A Wry Return

2005's Chavez Ravine was considered to be the first Ry Cooder solo album since Get Rhythm back in the eighties but I don't really consider it part of that early cycle. It's revealing that the booklet cover states that it is "a record by Ry Cooder". It is a collaborative effort and while there is no doubt that the guiding light and driving force is that of Cooder, he is generous in the time given to various musicians of several generations from the Mexican American community. The album is built around the disgraceful story of the building of the Dodgers baseball stadium in Los Angeles in the early fifties and the graft, corruption and callous destruction of the local Mexican community that it entailed. Woven into the narrative are McCarthyism, left wing labour politics and a celebration of the vitality of the Mexican musical scene, plus Ry Cooder's odd UFO fixation that first surfaced in the disappointing early eighties album The Slide Area. Ry Cooder does sing himself on a number of tracks which was a first since the Get Rhythm era but he also uses veteran latino style singers in a similar way to the Buena Vista project, plus east side LA r'n'b old timers and some young feisty Mexican American ladies. The Mexican influence obviously pervades the whole album but there is variety with some Mose Allison style jazzy inflections, growling redneck blues and spacey portrayals fo the alien visitor in his UFO who tries to warn the residents of impending doom. The track Third Base Dodgers stadium is almost unbearably sweet and poignant. The fine booklet notes give ample explanation of the story behind the songs.