Inspired by a news headline about the Wall Street bailout, Ry Cooder began work on Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down with the track “No Banker Left Behind,” an ode to the corrupt few spared from the financial crisis while most were left to fend for themselves. Uncut calls this "one of his best albums ever ... an impassioned portrait of 21st century America and its injustices" in which Cooder is "remade as a modern-day Woody Guthrie, fearless and funny, for like Guthrie he nails his targets with droll humour while empathising with society's underdogs." The BBC calls it "essential listening."
THERE'S YOU, THE CITIZEN, RUNNING IN CIRCLES LIKE A HEADLESS CHICKEN. AND THERE THEY ARE, THERE THEY ALL ARE, HERDING YOU FASTER AND FASTER THROUGH THE CIRCLE MAZE OF LIES AND DISTRACTION. WHO CAN YOU BELIEVE, WHO WILL THROW OUT THE LIFE LINE?
YOU NEED SIMPLE TOOLS, AND THAT'S WHAT THESE SONGS ARE ALL ABOUT. LEARN HOW JOHN LEE HOOKER WILL FIX THE SUPREME COURT IF ELECTED. LEARN A STIRRING NEW WAR-WITHOUT-END CHRISTMAS SING ALONG. STUDY THE REPORT ON THE NEW-TIME JIM CROW HEAVEN BILL #1070. WHAT DOES THE OUTLAW JESSE JAMES HAVE IN MIND FOR GOLDMAN SACHS? WHY DOES GOD HATE TELEVISION? AND THERE'S MORE...
EVERY SONG A REVELATION, A BEACON OF LIGHT IN THE ENDLESS TUNNEL OF MODERN LIFE, AND IT CAN BE YOURS.
Ry Cooder's new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, was released by Nonesuch/Perro Verde Records on August 30, 2011. Uncut calls it "one of his best albums ever ... an impassioned portrait of 21st century America and its injustices" in which Cooder is "remade as a modern-day Woody Guthrie, fearless and funny, for like Guthrie he nails his targets with droll humour while empathising with society's underdogs."
Ry Cooder premiered the album's opening track "No Banker Left Behind" on Truthdig Radio. On the program, Truthdig's Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer said of the album: "It's right up there with John Lennon's Working Class Hero, which I think trumps just about anything else as far as taking serious, political observations and putting them to music ... It's just a great album."
You can listen to "No Banker Left Behind" here:
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by Ry Cooder
Recorded and mixed by Martin Pradler at Wireland Studios, Chatsworth, CA, Ocean Studios, Burbank, CA, and Drive-By Studios, North Hollywood, CA
Mastered by Bernie Grundman at Grundman Mastering
All songs written by Ry Cooder, Hi-Lo Shag Music, BMI, except for “Lord Tell Me Why,” by Ry Cooder, Hi-Lo Shag Music, BMI / Jim Keltner, OOOEEE Music, ASCAP
Art Direction: Ry Cooder, Al Quattrocchi & Jeff Smith
Design: Tornado Design, Los Angeles
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MUSICIANS
Ry Cooder, vocal (1-13), guitar (1, 3-5, 7-13), mandola (1, 5), banjo (1), bass (1-4, 8, 12), bajo sexto (2, 6, 10), marimba (5, 11), keyboards (8), mandolin (12)
Joachim Cooder, drums (1-6, 10-13), bass (5)
Flaco Jimenez, accordion (2, 6, 10)
Arturo Gallardo, clarinet (2), alto sax (10)
Erasto Robles, trombone (2)
Carlos Gonzales, trumpet (2)
Pablo Molina, sousaphone, alto horn (2)
Edgar Castro, percussion (2)
Juliette Commagere, background vocals (4, 11)
Jesus Guzman, Raul Cuellar, Jimmy Cuellar, Ismael Hernandez, violins (4)
Terry Evans, Arnold McCuller, Willie Green, background vocals (5, 8, 13)
Robert Francis, bass (6)
Jim Keltner, drums (8)
Rene Camacho, bass (10, 11)
Robert Francis, bass (13)