Outside of his film music, Cooder continues to collaborate with artists on the world music scene, notably Ali Farka Toure, and with legendary Cuban musical luminaries such as the venerable Gato Barbieri, Compay Segundo, Ibrahim Ferrer and Ruben Gonzales for the documentary album "Buena Vista Social Club".

Reviews:
Primary Colors

Filmography:
My Blueberry Nights (2007), Chavez Ravine (2003), Buena Vista Social Club (1999), Primary Colors (1998), The End of Violence (1997), Last Man Standing (1996), Dead Man Walking (1995), Geronimo: An American Legend (1993), Trespass (1992), Johnny Handsome (1989), Extreme Prejudice (1987), Blue City (1986), Crossroads (1986), Alamo Bay (1985), Brewster's Millions (1985), Paris Texas (1984), Streets of Fire (1984), The Border (1982), Southern Comfort (1981), The Long Riders (1980), Goin' South (1979), Blue Collar (1978), Performance (1970).

Highest Grossing Films as at end of 2007 (adjusted for inflation):
Brewster’s Millions ($81.4m), Primary Colors ($58.9m), The Long Riders ($41.6m), Geronimo: An American Legend ($31.9m), Last Man Standing ($29.0m), Trespass ($22.6m), Streets of Fire ($17.0m), The Border ($14.7m), Blue City ($13.3m), Johnny Handsome ($12.9m)

Awards:
1999 BAFTA Awards - Nominee, Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music - Buena Vista Social Club
1984 BAFTA Awards – Nominee, Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music – Paris Texas

Links:
The Master and His Music by Neil MacKinnon

Alamo Bay Blue City Buena Vista Social Club Crossroads Dead Man Walking The End of Violence Geronimo: An American Legend Johnny Handsome Last Man Standing The Long Riders Paris Texas Performance Primary Colors Streets of Fire Trespass


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