I, Flathead

I remember when I first got into this trilogy with Chavez Ravine that this album was given the lowest reviews of the bunch from the major critics, but I am not sure why. Sure, this album may not be as in depth of a social or historical commentary as Chavez Ravine or even the allegorical statement that My Name is Buddy is, but the one thing that I love about this album is that it is fun. It is upbeat and has a relaxed mood that just works. While I like all three albums, this is the one I listen to the most because it flows quite well from start to finish, and it makes me happy. I kind of think this is what Ry Cooder was going for. It isn't devoid of the features the first two components of the trilogy have, but they don't dominate this recording. For my listening it is a nice balance that is probably why I enjoy listening to it so much. It is great music, and I love listening to it on a nice sunny day, and I find the underlying story a bit comedic at times while it never neglects the seriousness of some features. The book with this release is a nice addition that complements the album as a sort of commentary that helps explain the album. I don't think it is an absolute necessary feature, but given the price comparison between this edition and the one without the book, it is worth the few extra dollars if you can afford it.

I climbed into my buddy's car and he cranked up the very first tune. It sounded cool. I liked it. Who is it? He wouldn't say. The first song ends with some guy swearing he isn't going to cry. He's going to drive! Drive like he's never been hurt! Okay, great performance. Who is it? Kash Buk & the Klowns? Dumb name. I listen to "Can I Smoke in Here?" "Fernando Sez" "Filipino Dancehall Girl" and "My Dwarf is Getting Tired" before I take a guess: Is this Ry Cooder? I'd lost sight of Ry after his collaboration with Buena Vista Social Club. I loved Jazz and Chicken Skin and everything with Flaco Jimenez, but this took me a few listenings before I realized just how brilliant Ry's "performance" is on this fully developed concept album. Ry recently added "author" to his credits. With this album, he has added "actor" to that list. For this album, Ry created a character and gave him a history, as well as a present. Kash tells us exactly why he's making this album. He's broke. This album will become a classic. It will take some time, but it will. This limited edition will, as all limited editions do, go out of print. That's when Ry's fans will discover exactly what they let slip through their fingers. Then they'll have to decide whether or not to shell out the big bucks to someone who had the foresight to buy it new, now, while you still can. 5 (big fat) Stars

Here's Ry Cooder, a legitmate guitar hero of the last forty years or so, and he has, apparently, written a novella. A novella! A short novel--it's about 100 pages and it is included in the "Deluxe Limited Edition" of his new I, Flathead release...or should I say publication. When was the last time somebody included a novel with their new music? This could be the start of something big. And it will inspire alt-indies everywhere to write short stories or novels or poems to go with their new musical material. It's like Ray Davies or Pete Townshend releasing Preservation or Tommy, complete with a lovely, printed novelization of their stories. This new work fits nicely with Cooder's last couple of works; Chavez Ravine and My Name is Buddy. Along with I, Flathead, these are highly literate, beautifully produced, small works of art. Little bits of beauty in an otherwise bleak landscape of modern music. The novella is planted firmly in Sam Shepard territory-California deserts, dust, motors, motels and misfits. Told in a wry Depression-era-meets-Shepard-meets-Hank Williams voice, it may be set in today's America, or it may be set ten or twenty years ago. And it's got a main character, Shakey Lavonne, who apparently is from outer space, a space vato. It's a crazy tale of busted dreams and disappointment, duct-taped cars, abused women and brown-dirt images from the beat-up back roads outside of Lone Pine and the dry lake beds of eastern California. Places where only crazy people go, on purpose. Nested neatly with the record itself is the story and songs of Kash Buk and the Klowns, stand-ins for Ry and his friends, commenting on the novella's action. The story could use some serious editing but since Mr. Cooder has, in effect, self-published the story...so what? He can do whatever he wants. He has struck a blow for writers and artists everywhere. And we should thank Nonesuch Records for taking the chance on such an unusual piece of work. And the music is his strongest in years, matching the best of both of his two recent records, and as good as his work in the early 1970s. He's working with his son Joachim Cooder, old friends Rene Camacho and Flaco Jimenez. The sound he produces is handmade, airy and satisfying. Mr. Cooder is one of those guitarists who is instantly identifiable with one pluck of a string. The sticker on the Deluxe Limited Edition warns the buyer that there's a story smuggled in the package..."for those who know how to read." Caveat emptor. I suspect that most folks will spring for the cheaper, normal CD package. I couldn't even find it at my friendly Barnes & Noble. That's too bad. It's a fine piece of American music and art. But, these days, who has time to read?

Der Artikel kam ein paar Tage später , aber sonst alles in Ordnung.

Though the album theme is Driving (a Flathead), this album contains many varied sub-themes of great interest to a much wider audience than "motor-heads" . I thoroughly enjoyed his lyrics, music and delivery.

Un disque de ce guitariste d'exception est toujours une bonne nouvelle. Particulièrement cet album qui baigne dans un son ample et pur au service de compositions somptueuses. Un vrai régal.

2000年に入ってからの彼のアルバム作りは活発だ。 2003年の「Mambo Sinuendo」、2005年の「Chavez Ravine」、2007年の「My Name Is Buddy」と次々とオリジナルの新作を届けてくれる。 映画音楽が創作活動の中心だった80～90年代が嘘のようだ。 この作品で繰り広げられる音楽は、未知の世界の音楽を自己の音楽として成立させていた70年代のような目新しさは無いが、何時もどうりの、テックス・メックス、ブルース、カントリーなどを自分流にアレンジした味わい深く密度の濃いサウンドが聴ける、ファンにとっては嬉しいアルバムだ。 また、ライのヴォーカルも元気があり年を重ねる毎に上手くなってきていると思うのは気のせいか。

I had to write a few words to offer a counter view to the guy who shows a complete lack of creative understanding of this album's raison d'etre. As for the comment about it being for, 'nostalgic, over 60's American males', well if you liked the recent Coen Bros movie, 'No Country for Old Men' then you'll understand the sentiments expressed through this music. This is a masterpiece of understatement and contains some all time classics. 'Can I Smoke in Here' and 'Flathead One More Time' are condensed movies that create their own quirky mis-en-scene with believable, fleshed out characters, lamenting the onset of old age and the changes that are a comin'. There is an air of hedonistic abandon and black humour in some tracks, desperation and melancholy in others, yet all are born out of the eclectic musical styles of 20thC American - that includes Latino too - popular music. A language that Ry Cooder is an honorary professor of. Buy it and be moved! In the words of the great man himself: "What a world: smile today, cry tomorrow".