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Conference napalm::guitar

Title:GUITARnotes - Where Every Note has Emotion
Notice:Discussion of the finer stringed instruments
Moderator:KDX200::COOPER
Created:Thu Aug 14 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:3280
Total number of notes:61432

2384.0. "Ry Cooder tunings" by WOTVAX::MACKENZIER () Tue Nov 26 1991 06:34

Hi,

Does anyone know what open tuning Ry Cooder uses on the "13 Question 
Method" on the Get Rhythm lp? I think it's an open D but what has he got 
the A string tuned to in order to keep the walking bass line? My ear just 
can't seem to pick it up.

thanks,

R

T.RTitleUserPersonal
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2384.1ZYDECO::MCABEEA semaphore named GodotTue Nov 26 1991 22:1915
>Does anyone know what open tuning Ry Cooder uses on the "13 Question 
>Method" on the Get Rhythm lp? I think it's an open D but what has he got 
>the A string tuned to in order to keep the walking bass line? My ear just 
>can't seem to pick it up.


I don't know the answer but I do know that Ry has big hands and sometimes
does stretches you shouldn't try at home.  :^)

If you're willing - and able - to stretch, you can play in standard tuning
and sound like open tunings.  You can also hurt yourself if you get too
outrageous.

Bob
2384.2E::EVANSThu Jun 03 1993 12:185
Anybody know where there is a Ry Cooder note?

Jim

2384.3yer lookin' at it!NAVY5::SDANDREAWally the One Eyed WormThu Jun 03 1993 12:436
   >> Anybody know where there is a Ry Cooder note?
     
    
    yes, this conference, note 2384
    
    8^)                                              
2384.4E::EVANSThu Jun 03 1993 13:064
 
 
     :-p

2384.5GOES11::G_HOUSESon of SpamThu Jun 03 1993 16:011
    Does anyone know WHY there is a Ry Cooder note?
2384.6%^)NWACES::HICKERNELLSubmit to Wally.Thu Jun 03 1993 16:477
    re: .5
    
    Because we value differences, dude!
    
    (Don't we?)
    
    Dave
2384.7GOES11::G_HOUSESon of SpamThu Jun 03 1993 17:474
    Ry Cooder is the one and only performer I've ever seen booed off a
    stage.
    
    gh
2384.8Both Sides NowTECRUS::ROSTI need air freshener under the drumsThu Jun 03 1993 18:005
    Ry Cooder is the one and only person I know of who has recorded with
    both Judy Collins *and* Capt. Beefheart which should count for
    something.
    
    						Brian
2384.9More notes-per-second isn't necessarily betterTAMDNO::LAURENTHal Laurent @ MELThu Jun 03 1993 18:0213
re: .7

>    Ry Cooder is the one and only performer I've ever seen booed off a
>    stage.
    
He doesn't exactly tend to play stuff that appeals to the masses.

I'm really surprised to hear Ry-bashing in a *guitar* conference.
This is the guy that taught Lowell George to play slide guitar!

As Steve Dandrea would say, "Sheesh!"

-Hal
2384.10bad night?RICKS::CALCAGNIsubmit to FredThu Jun 03 1993 18:065
    Hey Greg, maybe you'd like to elaborate on why he was booed off the
    stage.  Do you think it's his playing in general?  The wrong crowd
    for his music?  Or was it just a bad show?
    
    /rick
2384.11E::EVANSThu Jun 03 1993 18:115
Maybe he was the warm-up act at a Metalica concert?

Jim

2384.12DetailsGOES11::G_HOUSESon of SpamThu Jun 03 1993 18:1522
    re: Rick                    
    
    I think in that particular situation, it was a combination of the wrong
    crowd for his music and a bad show.  He was opening for the Rolling
    Stones at ASU stadium in 1982.  The place held 80k people and the show
    was sold out.  He went on pretty early, I'd guess probably 3/4 of the
    people were there.  Honestly, I thought his playing *was* really bad,
    terrible in fact.  The sound wasn't very good for him either, which
    didn't help.  Actually, I don't remember for sure if there was really a
    *lot* of actual "booing" going on, but I do remember DEAD SILENCE after
    each song.  I mean, not even a polite little clap or anything.  It was
    like in the cartoon where Daffy Duck dances his butt off and takes a
    bow and all you can hear are the sound of crickets.  Pretty incredible
    seeing 60k people sitting there staring at a performer...  He left the
    stage after about 3-4 numbers.
    
    I didn't boo or anything myself, I was just watchin people. 
    
    Afterward, George Thorogood played and got a very good response, as did
    the Stones.
    
    gh
2384.13Open saskatchewan, open sarsparillaGIDDAY::KNIGHTPget me a gin and pentatonicThu Jun 03 1993 22:2512
    re Ry Cooder
    	Most of the stuff I have heard is soundtrack related eg:
    Paris Texas (great music) so if this is what he was playing to
    a rock crowd (stones and thorogood fans) I can see while he crashed
    and burned.
    
    Re Daffy Duck
    	that really cracked me up .....I love those warners cartoons 
    and Daffy just the greediest self centred being in cartoon land
    ...got to love him
    P.K.
    
2384.14And you thought that toons were for kids!KDX200::COOPERLet The Light Surround You!!Fri Jun 04 1993 02:553
    And remember what Yosimite Sam always said:
    
    "Pirate only run for two things... Money and public office..."
2384.15recommendedRICKS::CALCAGNIsubmit to FredFri Jun 04 1993 11:3613
    re Greg
    
    Yeah, I can understand how you would be turned off by an experience
    like that.  I don't know if you've checked out any other Cooder or
    if you even care to, but I would definitely not judge him by that
    one show.  Ry is an *excellent* player, and his slide work in
    particular is legendary; most modern electric slide players owe
    a debt to him in one way or another.  Of his solo recordings, my
    favorite is "Bop Till You Drop", but they're pretty much all good.
    I believe he was part of the recent "Little Village" collaboration;
    not sure how that stuff is, but might be worth checking out.
    
    /rick
2384.16sheesh......NAVY5::SDANDREAWally the One Eyed WormFri Jun 04 1993 11:391
    
2384.17EZ2GET::STEWARTFight fire with marshmallows!Fri Jun 04 1993 13:2510
    
    
    
    
    Yeah, Ry is part of little village.  He also did a lot of the guitar
    work in the movie "Crossroads".
    
    
    
    
2384.18Ryland P. CooderTECRUS::ROSTI need air freshener under the drumsFri Jun 04 1993 13:3931
    Ry has had a long and varied career.  His early stuff was in the
    folk/blues vein but he grew into more of a rocker over time, while
    still spending a lot of time exploring ethnic musics (notably Tex/Mex
    conjunto and Hwaiian styles).  He recently recorded an album of duets
    with an Indian guitarist, jamming on some ragas.
    
    As a sideman he's played with quite a few people:  Captain Beefheart,
    Taj Mahal, Judy Collins, Little Feat, Rolling Stones (he's on "Sister
    Morphine" amongst others), Randy Newman (check out "Burn Down The
    Conrfield" for some eerie slide), Eric Clapton (he's on the "Money and
    Cigarettes" album, while fellow fretburner Albert Lee plays keyboards!)
    He was the #1 call slide player in LA studios through much of the 70s
    before he started branching out as a solo performer, then in the 80s he
    retreated into (lucrative) soundtrack work.
    
    In addition to guitar, he's also a skilled mandolinist in the tradition
    of Johnny Shines.
    
    Ry has claimed that Bahamian guitarist Joseph Spence was a major
    influence.  If you listen to Spence's 1958 Folkways recordings
    (recently reissued on CD) you'll actually hear a lot of stuff that
    you might have though the folk-boomers of the 60s invented!  However,
    Spence is not a slide player, and it's unclear where Cooder got that
    from, since he sounds very much unlike Robert Johnson, Elmore James or
    Muddy Waters.
    
    One concert tour of the past that I would have liked to have seen (too
    bad I was out of the US at the time): Ry Cooder opening for Captain
    Beefheart and Little Feat.
    
    						Brian
2384.19Maybe I *would* be interested...GOES11::G_HOUSESon of SpamFri Jun 04 1993 13:416
> Of his solo recordings, my
>    favorite is "Bop Till You Drop", but they're pretty much all good.
    
    He covers The Ramones?
    
    Greg
2384.20HEDRON::DAVEBjust 'cuz you own the land, there's no unique hand floods the damFri Jun 04 1993 14:394
Little Village is ok, not great, but ok. I've got it and have listened to it
a number of times. not Ry's best work by far.

dbii
2384.218^)WOLVER::SDANDREAWally the One Eyed WormFri Jun 04 1993 15:023
    tolday this was the Ry Cooder note!
    
    8^P
2384.22sheesh.....WOLVER::SDANDREAWally the One Eyed WormFri Jun 04 1993 15:036
    >>  tolday this was the Ry Cooder note!
    
     >> 8^P
    
     that's 'toldya'
                                                   
2384.23Worth a listen !VOYAGR::JACQUESVintage taste, reissue budgetFri Jun 04 1993 16:2312
    Ry Cooder also backed up John Hiatt on his "Bring the family" album.
    This features some of Ry Cooder's best work IMHO. Includes the tune
    "Thing called love" which Bonnie Rait had a hit with. There is a 
    tune on this album called "Lipstick Sunset" which features some of the
    most beautiful slide playing I've ever heard.
    
    As someone else said, his playing can be very eerie sounding at times.
    He generally plays a Strat outfitted with a Pedal-steel pickup. He
    plays through small Fender amps like Princeton reverbs cranked upto
    10. Gets a nice gritty sound perfect for his style of playin'.
    
    Mark
2384.24LEDS::BURATIyou've got me floatin', float to grooveFri Jun 04 1993 19:165
>    tune on this album called "Lipstick Sunset" which features some of the
>    most beautiful slide playing I've ever heard.

    AGREED!
    
2384.25LEDS::BURATIyou've got me floatin', float to grooveTue Jun 08 1993 17:114
    Does anyone know who did the slide work on BNob Seger's "Like a Rock"?
    Nice.

    --Ron
2384.26GANTRY::ALLBERYJimTue Jun 08 1993 18:2410
    RE: .25
    
>>    Does anyone know who did the slide work on BNob Seger's "Like a Rock"?
    
    I read somewhere that Bob played it himself.  It kind of surprised me,
    since he's never been really noted as a guitarist.  I believe he did
    play most of the leads on the old Bob Seger System recordings, though
    (pre Silver Bullet Band).
    
    Jim (from the motor city)
2384.27*real* nice solo!QRYCHE::STARRI want to see you dance again....Tue Jun 08 1993 19:017
>>    Does anyone know who did the slide work on BNob Seger's "Like a Rock"?
>    I read somewhere that Bob played it himself.  

Nope, not true! That was Rick Vito on slide guitar; he went on to play in 
Fleetwood Mac after leaving Seger, and recently released a solo album.

alan
2384.28GOES11::G_HOUSESon of SpamTue Jun 08 1993 21:484
    Seger's stuff was never as good after that first live album.  Then came
    the "silver bullet" days of lame songs and commercials...
    
    gh (also a Motor City Madman, for awhile)
2384.29LEDS::BURATIClinton-Gore: Out In FourTue Jun 08 1993 22:586
    Rick Vito, huh? Geepers, whooda thunk. Up there with Ry's which is why I
    axed in here.

    Thanx,

    Ron