Rich's House of Vinyl Presents...

In between one son being on the Dean’s List (Chris) and another getting engaged (Jimmy, to Lizzy. Huzzah!) yesterday was busy, but it was also Record Store Day. Chris and I had some RSD fun, and I’ll be reporting on some of the records I acquired this week, beginning with Ry Cooder Live at the Main Point 1972.

I have been a lifelong Ry Cooder fan, originally via osmosis. My dad was a fan and some of my earliest musical memories are of Dad play Cooder’s self-titled debut album and its follow-up, Into the Purple Valley (which I wrote about for Pop Matters, here) around the house.

In November 1972, Cooder visited Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania to play a show at a club called The Main Point. The show was recorded, though only a few tracks ever saw release, until the issue of this Record Store Day special release. According to the hype sticker on the cover, Live at the Main Point 1972, the album contains Cooder’s entire solo performance on November 19.

Cooder had just released, or was about to release, his third album, Boomer’s Story, that month, but he only plays one song (“Comin’ in on a Wing and a Prayer”) from that album. Instead, he plays songs from the first two records, along with some tunes that would wind up on subsequent releases.

Based on his stage patter, Cooder’s got a deadpan but engaging sense of humor. His guitar playing is, of course, awe-inspiring. I feel like I’d need to see it to fully understand how just one person is playing everything that is happening on stringed instruments Cooder is wielding.

Musically, I highly recommend Live at the Main Point 1972 if you happen to find it in the RSD leftovers bin. There are criticisms that can be lodged against Record Store Day, but allowing performances like the one captured here to see the light of day is not one of those complaints.

Beyond the music though, Dad’s love for Ry Cooder’s work and our physical proximity to the Main Point bring an added dimension to Live at the Main Point 1972. As far as I know, the only time Dad saw Ry Cooder was when he and I went to see Little Village during their sole tour circa 1992.

Dad never mentioned seeing Cooder any other time, but then he also didn’t mention the time his parents packed up the kids and took them to see Hank Williams. I still shake my fist skyward sometimes and rebuke Dad for not revealing that essential family lore to us.

“Dad, you saw Hank Williams when you were a kid, and you never saw fit to mention that? WTF, Dad?”

Despite holding out on the Williams intel, I don’t think Dad ever saw Cooder, but listening to Live at the Main Point 1972, I can imagine Mom and Dad shipping Lisa and I to Grandma’s or getting a babysitter so that they could drive up to Bryn Mawr to take in an intimate Ry Cooder performance.

This didn’t happen. As far as I know, Dad and Mom were home with us on November 19, 1972. But listening to the applause beckoning Cooder back for a stunning encore performance of “Goin’ to Brownsville”, it’s nice to imagine that my parents’ hands were among those clapping at the Main Point that night.