Ry Cooder, Terry Evans - Down In Mississippi

From "Ry Cooder & The Moula Banda Rhythm Aces: Let's Have A Ball", a film by Les Blank taped at The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA on March 25'th 1987.
Look out for "Delta Time" by Terry Evans & Hans Thessink out Sept. 21- a new version of this song will be on that record. Terry and Hans is joined by Ry Cooder, Bobby King and Arnold McCuller - all from this concert. See "The making of Delta Time" here: • HANS THEESSINK & TERRY...
Comment from MrBillindallas:
Concert was from a two night run - the last of nine total dates on the NorCal tour. Shot on 16mm film with an audio remote truck in the alley. Movie was released in Europe but not in the US. Great band, at one of the best venues in the 'States, the last two nights of the mini-tour they were truly on fire. One venue was so small the band filled the stage and the dance floor.
Setlist for the two nights in Santa Cruz:
3-24-87 Santa Cruz, CA (the Catalyst):
Showtime
Little Sister
Smack Dab In The Middle
Lets Have A Ball
Me and Frank
unknown title [Spanish lyrics]
Hell Have To Go
If Walls Could Talk
Jesus on The Mainline
How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times & Live?
One Meatball
Atom Bomb
Teeny Weeny Bit of Your Love
Why Dont You Try Me?
Down In The Boondocks
The Things That Make You Rich Make Me Poor
Crazy Bout An Automobile (Every Woman I Know)
encores:
Chain Gang
Down In Hollywood
Goodnight Irene
3-25-87 Santa Cruz, CA (the Catalyst):
Smack Dab In The Middle
Lets Have A Ball
unknown title [Spanish lyrics]
Hell Have To Go
If Walls Could Talk
Jesus On The Mainline
How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times & Live?
One Meatball
Atom Bomb
Teeny Weeny Bit of Your Love
Down In Mississippi
instrumental
The Things That Make You Rich Make Me Poor
Crazy Bout An Automobile (Every Woman I Know)
Chain Gang
Down In Hollywood
Goodnight Irene
Band:
Ry Cooder: guitar, vox
Jim Keltner: drums
Van Dyke Parks: keys
Jorge Calderon: bass
Flaco Jimenez: accordion
Miguel Cruiz: percussion
Steve Douglas: sax
George Bohannon: trombone
Singers:
Bobby King: tenor
Terry Evans: baritone
Arnold McCuller: tenor
Willie Green Jr: bass

[@billbrock7468]

Down and dirty, can I get an “Amen?” Talk about sensitive interplay between musicians! A sleazy trombone, Ry Cooder wielding that guitar like a man possessed, and that voice - my God, that voice! Straight from the swamp, like he’s channeling a 1,000-year-old man. This, dear listeners, is music the way it’s meant to be performed. No silly auto tune vocals, no banal instrumentation, no smoke, no mirrors, no gimmicks. Just one long ton of talent.

[@pvrednick]

Amen !

[@DeloresSteverson]

😊

[@DeloresSteverson]

❤❤ wow

[@TheLupusm]

We The People love Mississippi! ;)

[@markchronister4620]

Sounds swampy. Caught a couple of notes that sounded like “Southern Comfort” the movie that Ry did the music for.

[@thebigsthands]

THIS IS SOME OF THE HEAVIEST BLUES SHIT IVE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE THIS IS WHY I PLAY OH LAWD

[@hilmarwensorra1215]

In VERY loving memory of Mr. Terry Lee Evans (1937 - 2018 R.I.P. Gone but NOT forgotten)

[@MrStonemike]

How could eight people say they dislike this "tidal wave" of talent? Regardless of ones political or musical preferences, an honest person cannot deny greatness!

[@allendodd4844]

They in they KKK

[@samhema620]

I know this comments from 10 yrs ago but I'm 32 grew up listening to this guy thanks to my old man loving it n I completely agree ND also fuck these 8 people Ry Cooder's the Man Chur👍

[@timothylewis2450]

People gonna hate…even kill what they do not like or understand.

[@jimfladwood4393]

Music from the HEART!

[@ouruniverse6005]

It's because their just gay 😅

[@danieleventura3810]

7 minutes of goooooooooosebumps. This performance is a miracle.

[@christineamri3700]

Da hast du recht❤

[@nancine2]

Dear Lord! Could this be any better? So perfect and powerful.

[@dawnballew7907]

uummm nooo

[@ingervantulder2138]

Put your sweet lipps closer

[@ingervantulder2138]

Ry cooder

[@HighlyCruciferous]

@nancine it's a great cover, but to answer your question, yes, just listen to the original

[@ericvolenz7737]

Nancine2, I gasp and struggle to express how this song, in fact the whole concert at the catalyst moves me. it is supernatural how extraordinary it is. Im 69, an old retired doctor, a nonmusician, and this is to me the most finely crafted, soulful piece of work...well, it makes me want to stay alive. It makes me love everybody around me. What more can you expect of music?

[@patriciahollister5906]

This man's voice has the power of thousands of voices. It feels as if other lives are here with him..

[@SuperBluesman56]

Absolutely, I couldn't agree more with you Patricia!!!

[@ellahabibi1854]

Yes, full of Soul!

[@grindaff]

What a great comment

[@jennifer75727]

Amen

[@toby1255]

Who was the lead singer? Just found this music.

[@chasingvenusfilmarts]

If it got any better, my head and heart would simply explode.

[@daisbumflea9070]

Just having a rough day then stumbled across this belter in my country blues playlist....got shivers and started annoying my neighbour hooting 😂❤️

[@kurtspotts2504]

This live performance you can feel all the way down in your soul. Mind blowing.

[@MelekBetul]

Superb performance!

[@timothylewis2450]

He lived it. Born in Vicksburg 1937.

[@DownwardSlideBlues]

Ry Cooder & The Moula Banda Rhythm Aces was an outstanding ensemble. They made some beautiful music together.

[@Rashoop]

May you rest in peace Terry. Amazing voice that will be missed.

[@timothylewis2450]

Truly a gifted musician.

[@williamwillis581]

Such a powerful song. Terry Evans gets his shoulders going and Ry looks like he is in a trance during his solo ride

[@francoisebeylie2923]

He was in a music trance !

[@henryVIIIification]

And that was live boys and girls. None of that production that you can't repeat on your own. Live, Live it was live I tell ya. Talk about setting a mood. Good God Almighty, that was something special. 'Ol Roy can make it talk and the vocals are just perfect. It's like I just took a trip and never left the farm. In my younger days I worked in Mississippi on the Tombigbee River. Yes boys and girls we was surveying the Tombigbee for the subsequent locks and dams. 1971 or 1972 I believe it was. Mississippi is sure something special. Especially the folks out in the country You talk about down home and country well they have it or at least had it. Met some wonderful people for both races. And this song sets the mood. Also check out RL Burnside Holly Springs Miss. He's gone now but he had a little club in Holly Springs. I once spent a weekend their at one of the surrounding farms. Met some wonderful people and some real share croppers. It was like taking a step back into the past.

[@larryfleck1985]

ainthurtinnobody I think u meant Ry not Roy j/s Yeah the south is known for hospitality although I ain't sure if it's like it used to be. Years ago I had a flat and some young guys helped us out right up to bringing it back n putting it on the car, in FL! Really nice young men they were.

[@henryVIIIification]

Larry Fleck Your right. I probably had been listening to Roy Buchanan and got my Ry and Roy's mixed up. They're both good though.

[@halbiggiam3320]

My family reunions were in Mississippi, near Columbus, Camp Pratt, a former YMCA campground.. Our cabin was a few yards from bank of Tombigbee River. Every 2 yrs. for 4 days 3 nights in muggy Miss. August, our families would come from around the U.S. and bring that place to life. Each family stayed in different cabins. We all thank the yr. they finally put in AC units in them. My Mother's brother's and sister's still lived in Miss. and Alabama. Everyone played an instrument and or sang, most played by ear and extremely well. My wonderful Aunt Norene raised all the mouth watering food we ate, black eyed peas, melons, corn, pecan pies[ my fav] fresh purserves and on and on. I gained 10 pds. every time, I didn't mind at all. I savored each morsel. She played guitar, fiddle and sang so beautifully. We ate, played, sang, hugged, told well worn, but welcome stories . Fished, swam, tennis, baseball, basketball, rode horses. Man I loved it so. Now all is left are wonderful memories, as most all have passed on or too old to travel the great distance. The closest airport is in Memphis.This song always takes me back, I've always liked it and Ry's music. Many of my relatives were born in shacks with no running water, heat, electricity, indoor toilet. They picked cotton as children and grew up in Great Depression, a hard life. 12 brother's and sister's on my Mother's side, her the baby. Still kickin' at 94 yrs. young. But all prospered in many and varied ways and places. In 94 I took my wife and newborn daughter to the reunion. We traveled from Illinois, about 1600 miles round trip. I always switched from interstate, to two lane road, once I got to Tupalo. Stayed the night there, always stayed at same hotel. I'm a photographer, who loves shooting the old stores, buildings, shacks and barns, still then, on the one time main highway. Some sites seemed still stuck, in a time warp of days long ago. The trip in 94 I decided to stop in Holly Springs, of all places, to eat a picnic lunch. A lush green vine infessed spot , blanketed on all sides , some 50 yrds. off road. The Vines were so thick around us and our feet, it felt like plush green carpet to walk and sit upon. I'm fond of the timed photo, I took on tripod of the three of us, surrounded by a green lush canopy. I wanted to ''go back in time''briefly, with my wife and 2 month old daughter. You see , I was the only one in my family born in the North, a damn Yankee! Of all things! I had always wished for Southern roots in a way. Well, this damn Yankee can't believe this extended, long winded diatribe. Your comment just made me ''step back into the past'', as you said. Ya'll take care now. lol

[@gummyworms3911]

This is what music is.

[@huwking-jones1517]

Forty years of listening to Ryland Cooder through all his musical evolvements so good

[@mobilebar6629]

Best version ever recorded...

[@PintsandVerbosity]

I don't care who you are are, you can feel this. Brilliant.

[@mikedownend6861]

Hey nick, you still feeling this 13 years later?

[@MrEdwaar]

One word Timeless

[@kevinhaggart7668]

Pure delta blues, nothing compares a dying art

[@2c4u222]

Ry has such a heart, passion and connection for the sentiment of this song - and the people so moved by their long-ago hurtful memories of Mississippi. He did a likewise BEAUTIFUL job of producing Mavis Staples' wonderful CD.

[@mbroders]

Terry Evans - has worked for ages with Ry Cooder, as well as having an impressive solo career. Check out his duo albums with Bobby King, his solo albums, and the awesome "Visions" CD with Hans Theessink.

[@1blastman]

This is a POWERFUL piece of music, can you post the whole concert?

[@neilc8657]

@@1blastman it's on KZbin somewhere I've watched it

[@timothylewis2450]

He was an amazing musician.

[@ditkoofseppala]

Powerful, intense music! Ry Cooder's guitar performance is wonderful... but man! Those VOICES. That sound is somehow the essence of Mississippi for me. It's like what this cut says, says it once for all time. GREAT.

[@romattigk]

One of the best blues perfomance ever live on stage ,,,greate voice of mr.evans

[@raimundebel2531]

I am sorry that Terry past away

[@Smudgeroon74]

Rest in Peace Terry Evans. A true legend

[@eddando113]

Terry Evans ! what a voice! full of power and emotion!

[@kristiannissen6366]

:-(

[@colonelfrogs]

Hell yea Mississippi boy here, good ass music

[@rhondawiseman9234]

Very good group of musicians.very powerful for sure.

[@MelekBetul]

Terry Evans is so underrated.

[@woordenstroom7]

And this said: my father had this concert on VHS back in the 80's. Together with a few parts of Woodstock this must have been the concert video I watched the most in my teens. It just gets to you, the voices, the slide, the atmosphere of the whole thing...

[@forcedcobra]

2024 checking in. Still doesn’t get any better.

[@morphinlounge101]

Man, so much feeling, so much feeling.

[@clementchartron2387]

l'âme du blues coule dans les veines de terry evans et Ry cooder!!

[@Kev_Barea]

For 7 minutes I give my soul away...

[@josephciresi802]

Badass.... Slide is amazing and Vocals hit ya right in your Gut!!!!!

[@Hansthatjudicious]

If you can keep your body still listening to this, you must be dead! Great stuff! Thanks for uploading it.

[@mrboogie107]

DAMN! that man howls like howling wolf!

[@infichif]

This is the best Mississippi song I have found so far. Reminds me of a cypress swamp after midnight.

[@Yrr666]

Gut bucket blues at it's absolute best. Rockin' back and forth with the beat.

[@thatsmysolstice1584]

This is crazy wicked good! You are down in old Mississippi listening to this. Up under your ribs stuck like old Molasses!

[@SuperBluesman56]

What a powerful voice, what a song !

[@AllenGoodman]

This is so hot you can feel the humidity like high noon in the Delta.

[@Inconel505]

Singers: Bobby King: tenor Terry Evans: baritone Arnold McCuller: tenor Willie Green Jr: bass

[@siemvandenoever]

amazing performance

[@missomurphy]

Ry Cooder used to come to London with these guys and play the Hammersmith Odeon in the 1980s. I would buy tickets for the last night, and then they’d add more nights and I’d have to buy more tickets for the new last night 😀 Bobby King would come in in a tux and take his jacket off, and then his tie and then his shirt 😀 Those singers were something else and Ry, well Ry Cooder was God. Still is. Best live music I ever heard ❤

[@joewall2545]

incredibly strong voice .

[@ikkenhisatsu7170]

Ry Cooder is a phenomenal guitarist. I am bummed I never listened to him for over 40 years, until recently.

[@lorenz096]

100% pure feeling !!!! Fucking love this song !

[@Peace4All09]

Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, love love love, big smiles from Downunda Oz, i never ever get sick of this song or Crossroads. Much Love 💓💖💓

[@JarvisMod]

Amazing. Gives me goosebumps.

[@josh0g]

R.I.P. Terry Evans. I never knew a voice could contain so much soul.

[@James57AOL]

All, who may pass this way, get busy, I say, help me lord, help me.......Bring the kind of music, strength in essence and energy in the heart......Songs you feel deeply about, for more than the playing of fast notes, or pretty buts talkin bout lustin the night away.....The passion of the tone, the deep sense of familiarity and the feel better after its done. Ready for yet another concert ....... Tina could, Beyoncé could, Dolly and Loretta could, and the list, can take a week to verify of those in past generations who could take voice and instrument and make the whole world better, if only for a night, a song, an album...or just the sight of them.....there are many who do just that.....define what it is to be a Great Performer.

[@johngulino2651]

Ry Cooder is as good as it gets. Best blues ever.

[@andykayll1414]

all i can say is thanks for the great music.

[@thegreatconsummation6939]

This tune is so heavy incredible musicians man! How can you get better than heavy blues? Impossible!

[@jameselliott5390]

man ry is so good

[@MrPHart]

The reason we all seem to understand the Blues is every (almost every) adult has had that "hole in your bully with the wind blowing thru." And it's better listening to it than having to live it day by day. Glad I live here on the left coast and can still play a little music to keep an old man smiling, yes! ℗.

[@diannecoluchi226]

There are no words. This just leaves me speechless.let the miracle of these talented people speak for itself

[@moragmacgregor6792]

A voice that give you chills.

[@mikhail1970]

Wow that is fantastic.

[@johnmitchelljr]

I call this "slide shredding". Ryland was really feelin" it. Mr. Evans Vocals were great. Thank you

[@francoisebeylie2923]

And I call this soul slide shredding .

[@25firejuggler]

RIP Terry Evans. So sad to have lost you. Powerful, powerful voice

[@StanimirGiba]

Magnificent

[@robertlisternicholls]

Wow that was bloody good - I didn't want it to end.

[@hallouko]

I think I came like three times during his solo.

[@Katy-ye1zr]

Ry Cooder. Mesmerizing- every one of them.

[@chromemutt]

And that's how you do it , less is more this is truly stunning what an amazing player no fret ripping runs just real ability with soul brilliant

[@kathymccauley7589]

Powerful. I never get tired of hearing this.

[@laaxe]

This song moves my ass everytime I hear it. Man... the most haunting vocals I've probably ever heard, with Ry Cooder sliding that icing on the cake... Some music theorists think the "third" doesn't belong in the panatonic (blues) scale.. Couldn't disagree more...

[@jmoakley1]

How good is Cooder? Amazing feel and touch.

[@ronaldh8446]

jmoakley1 - Hell yeah. And having those two pickups (lap steel on the bridge, Teisco gold foil on the neck) give him that distinct sound that belongs only to him. Best American slide guitarist alive. No contest.

[@lastkayleeuw6706]

Ronald H You are right! But if Duane Allman would be alive it would be difficult to choose.

[@ronaldh8446]

Last Kayle EUW - very debatable. And it was Cooder who inspired Greg Allman to play slide. Allman was, well... no words.

[@dkmcleod100]

until his untimely death at 28, there also was Alan 'Blind Owl' Wilson of the original Canned Heat

[@markchronister4620]

I have enjoyed him since about 70/71 as I recall. Today still I would think him, Derek Trucks, and Sonny Landreth are my favorite slide players, all different as can be. So great to have all this to listen to!😁

[@leogeee1]

The first time I heard Down in Mississippi was by Mavis Staples. Both renditions are gutsy and genuine. RIP Terry Lee Evans.🙏✝️

[@greggjensen1350]

The best blues i ever heard and i am an old white haired guy

[@user-in6ic2lq3p]

Best of the best!

[@carlcunningham8221]

Wow what an amazing guitar solo.

[@bigd312]

BAD ASS brother.....Ry tore it UP on this one....and great vocals with Terry.....Magnificent job....

[@pewterpork]

Ry makes his guitar sing, so he doesn't have to. This is the REAL blues, folks: the music style was born of oppression and misery, and it HAD TO BE THAT WAY, or we would not have this emotional music style that changed the world. Ry is onle of the last greats. I am learning slide, and lemme tell ya, it's a HELLA lot harder that it looks! Awesome post, thanks! (BTW: This song is used in the movie soundtrack "Crossroads". More vocal, but good nonetheless.)

[@francoisebeylie2923]

RY Cooder sayed himslf :" I needed 8 years to play with a bottleneck " , so it's not easy to play well . Keep on learning ... ( on Ry Cooder 1970 interview )

[@lindarobertson1341]

THAT is talent!!!!!

[@showaddy11]

this is the man. not playing for a clap. when are we gonni get that music when the real is gone ry.

[@guywolff]

This is magnificent Mastery at its finest .

[@billhuffman5953]

The power of a simple groove done well. Perfection Nuff said......

[@hapibeli]

Ry's "Boomer's Story" was my introduction to his work. Amazed ever since. Saw him live in Liberty Hall Houston, Texas, 1972. Solo, acoustic. It was musically groundSHAKIN for me.

[@francoisebeylie2923]

And you were very lucky to see him so young ...

[@CanadaBlue85]

Just saw Mr. Evans tonight at Vancouver Island MusicFest! Canada loves you Terry!

[@protbast]

i love it

[@sissine68]

Sublime c'est la magnificence.Quelle pure beauté! J'adore la 🎶 c'est d'un charme fou!!! Bravo à vous tous. ♥️♥️♥️🌞🌈🔥🔥🔥💧💐💯💯💯💫💥👍👌✌️🙏🙏🙏🥰

[@chromemutt]

I get so tired of all the who,s better than who shit ,just enjoy an immensly talented artist this is stunning

[@matthewhessler3257]

JUST AWESOME TO NO END!!!!!

[@47hammer]

Mississippi Delta Blues.!

[@francoisebeylie2923]

Perfect live music (as Cooder uses to do ); chaque note de chaque instrument et voix est à sa juste place ; Il faut entendre comme la guitare chante avec Terry Evans et lui répond . Comme a coutume de dire un ami , ça frise le parfait et avec le Ry , ça le frise de vraiment près ! en tous cas , pour moi , C'EST parfait ... la Beauté en personne !

[@ZonkTheBear]

This is Music with capital M! That voice sends shivers down my spine!

[@aloisemason3972]

Ry Cooder,a solo artist and singing,playing guitar legend..terrific on stage..Mississippi huh..backup singers are fantastic .

[@manfreddistel4323]

awesome! i´ve seen terry live 2times here in austria 2gether with hans theessink - it was a wonderful experiance!! especially THIS song! thanx & god bless!

[@sopelt005]

Terry Evans is one of the greatest blues man ever !!

[@DoowahDiatribe]

Some of y'all might remember the Crossroads movie...on the CD this entire group plays though in the movie it's just Ry Cooder playing. Mr. Cooder is thanked deeply for bringing the Moula Banda Rhythm Aces to a wider audience. Ya gotta love it!

[@chromemutt]

Modest , understated , effortless a true genius Damn! I wish I could play like that !

[@imrepohl]

ry cooder is simply a genious. not only that, but he is a proper musician, he seems to have not ego!

[@francoisebeylie2923]

He knows he's good and he loves music and beautiful songs , that's all ...

[@sunset40ify]

This song reaches down into your soul and pulls it out. Fantastic.

[@gunterharz8753]

no need to say more just listen and Enjoy

[@dquiring60]

Great vocals Great slide / I like music with heart

[@joehalbop1928]

Now thats a band in the zone...brilliant stuff...

[@analogemma]

Such a great Lenoir song AND this is just as good