Ry Cooder

Obviously a man of tood taste and sensibility. On his second album, Into the Purple Valley,
he's had the smarts to include an instrumental, "Great Dreams From Heaven," by the
little-known but highly-regarded and almost legendary Bahamian Master of Sand and Conch,
Joseph Spence, which certainly goes to show that Cooder has not only attended the
graduate department of the College of Musical Knowledge, but that he's been do... More >

This time Cooder's Everyman sounds homely rather than humble, with an honest wit that escapes the bankers and lawmen on his back, though the "wonderful urbanity" of F.D.R.--the phrase is calypsonian Fitz McLean's--remains an ideal. "How Can You Keep on Moving" and "Taxes on the Farmer Feed Us All," unearthed by Cooder from the public domain, are just what he's after: eloquence that's never high-flown, which of course underscores the eloquence. Ditto for the guitar(s), especially on "Billy the Kid" and (Dickey Doo's!) "Teardrops Will Fall." (Grade: B+)