Ry Cooder Newcastle City Hall 1982
Ry Cooder is, of course, a legend who has played with so many greats, including The Rolling Stones, Captain Beefheart, and Eric Clapton. This 1982 gig was the only time that I saw him in concert. The 1982 UK tour was to promote the Slide Area album. I recall this as a good gig, but I knew very little of Ry’s material. The new album featured all Ry Cooder originals, and much of the set was drawn from it. I also recall that the ticket price of £5 seemed expensive at the time. The programme states: “Ry Cooder continues as one of the most loving and inventive practitioners of modern music. Without a doubt, Ry Cooder is one of America’s most precious natural resources”. 
Band: Baboo on percussion; Jim Dickinson on piano; Chris Ethridge on bass; Jim Keltner of drums; Smitty Smith on keyboards; and Willie Greene, Bobby King and Pico Payne on backing vocals. A bootleg of the Hammersmith Odeon show of the same tour shows the setlist as: Little Sister; Go Home Girl; Smack Dab in the Middle; Denomination Blues; Down in the Boondocks; Fool about a Cigarette; Feeling Good; How can a Poor Man stand such Times and Live; I’m Not Worried; Its All Over Now; Blue Suede Shoes; Which Came First; If Walls Could Talk; I’m Drinking Again; The Very Thing that makes you Rich; Never Make your Move too Soon; Crazy ’bout an Automobile; Down in Hollywood; Chain Gang.
28 Jul
Vintagerock's Weblog. 
Posted by Graham Rodger on January 31, 2015 at 9:31 pm
Saw Ry Cooder with Nick Lowe (half of Little Village) a few years ago at Sage Gateshead. The show was fantastic, but compared to your (fiver each) tickets, mine were £50 each – ten times as expensive, worth every penny though. Electric version of “Vigilante Man” was truly amazing. Joachim Cooder on drums and percussion too.
Posted by vintagerock on February 1, 2015 at 9:41 am
Thanks Graham. I missed that gig, which I regret. Yes I can imagine Vigilante Man being excellent. Great stuff. Cheers Peter