Paradise and Lunch is the fourth album by roots rock musician Ry Cooder, released on June 8, 1974 on Reprise Records. The album is composed of cover versions of jazz, blues and roots standards and obscurities recorded at the Warner Brothers Studios. The final track, "Ditty Wah Ditty," showcases a duet between Cooder and jazz pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines.[ Allmusic.com review by Brett Hartenbach] It was produced by Russ Titelman and Lenny Waronker. The album reached #167 on the Billboard 200.
The album also includes Cooder's updated arrangement of bluesman Washington Phillips' "The Tattler" that stands out for its guitar playing. It was subsequently covered by Linda Ronstadt on her 1976 album Hasten Down the Wind and by David Soul on his 1977 album Playing To An Audience of One.
In 1990 the album was released on CD, while a remastered version appeared in 2007. It was newly remastered from the original master tapes for a high-resolution SACD in 2017.
Track listing
Side One "Tamp 'Em Up Solid" (Traditional) – 3:19 "Tattler" (Washington Phillips, Ry Cooder, Russ Titelman) – 4:14 "Married Man's a Fool" (Blind Willie McTell) – 3:10 "Jesus on the Mainline" (Traditional) – 4:09 "It's All Over Now" (Bobby Womack, Shirley Womack) – 4:49
Side Two "Fool for a Cigarette/Feelin' Good" (Sidney Bailey, J. B. Lenoir, Jim Dickinson) (medley) – 4:25 "If Walls Could Talk" (Bobby Miller) – 3:12 "Mexican Divorce" (Burt Bacharach, Bob Hilliard) – 3:51 "Ditty Wah Ditty" (Arthur Blake) – 5:42
Personnel Ry Cooder – guitar, mandolin, vocals Milt Holland – drums, percussion Jim Keltner – drums Russ Titelman, Chris Ethridge – electric bass Ronnie Barron – piano, organ Red Callender, John Duke – bass guitar Plas Johnson – alto saxophone Oscar Brashear – cornet Bobby King, Gene Mumford, Bill Johnson, George McCurn, Walter Cook, Richard Jones, Russ Titelman, Karl Russell – voices Earl Hines – piano on "Ditty Wah Ditty" George Bohanon – horn arrangement Nick DeCaro – string arrangement Technical Russ Titelman, Lenny Waronker – production Judy Maizel, Trudy Portch – production coordination Lee Herschberg – engineer, mixing Bobby Hata, John Neal – assistant engineer Susan Titelman (Ry Cooder's wife and Russ Titelman's sister) – cover paintings and photography
Chart positions Year Chart Peak 1974 Billboard Top LPs & Tape 167
References