Biography
Long before he had become the musician of choice to score Walter Hill films, as well as a frequent collaborator of German director Wim Wenders, Ry Cooder had established himself as a virtuoso of fretted instruments (i. e., banjo, Mexican tiple, Middle Eastern saz), backing the likes of Gordon Lightfoot, the Rolling Stones, Randy Newman and Neil Young. Particularly renowned for his blues-flavored slide guitar he allegedly inspired Duane Allman, …
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Career Milestones
1999 | Appeared and performed in the film "Buena Vista Social Club", a documentary follow-up to the 1997 album; directed by Wenders | |
1998 | Scored Mike Nichols' "Primary Colors"; also wrote and performed several songs in film | |
1997 | Teamed with Wenders again for "The End of Violence" | |
1996 | Journeyed to Cuba, where he assembled pre-revolutionary Cuban music greats and recorded their old-school sound which was in danger of dying out; the result was the following year's Grammy-winning "Buena Vista Social Club", on which he also performed | |
1996 | Provided the score for Hill's "Last Man Standing", his 10th feature collaboration with the director | |
1995 | Played guitar and performed several songs (including "Over the Rainbow") for "The Wizard of Oz in Concert: The Dream Comes True", a TNT musical special | |
1992 | Formed the band Little Village with John Hiatt, Nick Lowe and Jim Keltner; released debut album on Reprise Records (date approximate) | |
1991 | Second collaboration with Wenders, "Until the End of the World" | |
1990 | Appeared as himself in "Motion and Emotion", a documentary on Wenders | |
1989 | Composed score for "The Man Who Was Death", a Walter Hill-directed installment of the HBO horror anthology series "Tales From the Crypt" | |
1988 | Produced the concert feature "Ry Cooder & the Moula Banda Rhythm Aces: Let's Have a Ball" | |
1987 | Composed theme music for the TV cop comedy-drama "Beverly Hills Buntz", a short-lived spin-off from "Hill Street Blues" starring Dennis Franz | |
1987 | Credited as song producer and source music producer for a number of Spanish-language songs in Hill's "Extreme Prejudice" | |
1986 | Wrote score for Michelle Manning's "Blue City", produced by Hill | |
1984 | Composed the score for Wim Wenders' "Paris, Texas"; first collaboration with the West German filmmaker | |
1982 | TV debut, provided music for "Brooklyn Bridge", a documentary directed by Ken Burns and aired on PBS | |
1980 | First feature credit for music, Walter Hill's "The Long Riders" (also music arranger, music performer); first of many collaborations with writer-director Hill | |
1979 | "Bop till You Drop" became the first major-label digitally-recorded album | |
1978 | Credited as special music arranger for the song "Hard Workin' Man" in Paul Schrader's "Blue Collar" | |
1978 | Composed and performed the song "Available Space" used in Jack Nicholson's "Goin' South" | |
| Cut down on his session work during the 1970s to concentrate on solo career but did back Randy Newman ("Good Old Boys" and "Sail Away"), Arlo Guthrie and Van Dyke Parks | ||
1971 | Sat in on the recording of "Little Feat", the debut album of Little Feat | |
1970 | Played guitar and dulcimer on soundtrack of "Performance" | |
1970 | First album as a solo artist, "Ry Cooder" | |
1969 | Signed a solo recording contract | |
1969 | Has claimed to have recorded extensively on the Rolling Stones' "Let It Bleed" album though only credited for the mandolin on the song "Love in Vain"; claimed to have provided the main riff for the Stones' "Honky Tonk Women" | |
1968 | First film credit, performed on the soundtrack of "Candy" | |
| Performed music for numerous commercials | ||
| Worked as a session player on albums by various artists in the late 1960s, notably with Gordon Lightfoot | ||
1967 | Played guitar on Mahal's debut album, "Taj Mahal" | |
1966 | Became the guitarist for Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band; played on their first album, "Safe As Milk" (released in 1967); abruptly quit the band after touring Europe just before a scheduled appearance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival (thereby forcing the band to cancel) | |
1966 | Started the Rising Sons with fellow musician and musicologist Taj Mahal | |
1963 | Played in an unsuccessful musical group with vocalist Jackie DeShannon | |
| Became active in Southern Californian blues and folk circles | ||
1951 | Lost his left eye after accidentally sticking a knife in it at age four; began wearing a glass eye (date approximate) | |
1950 | Began playing guitar at age three (date approximate) | |
Awards
1999 | BAFTA Award for Anthony Asquith Award For Achievement In Film Music in Buena Vista Social Club |
1984 | BAFTA Award for Score For a Film in Paris, Texas |
1980 | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music Score in The Long Riders |