Ry Cooder: Slide Guitar's Global Interpreter

A Definitive Biography of Musical Crossroads, Cultural Exchange, and the Art of Listening

De: Kevin S.W. Baxter

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

Ry Cooder’s story is the sound of America meeting the world. From the streets of Santa Monica to studios in Havana, Bamako, and Hollywood, Cooder’s six-decade journey redefined what it means to be a musician. Known for his haunting slide guitar and unerring ear, he unearthed forgotten songs, revitalized lost traditions, and proved that music could be both historical document and living conversation.

This definitive biography traces Cooder’s life from his 1947 Los Angeles childhood through the folk revival, session work with The Rolling Stones, and his groundbreaking solo albums that bridged gospel, blues, and Tex-Mex traditions. Readers follow his evolution from youthful prodigy to cultural interpreter, capturing the detail of his recording sessions, his collaborations with Taj Mahal, Flaco Jiménez, and Ali Farka Touré, and his film scores that forever altered cinema’s emotional vocabulary.

The narrative brings rare insight into his creative process—how Cooder treated guitar as an instrument of memory, using open tunings and bottleneck phrasing to tell stories words could not. It explores his role in the Buena Vista Social Club phenomenon, which transformed global music at the close of the 20th century, and his later political works that examined the American conscience through sound.

Written with documentary precision and journalistic clarity, Ry Cooder: Slide Guitar’s Global Interpreter illuminates a career guided by curiosity and conscience. It’s not the tale of a star but of a craftsman who turned listening into an art form. Through interviews, archival research, and critical reflection, the book reveals Cooder’s lasting lesson: that every note carries a history, and that true artistry lies in hearing the world as one continuous song.