Borderline (Ry Cooder album) explained

Borderline
Type:	Studio album
Artist:	Ry Cooder
Cover:	RycooderborderlineLP.jpg
Released:	October 1980
Recorded:	Warner Bros. Recording Studio, Burbank, CA
Genre:	Roots rock
Length:	43:30
Label:	Warner Bros.
Producer:	Ry Cooder
Prev Title:	Bop till You Drop
Prev Year:	1979
Next Title:	The Slide Area
Next Year:	1982

Borderline is an album by Ry Cooder, released in 1980.^{[1] [2]} "The Way We Make a Broken Heart" is a cover of the John Hiatt song.^[3]

Critical reception

Robert Christgau wrote that "Cooder's current soul/r&b interests inhibit his songfinding." The Globe and Mail wrote that "Borderline" "is a lovely instrumental which features the least slick, most emotional playing by an efficient set of hired guns."^[4]

Track listing

Side one

1. "634–5789" (Steve Cropper, Eddie Floyd) – 2:56
2. "Speedo" (Esther Navarro) – 3:20
3. "Why Don't You Try Me" (E. Young) – 4:54
4. "Down in the Boondocks" (Joe South) – 3:21
5. "Johnny Porter" (Bobby Ray Appleberry, William Cuomo) – 5:21

Side two

1. "The Way We Make a Broken Heart" (John Hiatt) – 4:28
2. "Crazy 'Bout an Automobile" (William R. Emerson) – 5:03
3. "The Girls from Texas" (James Lewis, Jimmy Holiday, Cliff Chambers) – 4:40
4. "Borderline" (Ry Cooder) – 3:19
5. "Never Make Your Move Too Soon" (Will Jennings, Nesbert Hooper Jr.) – 6:08

Personnel

Source: album cover

• Ry Cooder – guitar, vibes, vocals
• Jim Keltner – drums
• George "Baboo" Pierre – percussion
• Tim Drummond – bass
• Reggie McBride – bass
• William D. Smith – piano, organ, vocals
• John Hiatt – guitar, vocals
• Jesse Harms – synthesizer
• Bobby King – vocals
• Willie Greene, Jr. – vocals

Technical

• Leslie Morris – production assistant
• Lee Herschberg – recording, mixing
• Carlos Ruano Llopis – artwork

Notes and References

1. Book: Plasketes . George . B-Sides, Undercurrents and Overtones: Peripheries to Popular in Music, 1960 to the Present . 2016 . Taylor & Francis . 72.
2. Book: The Rough Guide to Rock . 2003 . Rough Guides . 224 . 3rd.
3. Book: Elliott . Michael . Have a Little Faith: The John Hiatt Story . 2021 . Chicago Review Press.
4. News: McGrath . Paul . Borderline Ry Cooder . The Globe and Mail . 24 Jan 1981 . F6.
5. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 73.