# Where Do You Put Ry Cooder? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 21, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-put-ry-cooder/434404 "2008-01-21T20:12:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-put-ry-cooder/434404/21 "2008-01-22T21:22:30Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] There probably would not have been a _Buena Vista Social Club_ without Ry Cooder. [/QUOTE] I agree that no one outside of Cuba would have heard them, but that’s no excuse for throwing a slide guitar in Cuban music album. It grates my nerves, and admittedly that’s a personal preference thing, but Ry Cooder could have highlighted the music without inserting himself in the middle of it and it would have made a much better album. ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-put-ry-cooder/434404/22 "2008-01-22T21:24:05Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke] What “slide thing” do you mean? [/QUOTE] I’m pretty sure it’s a slide guitar, but whatever it is it does not belong in Cuban music. ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-put-ry-cooder/434404/23 "2008-01-22T21:33:33Z")
Ry Cooder goes in the category ‘regular stuff’, which is sorted by year of original release within artist by last name/band name. The other categories are Compilations, Mix Discs, Soundtracks, Showtunes and Classical. Thus, I avoid the entire problem. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-put-ry-cooder/434404/24 "2008-01-22T21:52:14Z")
The following albums are, and always will be, classified under Favorites “Into the Purple Valley” “Paradise and Lunch” “Jazz” ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-put-ry-cooder/434404/25 "2008-01-23T05:05:25Z")
Funny you should mention this; I was unpacking my cd’s yesterday and was trying to figure out where to put the score to _The End of Violence_. It ended up in the ‘weird shit to play when drinking alone’ section. ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-put-ry-cooder/434404/26 "2008-01-23T05:23:09Z")
I use [All Music Guide](http://www.allmusic.com) for all my categorization questions. They are on point 99% of the time. From the entry on Cooder: > [@](#): > > Whether serving as a session musician, solo artist, or soundtrack composer, Ry Cooder’s chameleon-like fretted instrument virtuosity, songwriting, and choices of material encompass an incredibly eclectic range of North American musical styles, including rock & roll, blues, reggae, Tex-Mex, Hawaiian, Dixieland jazz, country, folk, R&B, gospel, and vaudeville. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-put-ry-cooder/434404/27 "2008-01-23T05:53:52Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] Most of what Cooder does I would classify as Americana, but, as you point out, he really is all over the map. He may be unclassifiable. [/QUOTE] I used to have an excellent link to Americana playlists, but I lost it. Anyone? Years ago I had a station I absolutely loved, and found out it was based on Americana playlists. Fave DJ was Jyl Hirschmann (sp?). Where is she now? For the uninitiated, Americana is a genre that encompasses pretty much all that describes Ry Cooder - multiple influences, other stuff that I don’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-put-ry-cooder/434404/28 "2008-01-23T14:08:25Z")
My exposure to Cooder is pretty limited and restricted to his delta blues slide stuff, like on _Crossroads_. I found his blues playing to be phenomenal. Anyone have any songtrack or CD recco’s that are heavy on the slide blues from him that I can give a listen to? ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-put-ry-cooder/434404/29 "2008-01-23T14:49:45Z")
I use a category called “Roots” for this type of artist - it’s American and Canadian country, bluegrass, dixieland, ragtime, folk, blues… all without any modern commercial affectations: i.e. what I perceive to be “authentic” (whatever that is!) ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-put-ry-cooder/434404/30 "2008-01-23T15:20:03Z")
[QUOTE=FoieGrasIsEvil] My exposure to Cooder is pretty limited and restricted to his delta blues slide stuff, like on _Crossroads_. I found his blues playing to be phenomenal. Anyone have any songtrack or CD recco’s that are heavy on the slide blues from him that I can give a listen to? [/QUOTE] I think the best starting point for his slide style acoustic blues would be the \*Into the Purple Valley \* CD. It was one of his first releases but is still one of my all time favorites. Tracks _Vigilante Man_ & _On A Monday_ still blow me away. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-put-ry-cooder/434404.md?page=1)