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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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Amazed by Cooder
Pure masterpiece with road movie feeling and a true piece of
art with lotta conotations from musical history of one lost
time where Hank Williams is still riding his chevie through
lifelong road with honky tonks beside the road track. Sheer
time capsule in a timless row of many lifes. Unbeliveable
record, most likely the best of Cooder's, If that can possibly
be said. Ry created a musical story which goes beyond the digital era, something like as If this was his first or last album.
All his records are here and none of them. Limited deluxe edition
is substantial.
Rating: -
And now for something completely different....
Fantastic follow up to 'Chavez Ravine' and 'My Name is Buddy' Ry Cooder completes the trilogy with 'I, Flathead' - and another fascinating tale of life in bygone America.
I opted for the 'deluxe version' to include a small hard backed book written by Ryland himself - which could easily be the script for a cult movie.
Cooder's ramblings made compulsive reading - taking you back to childhood sci-fi magazines - and more adult themed media - with a great cast including the space visitor Shakey and his salt flats racing buddies.
Don't forget Kash Buck - and his band The Klowns who take the music theme of the CD.
Some critics panned Cooder's last effort for not sounding 'classic Ry Cooder'. Give the guy a break! He's entitled to take his creativity wherever he thinks fit - and his last 2 albums have been brilliant pieces of work.
As with 'My Name is Buddy', you need to embrace the whole concept - this is more than music - it's a great story WITH great music.
Stand out tracks for me include 'Steel Guitar Heaven' with a nice mention for Paul Bigsby, Ridin' with the Blues, Johnny Cash - and finally Fernando Sez.
But hell - they're all brilliant!
My advice is: 1. Read the book 2. Listen to the album - then read the book again.
All in all another gem from a modern music genius.
Rating: 
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Motors, motels and misfits...
Here's Ry Cooder, a legitmate guitar hero of the last forty years or so, and he has, apparently, written a novella. A novella! A short novel--it's about 100 pages and it is included in the "Deluxe Limited Edition" of his new I, Flathead release...or should I say publication.
When was the last time somebody included a novel with their new music? This could be the start of something big. And it will inspire alt-indies everywhere to write short stories or novels or poems to go with their new musical material. It's like Ray Davies or Pete Townshend releasing Preservation or Tommy, complete with a lovely, printed novelization of their stories.
This new work fits nicely with Cooder's last couple of works; Chavez Ravine and My Name is Buddy. Along with I, Flathead, these are highly literate, beautifully produced, small works of art. Little bits of beauty in an otherwise bleak landscape of modern music. The novella is planted firmly in Sam Shepard territory-California deserts, dust, motors, motels and misfits. Told in a wry Depression-era-meets-Shepard-meets-Hank Williams voice, it may be set in today's America, or it may be set ten or twenty years ago. And it's got a main character, Shakey Lavonne, who apparently is from outer space, a space vato. It's a crazy tale of busted dreams and disappointment, duct-taped cars, abused women and brown-dirt images from the beat-up back roads outside of Lone Pine and the dry lake beds of eastern California. Places where only crazy people go, on purpose. Nested neatly with the record itself is the story and songs of Kash Buk and the Klowns, stand-ins for Ry and his friends, commenting on the novella's action.
The story could use some serious editing but since Mr. Cooder has, in effect, self-published the story...so what? He can do whatever he wants. He has struck a blow for writers and artists everywhere. And we should thank Nonesuch Records for taking the chance on such an unusual piece of work.
And the music is his strongest in years, matching the best of both of his two recent records, and as good as his work in the early 1970s. He's working with his son Joachim Cooder, old friends Rene Camacho and Flaco Jimenez. The sound he produces is handmade, airy and satisfying. Mr. Cooder is one of those guitarists who is instantly identifiable with one pluck of a string.
The sticker on the Deluxe Limited Edition warns the buyer that there's a story smuggled in the package..."for those who know how to read." Caveat emptor. I suspect that most folks will spring for the cheaper, normal CD package. I couldn't even find it at my friendly Barnes & Noble. That's too bad. It's a fine piece of American music and art. But, these days, who has time to read?
Rating: -
He's got this runnin fine on all cylinders
It's said to be part of Cooder's California Trilogy along with Chavez Ravine and My Name is Buddy. The other two are great in their own right but this one excels at very fine guitar work which drew us to Ry Cooder in the first place. The songs and lyrics are clever and wacky at times but the great vocal inflections and intonations give a splashing of personality that's entertaining and fun to listen to. Cooder gets right down into his subject matter be it a dialogue with his Mexican mechanic about getting his Cadillac back or a country-light whimsy about a steel guitar heaven. The last song called Little Trona Girl may not be too fancy with words but the female vocalist is perfect as is the fantastic instrumentation. The first song, Waitin' for Some Girl, however is what sucks you in, it's great. Great stuff here, it takes you back when times were a whole lot less complicated. Oh yeah, the book is pretty cool too. Maybe an afternoon at the pool read.
Rating: -
California Trilogy, Part 3 maintains the high standard.
I, Flathead, part 3 of Cooder's California trilogy sees the high standards set with "Chavez Ravine" and "My Name is Buddy" continuing.
Again a concept album telling the story of Kash Buk, a drag racer who wants to be a Country Musician. Despite this the music consists of several genres Western Swing, Country,Rock, tex Mex and Cooder teams again with old partners Jim Keltner and Flaco Jimenez to great success.
Cooder has been very prolific in recent years and I heard in a recent interview that the reason is he wants to get as much music out before the recording industry collapses!
Virgin America formally launches: Last week, Virgin America offered free Wi-Fi on its single Internet-equipped aircraft, My Other Ride's a Spaceship. Today, the service goes commercial ($10 for flights 3 hours or shorter; $13 for longer flights), and the rollout to other planes begins. Virgin has a special URL--http://wifitracker.virginamerica.com/--that takes you to a tracking page showing which flights in progress have Wi-Fi, but they don't yet tell you how to determine whether a given flight you'll be on will offer the service. With 24 planes and a plan to add service one per week, that shouldn't be a problem for long.
Heathrow Airport Coach Link adds Internet service: Icomera, a leading transportation Wi-Fi firm, has added free Wi-Fi to FirstGroup's RailAir coach service that connects Heathrow Airport with Reading in England. RailAir runs every 20 minutes for a 50-minute route. FirstGroup handles 3 million passengers a day across all its routes, which makes it a plum market for future expansion.