Any love? Or is he too 'Americana'?
Bop till You Drop was my first Cooder and I still think it's a seriously infectious album. Since then, I've bought the newer stuff and gone back and filled in some of the past. Seems sacrilegious, but I'm less enamoured of his soundtrack work (even Paris, Texas - I think I prefer The Long Riders to this).
I've only seen him once. He was supposed to be accompanied by Flaco Jiminez, but he couldn't make it, so Nick Lowe was along for the ride, with Joachim Cooder on percussion. Great night, though stylistically, a lot of their stuff was miles apart (despite their short stint as Little Village with the equally good John Hiatt and Jim Keltner).
Anyhow, here's somebody else's list of the best 15 Cooder songs:
http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/ry-cooder-15-best.htmlI think I might need Go Home Girl, Crazy 'Bout an Automobile, Why Don't You Try Me and How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?