Ry Cooder
A sonic archaeologist with a slide guitar, he unearthed forgotten American roots music and wired it into conversations from Havana to Hollywood.
Born 1947 (age 79)·American musician·Birthday: March 15·Baby Boomers
Biography
Ry Cooder has never been just a guitarist. He is a curator of sound, a listener whose career is a series of deep dives into the substrata of American music—dusty blues, Tex-Mex conjunto, pre-war gospel, Hawaiian slack-key. His early solo records in the 1970s were revelatory excavations, introducing many to the masters like Blind Blake and Joseph Spence. He then became a master collaborator, most famously producing the 'Buena Vista Social Club' sessions, which turned a group of forgotten Cuban musicians into global stars and won a Grammy. His film score work for directors like Walter Hill and Wim Wenders is equally evocative, painting landscapes with bottleneck guitar and spare arrangement. Cooder treats music as a living history, connecting dots across borders and decades, always with a tone that is instantly recognizable: warm, resonant, and deeply human.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Ry was born in 1947, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Ry Was Born
The biggest hits of 1947
#1 Movie
The Egg and I
Best Picture
Gentleman's Agreement
Ry's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1947Born
India gains independence; the Dead Sea Scrolls found
Gas: $0.23/galHome: $6,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Near You" — Francis CraigBest Picture: Gentleman's Agreement
1952Started school
Queen Elizabeth II ascends the throne
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,350Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Blue Tango" — Leroy AndersonBest Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth
1960Became a teenager
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1963Could drive
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1965Could vote
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1968Turned 21
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1977Turned 30
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1987Turned 40
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1997Turned 50
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 60
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2017Turned 70
#MeToo movement; solar eclipse crosses the US
Gas: $2.42/galHome: $195,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Shape of You" — Ed SheeranBest Picture: The Shape of Water
2026Age 79 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Produced and played on the landmark album 'Buena Vista Social Club,' which revived global interest in traditional Cuban music and won a Grammy.
- Composed iconic film scores for movies such as 'Paris, Texas' and 'The Long Riders,' defining the sound of American neo-westerns.
- His early solo albums, like 'Into the Purple Valley,' critically revived interest in early 20th-century American folk and blues music.
- Recorded and performed with a vast array of artists, from the Rolling Stones and Captain Beefheart to Ali Farka Touré and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.
Did You Know?
He was briefly a member of Little Village, a supergroup with John Hiatt, Nick Lowe, and Jim Keltner.
Cooder invented a modified guitar tuning, often called 'Cooder tuning,' for his slide playing.
He collected and restored vintage Hawaiian guitars, which heavily influenced his sound.
His song 'Little Sister' was covered by Elvis Presley, though Cooder's version came later.
“The old songs are the truest maps we have to this country.”
