Ry Cooder's new CD, Chavez Ravine (coming in two weeks)

[Squeech]

Posted because so many people mentioned Ry Cooder in the underrated guitar heroes thread. I hasten to add that he's not a big hero of mine, in the sense that I don't want to play like he does. But I'd kinda like to play with him some day; I think he has a real knack for bringing out something primal in the people he plays with, and he also has a perception for what areas of music are making the greatest changes at the moment. In this he resembles Miles Davis.

Anyway, the new CD is called Chavez Ravine. The title refers to a barrio in Los Angeles that was bulldozed in the '50s for urban renewal, but they never built the replacement housing they promised; ultimately they built Dodger Stadium on the site. Cooder has made a subtle sort of Chicano rock opera, using snapshots to outline the story. There are a number of character studies: "Don't Call Me Red" is a soliloquy for Frank Wilkinson, the policy wonk who tried to float the urban renewal plan, and got slandered as a communist for his troubles; "In My Town" is the thought process of the creepy paranoid urban planner whose fervent hope is to keep the population "contained;" and "It's Just a Job to Me" is what the guy who's pushing the bulldozer over people's homes tells himself. The most poignant is "3rd Base, Dodger Stadium," where the singer points out where his home used to be, and then reflects that he's lucky to have his job selling hot dogs.

Then there are the songs that reflect the street life of the barrio-- most of which are in Spanish, so I don't understand them :shrug: But they're pretty and/or groovacious. The playing on these tunes is unlike most contemporary music in that it's understated, there's a restraint to it, which makes the passions simmering under the surface seem even hotter when they peek out through the cracks. There are also remakes of several obscure oldies that would have been played on the radio or at dances at the time.

And then there's this goofy subplot about an extraterrestrial visitor who might just be looking for a party, and might have found it in the old Chavez Ravine, but certainly won't in the cleaned up "contained" Los Angeles.

Anyway, it's a cool record. In a just world, the feisty "Muy Fifi" would be in the top 40.

[Squeech]

1. Kick

for the lunchtime crowd

[stellanoir]

2. thanks for the heads up

"Paradise & Lunch" is one of my all time faves.