Chicken Skin Music is Ry Cooder's fifth studio album, released in 1976, on the Reprise label.
Reception
Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Brett Hartenbach said: "Even more than usual, Cooder refuses to recognize borders – geographical or musical – presenting "Stand By Me" as a gospel song with a norteño arrangement, or giving the Jim Reeves country-pop classic, "He'll Have to Go," a bolero rhythm, featuring the interplay of Flaco Jimenez's accordion and Pat Rizzo's alto sax. [...] This is not merely eclecticism for its own sake. Chicken Skin Music is probably Ry Cooder's most eccentric record since his first, but it's also one of his most entertaining."
Writing for ZigZag magazine in November 1976, Andy Childs said: "Apart from the obvious quality of his music, there's something about his total detachment from the very formalised and generally uninspiring rock'n'roll circus that I find very appealing. ... There's so much music here, so much fascinating and enlightening music. How many so-called artists can really claim to make albums that are truly both educational and so immensely enjoyable?" Time magazine once said that "Ry Cooder makes America come together in its music...well, now he's stretching his musical horizons to other shores, and the results, even though he's probably just begun, are just as cohesive...a pure joy – a work of art even."
Track listing
Personnel Sources:Chicken Skin Music, (1976) Reprise Records, CD: 7599-27231-2 - Notes booklet
Musicians
George Bohanon – baritone horn and horn arrangement on "I Got Mine" Oscar Brashear – cornet on "I Got Mine" Red Callender – upright bass Ry Cooder – bajo sexto, mandolin, mandola, bottleneck guitar, French accordion, electric guitar, slack-key guitar, tiple, Hawaiian guitar, vocals Chris Ethridge – bass guitar Jimmy Adams – vocals Terry Evans – vocals Cliff Givens – vocals Laurence Fishburne – vocals Hugo Gonzales – bajo sexto on "Good Night Irene" Milt Holland – percussion, drums Atta Isaacs – slack-key and acoustic guitar on "Chloe" Fred Jackson Jr. – tenor saxophone on "I Got Mine" Flaco Jiménez – accordion on "He'll Have to Go", "Stand By Me" and "Goodnight Irene" Herman E. Johnson – vocals Jim Keltner – drums Bobby King – vocals Henry Ojeda – bass on "Good Night Irene" Gabby Pahinui – steel guitar on "Yellow Roses" and "Chloe" Benny Powell – trombone on "I Got Mine" Pat Rizzo – alto saxophone on "He'll Have to Go" Russ Titelman – bajo sexto on "Stand By Me" Frank Villarreal – alto saxophone on "Good Night Irene" Isaac Garcia – drums on "Good Night Irene"
Technical Ry Cooder – producer Judy Maizel, Trudy Portch – production coordination Lee Herschberg – engineer, mixing Lloyd Cruft – engineer Bobby Hata, John Neal – assistant engineers Chet Himes, John Ingle – engineering Kenny Price – album cover, design and painting Susan Titelman – photography Noel Newbolt – production assistance
Releases CD Chicken Skin Music Reprise 1988 Cassette Chicken Skin Music Reprise 1990 CD Chicken Skin Music Reprise 1990 CD Chicken Skin Music WEA 2007 CD Chicken Skin Music Reprise 2008
Singles "He'll Have To Go" / "The Bourgeois Blues", Reprise: K 14457 (UK) "Goodnight Irene" / "Chloe", Reprise: K REP14473 (Netherlands)
Charts Album Year Chart Peak 1976 Australian (Kent Music Report)80 1976 Billboard Pop Albums 177
References