Ry Cooder – Buena Vista Social Club

A different plan for the second week

In March 1996, musicians from Mali and Cuba were meant to meet in Havana. When the African guests could not travel, the project changed. Nick Gold, Ry Cooder and Juan de Marcos González continued working with the Cuban musicians. Several albums emerged from this productive period, including Buena Vista Social Club. Released in 1997, it brought both the repertoire and its performers to a new international audience.

The basic recordings were made at EGREM with engineer Jerry Boys. Cooder produced, but the musical centre is formed by singers and instrumentalists including Ibrahim Ferrer, Compay Segundo, Eliades Ochoa, Rubén González and Orlando “Cachaíto” López. Their different experiences shape the encounter. A changed plan begins the recording story; the music takes its form from the people who actually come together in the room.

Compay Segundo and an opening song

“Chan Chan”, written by Compay Segundo, opens the album. A few chords provide a recurring framework for voices and instruments. From there the programme moves through “De Camino a la Vereda”, “El Cuarto de Tula” and “Pueblo Nuevo”. Attention passes between different singers, featured instrumental passages and the work of the ensemble as a whole.

On a first complete listen, follow the changing roles of the stringed instruments. Guitars, laúd and bass have distinct responsibilities; an accompanying instrument can move into the foreground a moment later. González’s piano provides another melodic line. Familiarity with individual songs can make it easy to overlook the number of musical perspectives gathered here. Following the full running order brings those shifts into focus more clearly than returning only to the best-known selections.

Omara Portuondo’s brief visit remains

Omara Portuondo appears on just one track, “Veinte Años”. Nick Gold recalled that she was in the same studio building and was invited in shortly before leaving on a trip. Compay Segundo proposed the song. Gold describes an immediate shared performance; the original rough mix was ultimately used on the album. A brief encounter became a permanent part of the programme.

Boys also describes further mixing in Los Angeles and London. The finished record is therefore more than an untouched document of one week. Ensemble playing, later additions and the choice of mixes all contribute to it. “Veinte Años” offers a useful point at which to pause: follow the voice, then one accompanying line, before continuing through “El Carretero” and the remaining selections to explore the album’s contrasting forms.

Four LPs and the history of the metalwork

AAPW 167-45 spreads the fourteen album tracks across four 180-gram LPs at 45 RPM. Documented specialist reviews identify the use of metal parts from the earlier Classic Records box of eight single-sided records. Bernie Grundman’s name appears in the runouts. This is consequently not a newly commissioned lacquer cut for the present release. Quality Record Pressings manufactures the four double-sided discs, with Stoughton packaging and a twelve-page booklet.

The publisher identifies original analogue master tapes as the source for Grundman’s mastering. That is not extended into a claim that every stage of the album’s production was analogue: Boys mentions one chosen rough mix originating on DAT. Michael presents this exact four-record set in “Instant Classic: Buena Vista Social Club”, including its Classic Records connection. The tape edition in the shop is a separate format with different production details.

You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and dispatch from Hilden.

Also in another edition: Buena Vista Social Club

More by Ry Cooder: Chicken Skin Music · Paradise And Lunch

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Musicians

Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.