Into the Purple Valley explained

Into the Purple Valley
Type:	studio
Artist:	Ry Cooder
Cover:	PurpleValleyCooder.jpg
Released:	January 1972
Recorded:	1971
Genre:	Country folk^[1]
Length:	37:06
Label:	Reprise
Producer:	Jim Dickinson, Lenny Waronker
Prev Title:	Ry Cooder
Prev Year:	1970
Next Title:	Boomer's Story
Next Year:	1972

Into the Purple Valley is the second studio album by roots rock musician Ry Cooder, released in 1972.^{[2] [3]}

The album's front cover is listed at number 12 on Rolling Stones 100 Greatest Album Covers.^[4] It shows Cooder and his then wife, Susan Titelman, in a Buick convertible at the Warner Bros. film lot in Burbank, California.

Critical reception

Record Collector wrote that the album "reached deep into tradition, unearthing neglected treasures from America’s past and reshaping them for the post-Woodstock generation."^[5]

Track listing

Side One

1. "How Can You Keep On Moving (Unless You Migrate Too)" (Agnes "Sis" Cunningham) – 2:25
2. "Billy the Kid" (Traditional; arranged by Ry Cooder) – 3:45
3. "Money Honey" (Jesse Stone) – 3:28
4. "FDR in Trinidad" (Fitz McLean) – 3:01
5. "Teardrops Will Fall" (Gerry "Dickey Doo" Granahan, Marion Smith) – 3:03
6. "Denomination Blues" (George Washington Phillips) – 3:58

Side Two

1. "On a Monday" (Lead Belly) – 2:52
2. "Hey Porter" (Johnny Cash) – 4:34
3. "Great Dream from Heaven" (instrumental) (Joseph Spence) – 1:53
4. "Taxes on the Farmer Feeds Us All" (Traditional; arranged by Ry Cooder) – 3:52
5. "Vigilante Man" (Woody Guthrie) – 4:15

(Note: "Taxes on the Farmer Feeds Us All" was actually composed by Fiddlin' John Carson.)

Personnel

• Ry Cooder – guitars, mandolin, vocals
• Van Dyke Parks – keyboards
• Gloria Jones – vocals
• Claudia Lennear – vocals
• George Bohanon – horns
• Jim Keltner - drums
• John Craviotto – drums
• Joe Lane Davis – horns
• Jim Dickinson – piano
• Chris Ethridge – bass
• Milt Holland – percussion
• Jerry Jumonville – saxophone
• Fritz Richmond – washtub bass
• Donna Washburn – vocals
• Donna Weiss – vocals
• Ike Williams – horns

Technical

• Mike Salisbury - cover design
• Marty Evans - cover photography

Notes and References

1. Book: Larkin, Colin. All-Time Top 1000 Albums. https://archive.org/details/alltimetop1000al0000lark_d7o0/mode/1up. 1999. October 8, 2021. Virgin Books. 0-7535-0354-9. 162.
2. Web site: Artist Biography by Steve Huey . AllMusic . 29 March 2021.
3. Book: The Rough Guide to Rock . 1999 . Rough Guides Ltd . 211 . 2nd.
4. Web site: Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Album Covers by 2tec . Discogs Lists . 1991-11-14 . 2023-02-16.
5. Web site: COODER BEEN A CONTENDER . Record Collector . 29 March 2021.
6. Chart History Ry Cooder . Billboard . 29 March 2021.