''Boomer's Story'' is the third studio album by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern rock, ...

musician

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, a ...

, released in 1972.

Track listing

Side one

# "Boomer's Story" (listed as "Traditional," actually Carson Robison) – 4:13 # "Cherry Ball Blues" (instrumental) (

Skip James Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. AllMusic stated: "This emotional, lyrical performer was a talented blues guitarist and arranger with an impressiv ...

) – 4:10 # "Crow Black Chicken" (Lawrence Wilson) – 2:14 # "Ax Sweet Mama" (

Sleepy John Estes John Adam Estes (January 25, 1899 or 1900June 5, 1977),
known as Sleepy John Estes, was an Am ...

) – 4:23 # " Maria Elena" (instrumental) ( Bob Russell, Lorenzo Barcelata) – 4:30

Side two

# " The Dark End of the Street" (instrumental) (

Dan Penn Dan Penn (born Wallace Daniel Pennington, November 16, 1941) is an American songwriter, singer, musician, and record producer, who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s, including " The Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" w ...

Chips Moman Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman (June 12, 1937 – June 13, 2016) was an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is known for working in R&B, pop music and country music, operating American Sound Studios and producing hit albums li ...

) – 3:25 # " Rally 'Round the Flag" ( George F. Root) – 3:34 # "

Comin' In on a Wing and a Prayer "Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer" is a World War II song with lyrics by Harold Adamson and music by Jimmy McHugh, published in 1943 by Robbins Music Corp. Theme The lyrics tell of the aftermath of an Allied night aerial bombing mission over e ...

" (

Jimmy McHugh James Francis McHugh (July 10, 1894 – May 23, 1969) was an American composer. One of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s to the 1950s, he is credited with over 500 songs. His songs were recorded by many artists, including Chet Baker, Ju ...

Harold Adamson Harold Campbell Adamson (December 10, 1906 – August 17, 1980) was an American lyricist during the 1930s and 1940s. Early life Adamson, the son of building contractor Harold Adamson and Marion "Minnie" Campbell Adamson, was born and raised in ...

) – 3:00 # "President Kennedy" (Sleepy John Estes) – 4:39 # "Good Morning Mr. Railroad Man" (Traditional) – 4:30

Notes

The title track was previously recorded as "The Railroad Boomer" by Bud Billings (aka

Frank Luther Frank Luther (born Francis Luther Crow, August 4, 1899 – November 16, 1980) was an American country music singer, dance band vocalist, playwright, songwriter and pianist. Early life Born on a farm near Lakin, Kansas, 40 miles from the Colora ...

) and Carson Robison in a performance recorded at the studio at Liederkranz Hall in New York on September 9, 1929 (Victor V-40139). Although it is credited on Cooder's album as "traditional," Robison was awarded a copyright and the song "can't be shown to have circulated in oral tradition."

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

recorded it in December of the same year. In the 1930s the song was recorded for Decca Records by the Rice Brothers' Gang, in 1939 by

Roy Acuff Roy Claxton Acuff (September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992) was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the "King of Country Music", Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedow ...

& His Smoky Mountain Boys, in 1941 by Riley Puckett for RCA, and in the 1950s by Cisco Houston (as "The Rambler") and by the

New Lost City Ramblers The New Lost City Ramblers, or NLCR, was an American contemporary old-time string band that formed in New York City in 1958 during the folk revival. Mike Seeger, John Cohen and Tom Paley were its founding members. Tracy Schwarz replaced Paley ...

, who included Cooder's guitar teacher

Tom Paley Allan Thomas Paley (March 19, 1928 – September 30, 2017) was an American guitarist, banjo and fiddle player. He was best known for his work with the New Lost City Ramblers in the 1950s and 1960s. Biography Paley was born on March 19, 1928 and ra ...

Personnel

* Ry Cooder -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of ...

, bottleneck guitar, vocals * Tommy McClure -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Charles Lawing -

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitch ...

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Dow ...

, Roger Hawkins -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

Sleepy John Estes John Adam Estes (January 25, 1899 or 1900June 5, 1977),
known as Sleepy John Estes, was an Am ...

- guitar and vocals on "President Kennedy" (recorded in Collierville, Tennessee) * Gene Finney -

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

* George Bohanon - horns *

Milt Holland Milton Holland (born Milton Olshansky; February 7, 1917 – November 4, 2005) was an American drummer, percussionist, ethnomusicologist, and writer in the Los Angeles music scene. He pioneered the use of African, South American, and Indian percus ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern-accented singing style, early Americana-influenced songs (often with mordant or satirical lyrics), and vari ...

- piano on "Rally 'Round the Flag" * Jim Dickinson - piano, bass, backing vocals *

- backing vocals ;Technical *Judy Maizel - production assistant *Jerry Masters, John Fry, Lee Herschberg, Richard Rosebrough - engineer *Susan Titelman - photography

Notes

1972 albums Ry Cooder albums Albums produced by Lenny Waronker Albums produced by Jim Dickinson Reprise Records albums Albums recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio {{1970s-rock-album-stub