Alamo Bay

Ry Cooder | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: October 28, 2008
• Label: Rhino/Warner Bros.
• Copyright: 1985 Warner Bros. Records Inc.
• Genres:
• ASIN: B001IT2O06
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #214,072 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Cooder Movie Music Long Overdue, June 8, 2007

By 

John Capute "JCap" (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Border & Alamo Bay - O.S.T. (Audio CD)

These were two of my favorite records back in the mid-80's, Americana before Americana even existed. "The Border" evokes beautifully the feel of the southwest, of a hot night with the radio playing some station from Mexico where legend Freddy Fender sings achingly, plaintively, about the dreams of thousands who long for "the broken promised land" of America. "Across the Borderline," written by Cooder, Jim Dickenson, and John Hiatt, is one of the most gorgeous songs you'll ever hear, covered in concert by Bruce Springsteen and rerecorded--with a vocal by Harry Dean Stanton--on Cooder's "Borderline" album. But Freddy Fender's version is the definitive. The music for the rest of "The Border" keeps that southwestern, Mexican-American, feel and vibe, with one more standout track, "Skin Game", an slinky, ominous growl of a song featuring a great vocal by Hiatt and trademark Cooder slide guitar. (By the way, the film, starring Jack Nicholson, is a must-see) "Alamo Bay" is something stranger, for me, not quite as successful, but still worthwhile. The movie (a failure with all the talent involved, Louis Malle directing, and Ed Harris and Amy Madigan starring) is about the clash between exiled Vietnamese fisherman and American fishermen on the Gulf Coast during the late 70s. Cooder's music finds a way to echo this culture clash, particularly in "Theme from Alamo Bay", by combining western instruments and his slide guitar with traditional Asian instruments. The result is truly gorgeous. Also of note is the crunching rocker "Gooks on Main Street" with a vocal by LA punker Lee Ving. Cooder's sountracks, for me, have always been much more interesting than his solo records, whether it be the traditional Appalachian sounds of "The Long Riders" or the Cajun influences on "Southern Comfort". "The Border/Alamo Bay" show him at his best: "The Border", along with "The Long Riders", is in my opinion his best soundtrack, and "Alamo Bay" is not all that far behind. As far as I know, other than the inclusion of certain tracks on the compilation of Cooder's film music released several years ago, this is the first time these have been on CD. They are very much worth owning.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Smokin' in bed can sure burn your house down ..., August 15, 2006

By 

Earl B "ebravonz" (Auckland New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Border & Alamo Bay - O.S.T. (Audio CD)

Thank you to those nice folks from Raven Records for making these two soundtracks available on one CD. Amongst some fine instrumentals, several of which appeared on "Music by Ry Cooder" there are two superb vocal tracks that didn't ... "Building Fires" from The Border, and "Too Close" from Alamo Bay (Amy Madigan can sing, too?) ... and even on their own, they make this a great buy.