Ry Cooder’s first live record in more than 35 years, Live in San Francisco. Recorded in 2011 during a special two-night engagement at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall, the album includes 12 songs and was produced by Cooder. The Corridos Famosos band includes Joachim Cooder on drums; Robert Francis on bass; vocalists Terry Evans, Arnold McCuller, and Juliette Commagere; Flaco Jimenez on accordion; and the ten-piece Mexican brass band La Banda Juvenil.
Live in San Francisco is available now on iTunes and in the Nonesuch Store, where vinyl and CD orders include a download of the complete album at checkout, and the album is also available to purchase as MP3 and FLAC files. The vinyl edition includes the complete album on two 140-gram LPs and on CD.
“One of those nights when you wish you’d been in Row A,” says the Sunday Times of London’s Clive Davis of the concerts captured here. Guitarist magazine calls it “sublime, spirited slide ‘n’ soul from a past-master of the art.” Guitar & Bass writes: “We’d have loved to be there in person, but we’ll settle for this five-star recording and let our imaginations loose on the rest. ” Bayerischer Rundfunk has named it CD of the Week.
Live in San Francisco includes original songs and interpretations of other material ranging across Cooder’s entire career, from classics like “Boomer’s Story” and “Dark End of the Street” to more recent originals such as “Lord Tell Me Why” and “El Corrido de Jesse James,” with a detour for Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs’ “Wooly Bully” and Lead Belly’s “Goodnight Irene.” Cooder’s only previous live album was the 1977 release Show Time, on which Evans and Jimenez were also featured. Show Time was also recorded at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall.
