Another Ry look at life that goes placesRy Cooder Ryland "Ry" Peter Cooder (born 15 March 1947, in Los Angeles, California) is an American guitarist, singer and composer, known for his slide guitar work, his interest in the American roots music and, more recently, for his collaborations with traditional musicians from many - I, Flathead (Nonesuch/Perro Verde) £11.99 The concept album is usually an accident waiting to happen, so Ry Cooder is pushing his luck making three in a row. I, Flathead is the concluding part of his 'California Trilogy', following 2005's Chavez Ravine and last year's My Name Is Buddy, and it's a tribute to Cooder's talents that it's a match for either. I, Flathead is the concluding part of his 'California Trilogy', following 2005's Chavez Ravine and last year's My Name Is Buddy, and it's a tribute to Cooder's talents that it's a match for either. Like its predecessors this is a retrospective tribute to the Golden State's dispossessed, but where Buddy focused on the dustbowl refugees of the Depression and Woody Guthrie's legacy, and Chavez on the racial melting pot melting pot America as the home of many races and cultures. [Am. Pop. Culture: Misc.] See : America of postwar Los Angeles, I, Flathead celebrates the underbelly of 1960s California, a world of home-built drag racers on the desert salt flats, of honky-tonk dance halls, trailer parks and fairground freak shows. There's even an accompanying 95-page novella novella: see novel. novella Story with a compact and pointed plot, often realistic and satiric in tone. Originating in Italy during the Middle Ages, it was often based on local events; individual tales often were gathered into collections. to amplify the storyline. Cooder's narrator NARRATOR. A pleader who draws narrs serviens narrator, a sergeant at law. Fleta, 1. 2, c. 37. Obsolete. is Kash Buk, a petrolhead who trades in his 'flathead' dragster drag·ster n. 1. An automobile specially built or modified for drag racing. 2. A person who races such an automobile. for life as a roadhouse road·house n. An inn, restaurant, or nightclub located on a road outside a town or city. roadhouse Noun a pub or restaurant at the side of a road Noun 1. country musician. It's a loose biography, though, that rarely holds the songs hostage (as Buddy arguably did). The musical storyline is a breezy mixture of R&B, Tex-Mex and country. Its car songs allow Cooder to cut loose - the opening 'Drive Like I Never Been Hurt' is all twang and mariarchi horns, and 'Ridin' With The Blues' recalls his early days riding guitar shotgun with the Stones. Kash Buk's career brings in country themes. 'Johnny Cash' offers playful homage to the man in black, 'Steel Guitar Heaven' and 'Spayed Kooley' honour the lesser-sung heroes of 'western swing', while the entire record is speckled speck·led adj. 1. Dotted or covered with speckles, especially flecked with small spots of contrasting color. 2. Of a mixed character; motley. Adj. 1. with gleeful glee·ful adj. Full of jubilant delight; joyful. glee  ful·ly adv.glee quotes from pop history, from Motown, country, even Springsteen. 'Filipino Dance Hall Girl' is a south of the border love song, reuniting Cooder with accordionist Flaco Jimenez, while Buk's hard-living life is poignantly summed up as 'an old house trailer, two rusty Cadillacs and 5,000 country music songs'. There are a couple of awkward narrative moments but they're soon forgotten in a project that affirms Cooder's acute sense of place and musical history, and his fiery ambition to make 'vernacular American music'. 
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