Ry Cooder Quotes

Author Image

Ry Cooder

Profession : Musician

Birth : March 15, 1947

Beautiful tunes are all very good and fine, and great musicians are always great, but that alone isn't enough. Most folks, when they see movies or hear records, need something that they find pulls them in, draws them in, and appeals to them beyond just the notes.

Ry Cooder

I just feel that music is a great life because it's very rewarding. It's a gratification. You do this for yourself, and you also do this for other people.

Ry Cooder

You have to be able to improvise and respond to what's going on around you. Then you might get a good piece of work done.

Ry Cooder

I always think you should push your envelope every chance you get.

Ry Cooder

To me, the essence of the music is the most important thing.

Ry Cooder

Musicians understand each other through means other that speaking.

Ry Cooder

Santa Monica, where I have always lived, is not a town where you will find storefront Church of God in Christ churches. So, the whole idea of gospel quartet singing is something I never knew existed until I began to hear it on record.

Ry Cooder

If it hadn't been for record people like Ralph Peer, the Chess brothers, and Alan Lomax, then life would've been unbelievably dull, and I would've been sacking groceries somewhere and probably, at this point, running a little 7-Eleven down by the airport.

Ry Cooder

The ocean is very comfortable. I could never live inland.

Ry Cooder

I love listening to gospel records.

Ry Cooder

Promoters don't book you 'cause they like you; they do it 'cause there's good business to be done.

Ry Cooder

It's crazy to make records nobody buys. It's just a waste of time.

Ry Cooder

People who get together, regardless of other structures, will find something in common. They are bound to. That was the Pete Seeger let's-all-sing theory.

Ry Cooder

I like classical music. I especially like the French composers: Ravel in particular. Debussy. That's so soothing in a nervous world.

Ry Cooder

Nat King Cole - I listen to him a lot.

Ry Cooder

The story of American pop music is the story of failure. The blues, country music, it's not the story of success. People don't win; they lose.

Ry Cooder

If you're white working with non-white people, you will be branded as a colonialist by some people, regardless of your efforts or intentions.

Ry Cooder

The world will always love Cuban music, however it changes.

Ry Cooder

When I made the first album, I was 24, and at that age, you have nothing to say. I just played the music I loved and tried to do it justice.

Ry Cooder

Critics don't sell records, unfortunately. No one reads what they write anyway.

Ry Cooder