''The Slide Area'' is the tenth studio album by

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, an ...

. It was released in 1982 and peaked at #105 on the ''

Billboard album chart The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

Track listing

Side A

# "UFO Has Landed in the Ghetto" (Ry Cooder,

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Dow ...

) # "I Need a Woman" (

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

) # "Gypsy Woman" (

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

) # "

Blue Suede Shoes "Blue Suede Shoes" is a rock and roll standard (music), standard written and first recorded by American singer, songwriter and guitarist Carl Perkins in 1955. It is considered one of the first rockabilly records, incorporating elements of blues ...

" (

Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...

)

Side B

# "Mama, Don't Treat Your Daughter Mean" (Ry Cooder) # "I'm Drinking Again" (Ry Cooder, Jim Keltner) # "Which Came First" (Ry Cooder, Willie Dixon) # "That's the Way Love Turned Out for Me" (

Quinton Claunch Quinton Mavis Claunch (December 3, 1921 – April 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, record producer and record label owner, who was responsible with others for setting up Hi Records in the 1950s and Goldwax Records in the 1960s. B ...

, Ry Cooder, Dave Hall)

Reception

Reviewing the album for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Bob Gottlieb said:

Yes, it is a rhythm & blues, bordering at times on
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
album, and
rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
is one direction R&B took, but..... The two gems on this are the phenomenal treatments of both "Blue Suede Shoes" and
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
's "I Need a Woman." Two songs as different in the original forms as pigs and gerbils are converted to R&B hit status. Both contain some memorable
slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...
work, but isn't that what we expect from this master of the guitar family. The album is very good but those two songs make it a gem.

Personnel

Musicians Liner notes from Warner Bros. Records – BSK 3651, 1982 LP

* Ry Cooder – guitar, vocals *

– drums *

Jim Dickinson James Luther Dickinson (November 15, 1941 – August 15, 2009) was an American record producer, pianist, and singer who fronted, among others, the band Mud Boy and the Neutrons, based in Memphis, Tennessee. Biography Dickinson was born in Li ...

– keyboards (A1 – A3, B2, B4); piano (A4); electric piano (B1); organ (B3) * William D. Smith – keyboards (A1 – A3, B2, B4) * Tim Drummond - bass guitar (A1 - A2, A4, B1, B3) * Reggie McBride - bass guitar (B2, B4) * Chuck Rainey - bass guitar (A3) * Ras Baboo Pierre – percussion (A3) *

Bobby King Bobby King (born July 28, 1944, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States) is an American gospel-style, R&B and soul singer. He formed a singing duo with Terry Evans in the early 1970s. Since 1973, King has sung on most Ry Cooder albums. He wa ...

– backing vocals (A1 – B1, B3, B4) * Willie Greene – background vocals (A1 – B1, B3, B4) * Herman Johnson – backing vocals (A1 – B1, B3, B4) *

John Hiatt John Robert Hiatt (born August 20, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including new wave, blues, and country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards and has been awarded ...

– backing vocals (A1 – B1, B3, B4); guitar (B4) * George McFadden - backing vocals (A4, B1) * Kazu Matsui -

Shakuhachi A is a Japanese and ancient Chinese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the .

flute (B1, B3)

Technical

* Mark Ettel – Engineer Assistant *

Mark Linett Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fin ...

– Engineer (Santa Monica) (A1, A2, A4, B1, B3) * Bernie Grundman – mastering * Allen Sides – mixing (A3, B2, B4) * Masuru Mera – cover photography * Ry Cooder – producer * Leslie Morris – assistant producer

References

Ry Cooder albums 1982 albums Warner Records albums Albums produced by Ry Cooder {{1980s-rock-album-stub