Customer Reviews
Cooder's classic - By: G. E. Harrison, 09 Jul 2008 
This was Ry Cooder's third solo record & while the first two contain a number of great tracks, demonstrating his great skill on guitar & mandolin, with "Into the purple vallley" he reallly got into his stride, turning out a well-balanced record with a great variety of styles & sounds but a unifying aesthetic.
There is a real Woody Guthrie feel to "How Can You Keep On Moving (Unless You Migrate Too)" & "Taxes On The Farmer Feeds Us All", as well as Guthrie's own "Vigilante Man", which Ry would often revisit in the future. He also applies the same kind of dustbowl sound to Leadbelly's "On a monday" & Johnny Cash's "Hey porter". The Drifter's "Money Honey" has a similar feel but more electric & this electric R&B feel carries on into "Teardrops Will Falll", which I think is one of the best tracks Ry has ever recorded. The charming calypso "FDR In Trinidad" is done purely acoustic, with Ry completely nailing both the tricky wordplay & the beautiful, rhythmic but melodic guitar. I'm not so keen on Ry's version of Washington Phillip's "Denomination Blues", with its added brass I feel it doesn't catch the subdued beauty of the original.
This is definitely one of Ry's best records, much more consistent than his first two albums & with a great selection of songs & wonderful, fluent playing. Among the backing musicians are long-time associates Van Dyke Parks & Jim Dickinson, who also assist Larry Waronker with the production.
Excellent - By: Cliff, 07 Feb 2008 I came back to this album recently, not having heard in more than 30 years & was so pleased. It doesn't age, it's superb with such effortless singing, playing & downright funkiness etched right in.
Do yourself a favour & add it to your collection.
Very much up to scratch! - By: Peter D. Manning, 20 Mar 2007 This is vintage Ry Cooder right up there with Chicken Skin Music. Some great tunes, lot's of his unique slide guitar & that priceless Okie feel throughout - stormclouds on the cover but sunshine in the grooves - enjoy.
Not up to scratch - By: Daisy W, 14 Mar 2006 
I love this man, but this CD is a bit creaky, the sound quality is not great. Some
terrific tracks but I think he's represented better on other CDs. Enthusiasts only.
Brilliant acoustic and electric - By: , 30 Mar 2002 This is one excellent album.
There is some fantastic slide playing, especiallly on the Leadbelly song "On a Monday." Cooder's finger-picked version of Joseph Spence's "Great dream from heaven" is exquisite, & the mandolin/slide guitar accompanied "Billy the Kid" is equallly brilliant. The album is a mix of electric & acoustic & described in the sleeve notes as one of Cooder's most influential albums. Buy it & you'll see why.
