Chicken Skin Music is Ry Cooder's fifth studio album, released in 1976, on the Reprise label.

Chicken Skin Music
Studio album by
Released1976
StudioWarner Bros. Recording Studios, North Hollywood; "Yellow Roses" and "Chloe" recorded in Hawaii
Genre
Length39:37
LabelReprise
ProducerRy Cooder
Ry Cooder chronology
Paradise and Lunch
(1974)
Chicken Skin Music
(1976)
Show Time
(1977)
Singles from Chicken Skin Music
Song sample
"Yellow Roses" sample
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link
Christgau's Record GuideB[1]
Rolling Stone(favorable) link

Reception

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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."[2]

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."[3]

Track listing

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Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Bourgeois Blues"Lead Belly3:22
2."I Got Mine"Traditional; based on Pink Anderson's version4:28
3."Always Lift Him Up/Kanaka Wai Wai"Blind Alfred Reed/Traditional6:01
4."He'll Have to Go"Joe Allison, Audrey Allison5:07
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Smack Dab in the Middle"Charles E. Calhoun3:18
6."Stand by Me"Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller3:38
7."Yellow Roses"Ken Devine, Sam Nichols6:11
8."Chlo-e" (instrumental)Gus Kahn, Neil Moret3:00
9."Goodnight, Irene"Lead Belly, John Lomax4:32

Personnel

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Sources:[4][5][6]

Musicians

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Technical

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  • 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

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  • 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

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  • "He'll Have To Go" / "The Bourgeois Blues", Reprise: K 14457 (UK)[7]
  • "Goodnight Irene" / "Chloe", Reprise: K REP14473 (Netherlands)[8]

Charts

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Album

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Year Chart Peak
1976 Australian (Kent Music Report) 80[9]
1976 Billboard Pop Albums 177

References

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  1. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: C". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 23, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  2. ^ "Chicken Skin Music - Ry Cooder | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  3. ^ "Ry Cooder: Chicken Skin Music. By Andy Childs : Articles, reviews and interviews from Rock's Backpages". www.rocksbackpages.com.
  4. ^ "Ry Cooder - Chicken Skin Music (LP)". Discogs. 1976. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  5. ^ Chicken Skin Music, (1976) Reprise Records, CD: 7599-27231-2 - Notes booklet
  6. ^ "Ry Cooder - Chicken Skin Music (CD)". Discogs. 1976. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  7. ^ "Ry Cooder - He'll Have To Go". Discogs. 1976. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  8. ^ "Ry Cooder - Goodnight Irene". Discogs. 1976. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  9. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 73. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.