My Name Is Buddy

by Ry Cooder

Product Description:

Personnel include: Ry Cooder (vocals, banjo, mandola, keyboards, bass instrument); Julliette Cammagere, Terry Evans, Bobby King (vocals); Mike Seeger, Pete Seeger (banjo); Paddy Maloney (whistle, Uilleann pipe); Flaco Jimenez (accordion); Jon Hassell (trumpet); Jacky Terrasson, Van Dyke Parks (piano); Jim Keltner, Joachim Cooder (drums).

With a concept that could have failed on so many levels in lesser hands, Ry Cooder stuns once again in MY NAME IS BUDDY and demonstrates why he is one of America's most adventurous musicians. His chosen material is a loose collection of animal character sketches--the titular Buddy is a cat--based on labor struggles and the lower class in Depression-era America. Think of it as Woody Guthrie meets Beatrix Potter.

While an odd construct on page for a man that jammed with Beefheart, the Stones, and the Buena Vista Social Club, MY NAME IS BUDDY flies with every track. The stellar cast of musicians includes the brothers Seeger, Van Dyke Parks, Jim Keltner, Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains, and Flaco Jimenez, and grounds the fairy tale atmosphere with musical blood and guts. The ensembles tear through early-19th-century forms (country blues, bluegrass, and old-time arrangements) with a rollicking flair.