Record Shop Tour: Ry Cooder - Bop Till You Drop (On Broadway Records, Fulham) ★★★☆☆

Firstly, I want to start by briefly explaining why I have started this blog category. The service that record shops can offer is, in my opinion, completely unique. Though platforms like Apple Music and Spotify do suggest new music, a record shop offers a personal touch that will always be missing from these platforms. On top of that, streaming services will usually compile playlists of different singles. Thought this has its benefits, I implore you take some time out in your day to listen to a full album. By doing this, listening to music can truly become an experience and no longer the backing track to travelling, working or anything else you do in your day.

So, onto the first "Record Shop Tour" album review.

I started off my tour at On Broadway Records in Fulham; both the gentleman in the shop displayed the personal touch I mentioned before. Upon explaining what I was doing, they were more than happy to help. Shifting through their large collection of albums, they pulled out numerous suggestions for me and my blog. It was Ry Cooder's Bop Till You Drop that caught my attention.

N.B. On Broadway Records have a large collection of albums that they're selling for £1 each (including this album). This, paired with the service I received, leads me to really recommend visiting.

When showing a friend of mine the album I had purchased, he said to me, "Ry Cooder: the guitarists' guitarist." If you do a little research into him, you see why he said this. Cooder has worked with the likes of The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Neil Young and Van Morrison, just to name a few. He was also named as Rolling Stone magazines eight greatest guitarist of all time.

The album kicks off with a cover of Elvis Presley's "Little Sister" and at the risk of committing treason against the so called "King of Rock 'n' Roll", Cooder's smooth version surpasses the original.

Somehow, Cooder makes you want to get up and move more than the King, himself. The vocals remind me of Bob Dylan on his album, released in the same year, Slow Train Coming [1979]. In fact, much of Cooder's music, here could blend in with that album. This, coupled with a deeper, more soulful register, gives the song its following groove.

An album mostly comprised of covers, the one song that Cooder has writing credits for is "Down in Hollywood". For me, this song again draws parallels with Dylan, in the sense that there's this feeling that the lyrics were written first and the music has been made to work around them. But, unlike Dylan's signature, often eloquent, execution of this, Cooder falls a little short. It often comes across as messy and I would go as far to say that this is one of the weaker tracks on the album.

That's not to say the song is terrible. The instrumental aspects of the song have a strong pulse that you can't help but bop to (no pun intended). I'm also a fan of the bridge in the track, where you hear a conversation about a man being arrested: this does make the listener feel more immersed in the story of the song.

I feel Cooder really comes into his own on the track, "It's Gonna Work Out Fine". Another cover, Cooder rebrands the song and takes it to a new, delightful place. The original by Ike & Tina Turner is fast pace, verging more on rock 'n' roll, featuring Turner's classically gritty, powerful vocals. But Cooder's version is powerful in a completely different way.

His version is a guitar instrumental; which is clearly where his strengths lie. You feel every note that he plays, each perfectly expressing the emotion it was trying to portray. This rendition really brings out both the soul and the blues of the song. One can't help but sick back and drown in it. However, this song attains a high that the rest of the album fails to reach.

Overall, this is an album I enjoyed listening to; the strongest and most enjoyable parts of it being the instrumentation. I have always believed that what set's a good guitarist apart from a great one is never technical ability. There are a million and one guitarists in the world that can play every scale this way and that at insane speeds, yet it's the one who play with emotion, soul and excitement who go on to become guitar legends. Maybe not the strongest singer or lyricist, Ry Cooder is certainly one of these.

Rating: ★★★☆☆