Born in Los Angeles, California on 15th March 1947, Cooder first attracted attention in the 1960s, playing with Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band, after having worked with Taj Mahal in The Rising Sons.
He was a session guitarist on various recording sessions with the Rolling Stones in 1968 and 1969; Cooder's contributions most notably appear on the Stones' Beggars Banquet where he shares a prominent credit with pianist, Nicky Hopkins on the back cover. He continued to appear on the succeeding albums, Let It Bleed, and Sticky Fingers, on which he contributed the haunting slide guitar solo to "Sister Morphine". Cooder is reputed to have taught Keith Richards to play in open-G tuning, now a Richards hallmark, as well as to have written the open-G signature riff of "Honky Tonk Women". He was briefly considered to fill the departed Brian Jones' place in the Rolling Stones, but reportedly Cooder and Keith Richards did not get along very well. For some time after the sessions, Cooder accused Keith Richards of "ripping him off" musically, but now refuses to talk about his experiences with the Stones. Cooder played slide guitar for the 1970 film Performance, which contained Mick Jagger's first solo single, "Memo from Turner" on which Cooder played guitar.
Throughout the 1970s Cooder released a series of Warner Brothers albums that showcased his guitar work, to some degree. In this respect, Cooder's guitar work on these records is not unlike the guitar playing of Robbie Robertson on the Band's albums: Both virtuosos emphasized song over solo. Cooder's 1970s albums spotlight, more than anything, a wide-ranging taste in music. Cooder has been seen as almost a musicologist, exploring bygone musical genres with personalized and sensitive, updated reworkings of revered originals. Cooder's 1970s albums (with the exception of Jazz) cannot be neatly pigeonholed by genre, But - to generalise broadly - it might be fair to call Cooder's first album blues; Into the Purple Valley, Boomer's Story, and Paradise and Lunch, folk + blues; Chicken Skin Music and Showtime, a unique melange of Tex-Mex and Hawaiian; Jazz, 1920s jazz; Bop till You Drop 1950s R&B and blues; and Borderline an eclectic mix of Tex-Mex with blues, R&B, and country and Get Rhythm, with more rock-based excursions.
Cooder has worked as a studio musician and has also scored many film soundtracks, of which perhaps the best known is that for the 1984 Wim Wenders film Paris, Texas. Ry Cooder based this soundtrack, and the haunting title song "Paris, Texas" on Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark Was the Night (Cold Was the Ground)", which he described as "The most soulful, transcendent piece in all music from the US." His other film work includes Walter Hill's The Long Riders (1980) and Southern Comfort (1981).
In recent years, Cooder has played a role in the increased appreciation of traditional Cuban music, due to his collaboration as producer in the Buena Vista Social Club (1997) recording, which was a worldwide hit. Wim Wenders directed a documentary film of the musicians involved, Buena Vista Social Club (1999) which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2000. Cooder worked with Tuvan throat singers for the score to the 1993 film Geronimo: An American Legend.
Cooder's solo work has been an eclectic mix, taking in dust bowl folk, blues, Tex-Mex, soul, gospel, rock, and almost everything else. He has collaborated with many important musicians, including the Rolling Stones, Little Feat, the Chieftains, John Lee Hooker, Gabby Pahinui, and Ali Farka Toure. He formed the Little Village supergroup with Nick Lowe, John Hiatt, and Jim Keltner.
Cooder's 1979 album Bop till You Drop was the first popular music album to be recorded digitally. It yielded his biggest hit, a disco/R&B cover of Elvis Presley's 1960s recording "Little Sister".
Goin
Ry Cooder Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Well, I'm going to Brownsville, take that right hand road
And I ain't gonna stop walking till I get in sweet mama's door
The girl I'm loving she's got great long curly hair
The girl I'm loving she's got great long curly hair
And her mama and her papa well, they sure don't allow me there
Well, if you catch my jumper (?), Babe, hanging upside your wall
Well, you know by that I need my ashes hauled
I'm going to Brownsville, take that right hand road
I'm going to Brownsville, take that right hand road
And I ain't gonna stop walking till I get in sweet mama's door
The song "Goin' to Brownsville" by Ry Cooder is a classic blues song which tells the story of a man who is on his way to Brownsville to see his lover. He sings about how he is going to take the right hand road and keep walking until he gets to the door of his sweet mama. The lyrics reveal that the girl he loves has long curly hair but her parents do not approve of him. This demonstrates the societal pressures and prejudices of that time which often got in the way of love.
The lyrics also mention the phrase "catch my jumper" which refers to a man's overalls. If the girl sees his overalls hanging upside down on her wall it means that he has been with another woman and he needs his "ashes hauled." This implies that the man is unfaithful but still longs to be with his lover in Brownsville.
The use of repetition in the lyrics "I'm going to Brownsville, take that right hand road" creates a sense of determination and urgency in the man's journey to see his lover, despite the obstacles and disapproval he may face.
Overall, the song "Goin' to Brownsville" is a classic blues tune that captures the spirit of forbidden love and societal pressures of the time.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm going to Brownsville, take that right hand road
I'm headed to Brownsville and will be taking the right-hand road to get there.
And I ain't gonna stop walking till I get in sweet mama's door
I won't stop walking until I reach my sweet mama's door in Brownsville.
The girl I'm loving she's got great long curly hair
The girl I love has beautiful, long, curly hair.
And her mama and her papa well, they sure don't allow me there
Unfortunately, her parents don't approve of me and don't allow me to see her.
If you catch my jumper (?), babe, hanging upside your wall
If you see my overalls hanging upside down on your wall, it's a sign that I need someone to transport my ashes after I pass away.
Well, you know by that I need my ashes hauled
The presence of my overalls indicates that I will need someone to transport my ashes after my death.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Ryland Peter Cooder
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind