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Ry Cooder keeps alive L.A. sound with new album

By JOHN ROGERS

Published: Jul 23, 2008

It was more than 50 years ago but Ry Cooder remembers it like it could have been last week; he was 8 years old and Johnny Cash came on the radio singing "Hey Porter."

A third-grader with a guitar was hooked.

Cooder knew he had to head up to "Big River" himself. Or over to Folsom Prison or down to Jackson, Miss., or anywhere else Cash was singing about. But his parents balked at even taking him across town so he could hear people like steel guitar great Speedy West or Spade Cooley, the original king of Western swing.

"I'd ask my dad, 'What's that? Where is that?' 'Oh, you don't want to go there,' he'd say. 'Oh yeah, I do. They play that stuff there. Where is this place?' More

Jul 23, 2008

• Neil Young documents anti-war tour in film

Not every musician will make a film that features a fan facing him from a concert audience with two arms raised, middle fingers extended - more than one fan, in fact.

Jul 23, 2008

• Marvin Sapp song continues to break records

Marvin Sapp's single "Never Would Have Made It" is a record-breaking phenomenon far beyond the world of gospel.

Jul 23, 2008

• Firm sues Courtney Love over Nirvana catalog sale

A business management and accounting firm sued Courtney Love for nearly $1 million on Tuesday, claiming she failed to pay them a share of profits from the sale of Nirvana's publishing catalog.

Jul 22, 2008

• Foreigner's Mick Jones says new songs on the way

Foreigner's Mick Jones says the band's new career retrospective "No End in Sight: The Very Best of Foreigner" is a signal that new material is on the way.

Jul 22, 2008

• Sugarland explores 'Love on the Inside'

After Sugarland's first two albums, singer Jennifer Nettles kept hearing how their records were good and all but somehow ... not.

Jul 22, 2008

• Carey, Timberlake among Fashion Rocks performers

Mariah Carey, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce and Rihanna will perform at the fifth annual Fashion Rocks concert celebrating the relationship between music and fashion.

Jul 21, 2008

• McCartney plays for thousands in free Quebec show

Paul McCartney churned out a Beatles-laden song list to a pumped-up crowd gathered Sunday for a free concert as part of Quebec City's 400th anniversary celebration.

Jul 20, 2008

• Paris concert presses for Colombia hostage release

Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt took the stage and shook her hips to a Colombian superstar's guitar riffs, leading the crowd in chants of "Freedom for all!" at a concert Sunday dedicated to captives held by Colombia's FARC rebel group.

Jul 19, 2008

• Sing us one last song at Shea, Piano Man

Billy Joel bade a stirring farewell to Shea Stadium on Friday during an electrifying, sold-out final show at the same ballpark where the Beatles famously ushered in a new era in rock 'n' roll four decades ago.

Jul 18, 2008

• Ledger's compelling Joker thrills, saddens fans

As Chris Finegan watched Heath Ledger's stunning portrayal of the Joker on Friday in "The Dark Knight," he couldn't help but think of another actor who wasn't on the screen: James Dean, who also died prematurely and tragically, nearly 53 years ago.

Jul 18, 2008

• Got a brand new bag? James Brown items auctioned

James Brown mementoes ranging from his signature capes to a medical bracelet fetched thousands of dollars Thursday at an auction, which the soul icon's children protested.

Jul 16, 2008

• Red piano used by Lang Lang on auction block

What's black and white and red all over?

Jul 16, 2008

• Biopsy for kidney removed from James Levine

A biopsy will be performed on the kidney that was removed this week from Boston Symphony Orchestra and Metropolitan Orchestra music director James Levine, his brother said Wednesday.

Jul 16, 2008

• Bon Jovi's Soul keep on rocking toward title

Jon Bon Jovi's next stop on the road has nothing to do with his band's tour. Fresh off a free concert in Central Park, Bon Jovi is taking a break.

Jul 15, 2008

• Ben & Jerry's makes `Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road'

Ben & Jerry's has done it again: Hoping to honor rocker Elton John before his first-ever Vermont performance, Vermont's crazy-cool confectioner has whipped up a flavor just for him - "Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road."

Jul 15, 2008

• Former Jayhawks members reunite for album

Gary Louris admits that he's not normally a fan of musical reunions.

Jul 15, 2008

• Rush (no, not him) to guest on `Colbert'

Rush will be appearing on "The Colbert Report," and it's not Limbaugh.

Jul 15, 2008

• Farm Aid to be held in New England for 1st time

Farm Aid, the long-running benefit concert, will be held this year in New England for the first time.

Jul 15, 2008

• New US postage stamps honor early black cinema

Josephine Baker looks straight at you with bright eyes and shining smile, fearless and demanding attention.

Jul 14, 2008

• Mellencamp transitions from rocker to songwriter

Although John Mellencamp was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the veteran doesn't consider himself a rocker - at least not anymore.

Jul 14, 2008

• Death Row Records auctioned for $24 million

Death Row Records, the hip-hop label that released seminal gangster rap albums by Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, has been auctioned for $24 million.

Jul 14, 2008

• The Who honored in Los Angeles

The Who was celebrated at a special concert by a few bands outside of their generation.

Jul 13, 2008

• The Who honored in Los Angeles

The Who was celebrated at a special concert by a few bands outside of their generation.

Jul 13, 2008

• Beatles producer Martin honored in Los Angeles

Sir George Martin, the classically trained producer who helmed the Beatles recordings from their mop-top phase through their late musical masterworks, was honored Saturday night in Los Angeles.

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