Ry Cooder at The Great American Music Hall

Kathy had found us free tickets for some great events, but she was more than willing to pay for this one. Ry Cooder would play two rare live shows at The Great American Music Hall. The tickets were a bargain at $25. Ry Cooder rarely plays live. Tickets sold out almost immediately.

Interviewed for an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Cooder insisted that the shows would be a “one off.” The band would feature ten horns and that would make it hard to tour. Cooder admitted he doesn’t like to tour anyway. The show would be at The Great American Music hall a historic, but small venue. There wouldn’t be many tickets around.

I had my doubts about finding any tickets for this one. Sure, I wanted to see him too. Here’s a guy who was in The Magic Band with Captain Beefheart and recorded with The Rolling Stones. I didn’t want to discourage her, but I pointed out the odds. This would be a tough ticket to get.

Kathy has been a Ry Cooder fan for years. She scoured Craigslist. Buyers outnumbered sellers ten to one. There were desperate, pleading buyers. It wasn’t looking good.

On the day before the show she got a response. A woman had to sell two tickets. It’s funny how it worked out. The seller felt more comfortable dealing with another woman, especially when it came to meeting somewhere to do the transaction. Could Kathy meet her the afternoon of the show? Kathy had done it again. We were going to the Big Rock Show!

There was a bit of a wait to get in, but few seemed to mind. Most of this crowd were long time hard core Ry Cooder fans. There was a real cult atmosphere. Tonight would be special. The Chronicle said fans came from across the country to see this one. Everyone was pumped up. Well, as pumped up as we get now. Aging Baby Boomers stood on the main floor waiting, just like they used to years ago. It was a geriatric mosh pit, but there wouldn’t be any crashing bodies tonight.

The Great American Music Hall opened after the 1906 Earthquake. It was the home of wild times in the Barbary Coast days. It was a fancy restaurant and bordello that was the place to be seen in San Francisco. Sally Rand took it over in The Thirties and did her Fan Dance there. It was largely abandoned in the Sixties, but resurrected in the Seventies when it reopened as a Rock Hall. Stepping inside is a look at another time. Tall columns and the balcony are covered in ornate Baroque decoration. There are gilded mirrors and chandeliers. From the balcony we got a great look at the frescoes on the ceiling. Late night staff at the Great American Music Hall have reported strange ghosty sounds and appearances in the club after closing.

Sometimes they set up tables and chairs on the main floor, making it a nightclub setting. We knew this wouldn’t happen tonight. It was going to be a “stander.” We went upstairs to conserve energy. Kathy checked her coat, and at her insistence we looked around. A young staff member said he had two chairs left. They would not be next to the rail with a view of the stage, but they were chairs.

The opening band was Les Cenzontles. (The Mockingbirds) They were a rocking Salsa band and sounded great. They were clearly thrilled to be opening on this night for Ry. The crowd was appreciative, but I think everyone was psyched and waiting for the main act. The sound was great.

The Great American Music Hall offers dinner tickets. They were unavailable to us with the tickets Kathy got, but we’ve done it in the past. The food is pub grub. The service is horrible. You begin to wonder if it will ever arrive. The staff is just spread too thin with too much to do. The trade off is that you’re guaranteed a seat somewhere. When they use the nightclub setup you’re close to the front of the stage.

I’m not going to try to relate even the highlights of Ry Cooder’s career or what a force he’s been in music over the years. He practically invented Americana Roots Music. Late in his career he helped popularize Cuban music with his hit record The Buena Vista Social Club.

He recorded with The Rolling Stones on the “Let It Bleed” album. He was considered as a replacement for Brian Jones. He felt The Stones borrowed a bit too much from him, especially on “Gimmie Shelter.” He thought it was enough to get a song writing credit, but of course, The Stones weren’t going to pay.

Cooder and the band took the stage. He looked old with white hair, but most of the crowd looked like that. This was his crowd tonight. There were cheers and hoots when he took the stage.

Most of these song titles are from Kathy. He started with an old song, “Crazy About an Automobile.” We could see over the rail upstairs. Once in a while I wandered downstairs to get the back of the hall view. The crowd was largely male, and it seemed like half of them were over six foot five. The stage is set low at The Great American Music Hall, so even I had a hard time seeing, but it wasn’t about seeing tonight. It was about hearing.

The gig was to publicize Cooder’s new release “Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down.” We heard “Lord Tell Me Why (White Man Ain’t Worth Nothing)” from the new CD.

“Boomer’s Story.”

“Why Don’t You Try Me Tonight?” Kathy notes that Cooder sings this one with fiendish glee.

The rest of the band: Ry’s son, Joachim Cooder is on drums. A young, slacker looking Robert Francis is on bass. Terry Evans and Arnold McCuller help with the singing.

Ry goes on a mini rant about Republicans. He’s certainly talking to the right crowd tonight. Cooder has always had a political edge, but “Pull Up Some Dust” is the most political Cooder has ever been. They play “If There Is a God” from the new CD.

It’s already a special night when Flaco Jiminez joins the band. We’re in the presence of an accordion legend. Ry tells us that, “Playing the accordion is a young man’s game.” “The Do Re Mi Song.”

“This is a Gentlemen Jim Reeves song,” Ry tells us. “He’ll Have To Go.”

“School Is Out.” (Not the Alice Cooper song.)

“At the Dark End of the Street.”

Cooder mentions the new CD. He says that the powers that be want him to push it. Cooder does have a wry, sarcastic sense of humor, and he teases the crowd sometimes. He’s going to play “another bitter little song,” “Corrida de Jesse James.” Jessie James is in heaven and he’s disgusted by the bailouts handed out to the banks. “Give me back my trusty .44 and I’ll take care of it.” It’s a big crowd favorite. Jessie learns things have changed. The horns join in. The stage is too crowded and they play from the balcony. How did Jessie James get into heaven anyway?

Cooder really throws us a curveball with the Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs hit, “Wooly Bully.” It’s a rocker that adds a little levity to the evening. It even has a tuba solo!

I vaguely remembered Cooder’s brief stint with Captain Beefheart. It came to an abrupt end. Was it because of Beefheart’s autocratic ways of running a band? A Wikipedia search reminded me of a more interesting story.

Cooder may have been frustrated by The Captain’s bizarre management techniques, but it all came to a head at a Rock festival held on Mt. Tamalpais in 1967. This was before The Monterey Pop Festival. Beefheart had been acting erratically and using LSD. He froze up during the band’s performance and wound up falling off the stage. He later said he saw a young woman in the crowd turning into a fish. Cooder immediately quit the band. Promoters became leery of Beefheart. If Beefheart and The Magic Band had performed later at Monterey history could have been different, especially if they got into the movie.

Cooder is joined onstage by Juliette Commagere for a Spanish ballad.

“No Banker Left Behind.”

The band leaves the stage, but it’s obvious there’s more to come. Ry says that, “Tonight we’re going to do the encore backwards.” They put new life into “Goodnight Irene.” Ry says he’s playing his 1937 Rickenbacker. “It blew up my 1942 amp.”

The show finishes with a gripping “Vigilante Man.” Cooder lets it rip on slide guitar. This is really what everyone came to hear. No one can play it like he does.