An Evening with Ry Cooder, Sharon White and Ricky Skaggs

Ry Cooder is an American music legend whose work reflects a kaleidoscope of styles spanning five decades and 17 solo albums. Although he performs using a variety of stringed instruments, he is probably best known as a virtuoso on the slide guitar, which, in my opinion, he plays as well as some of the all-time greats including Muddy Waters, Duane Allman and Joe Walsh.

For this reason on November 12 (2015), I jumped at the chance to hear him perform at Philadelphia’s Keswick Theatre —  a cool old building that has great acoustics and seats 1,300 in a supremely comfortable atmosphere.

(Ry Cooder in Philadelphia on Nov. 12, 2015. Photo by David Foulke)

Ry, who first picked up a guitar at the age of three, has a wide-ranging musical background. He has collaborated with artists including Captain Beefheart, Taj Mahal, Neil Young, Eric Clapton and Van Morrison. His work is also featured on a couple of Rolling Stones albums (Sticky Fingers and Let it Bleed), as well as on Mick Jagger’s first solo record, Memo From Turner.

Cooder also produced and played on the 1997 album Buena Vista Social Club.  If you are unfamiliar with this work, check out the track “Chan Chan,” which is a good example of the Afro-Cuban based music known as Son.

On his current tour he gets back to some rootsy Americana material.  Accompanying him are headliners Ricky Skaggs and Sharon White, a married couple with an impressive country and bluegrass pedigree. Ricky is a country music veteran who at the age of seven played with bluegrass legends Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs.

Sharon is well-known in Grand Old Opry circles for her work with her band The Whites (which people might recognize from their rendition of “Keep on the Sunny Side,” from the soundtrack to the movie O Brother Where art Thou?).

The Cooder, White and Skaggs band features other members of the White family, including Daddy Buck, who plays keyboards, and sister Cheryl, on vocals and guitar.  Rounding out the group are Ry’s son, Joachim, on drums, and Mark Fain on bass.

One thing I enjoyed about the show was the laid-back conversational approach.  In between songs, the musicians talked to the audience and shared the history behind the songs as well as their experiences growing up with and playing country music. Ricky described the sound as “Old country songs from the ’40s, and ’50s and some from the ’60s,” encompassing country, gospel, bluegrass, Western swing, and rockabilly.

The group began with “Take My Spirit Home,” followed by a great old Merle Travis song, “Sweet Temptation.” I was struck by Ricky’ s bell-like tenor, which was complemented by Ry’s low-key bass singing. After that came “Mansion On the Hill,” a Hank Williams song which Skaggs described as being a “foundation stone in this music.”  Sharon joined in for a three-part harmony, and Buck took some nice piano solos.

(Sharon White performing at the Keswick Theatre. Photo by David Foulke)

Mr. Skaggs has an amazing voice, with a clean tone, great vocal control, and a huge range. I sometimes find that bands tend to turn up the vocal parts so that they’re too loud, but this group’s singing was central to the music and a real pleasure to hear. These are powerful singers that mix well together, and are well-suited for this style of music. Some of the harmonies were simply incredible.

One of my favorite songs of the show was “Jordan,” by the Stanley Brothers. Ricky recounted how he first played at the age of 15 with Ralph Stanley, who got his own start playing with Bill Monroe. I guess this music tends to get passed down over time.  “Jordan” is arranged as a Bluegrass Gospel quartet built on Ry’s droning bass with layers of harmonies on top.

“Now look at that cold Jordan, look at these deep waters, look at that wide river, oh hear the mighty billows roar. You’d better take Jesus with you . He’s a true companion, for I’m sure without Him that you never will make it over.”

The Grateful Dead did a great cover of the song in 1970:

Next up was more great singing in “True companion,” which I believe was written by Marc Cohn. It had a gorgeous a cappella finish.

Not only can these guys sing, but they can seriously play.  Ry had something like eight musical instruments on stage, and he switched among them fluidly. He picks a great banjo in addition to playing traditional and slide guitar.

I had come for the slide guitar and Ry did not disappoint.  He has a relaxed delivery and plays with real feeling.  He has a distinctive electric finger picking style and the country licks flow effortlessly, but he also veers into jazz and blues territory at times.  You can hear the diversity of his musical background in his playing.

(Ry Cooder. Photos by David Foulke)

As for Ricky, he demonstrated incredible versatility, and had tremendous mandolin, fiddle, and guitar skills.  The solos just pour out of him, and at times he traded solos with Ry, which was a real treat to watch and listen to. I was with a quasi-professional musician friend of mine, and he was in awe.

Next up was another Hank Williams song, “Soul of a man,” a great sing-songy country tune that was popular 50+ years ago. The band followed up with “Hold What You Got,” a Jimmy Martin song, with Ry on guitar and Ricky providing scorching mandolin solos.

(Ricky Skaggs in Philadelphia. Photo by David Foulke)

We then heard what was described as “Hank Snow’s first big hit,” a sorrowful and spiritual song called, “Now and Then There’s a Fool Such As I.”  And “since every country set needs a train song,” they played, “Pan American Boogie,” by the Delmore Brothers.

They also played, “Gone Home,” which was a Flatt & Scruggs classic. Finally, wrapping up the show, the band played, “You Must Unload,” by Blind Alfred Reed:

“Oh you money loving Christians, you refuse to pay your share, you must unload, you must unload, if you want to get to heaven on the cheapest kind of fare, you must, you must unload.”

It was great to hear these old time country songs, which in the modern country music community are slowly being lost in the sands of time. Luckily for musicians in the digital age, many of these are preserved on YouTube. Ry explained that when creating the set list, he did a lot of research by watching YouTube videos.  “Just me and the cat, late at night, watching YouTube.” So go ahead and browse some of these titles! You may find a few gems that will stay with you.

After the show, my buddy and I ran into Ry’s son, Joachim Cooder, and bassist Mark Fain, in a local bar.  They were nice guys and shared some stories about touring with these country legends. In a world filled with pretentious rock stars, it’s refereshing to know there are still some friendly folks playing top-notch country music out there.

— By David Foulke. Philadelphia, PA.