What Is Ronnie Thinking?

Hot on the heels of news that the remaining members of The Faces (including Rod Stewart) might be reforming later in the year, comes news that 61-year-old rockin’ Ronnie Wood has left his wife of 23 years and run off with a 19-year-old Kazakhstan-born cocktail waitress, Ekaterina Ivanova.

Apparently rumours were set buzzing by Ronnie’s portrait of a naked girl which was offered for sale at a gallery near his Irish mansion in County Kildare and news reports tonight (Tuesday) suggest the Wood’s wife Jo – who at first claimed that Ronnie had fallen off the wagon and Ekaterina were just drinking buddies – has said their marriage is over.

Ekaterina’s former boyfriend says he was shocked that she was stolen away by a ‘wrinkly old man’! (He obviously hasn’t been hanging around backstage at any rock concerts!)

Reports that Ronnie is worth $143 million seem a little over optimistic given his self-confessed profligate lifestyle. (He once lost over 5 million quid on a nightclub and had to ask the Stones for a $1million advance).

It is hardly surprising that Ronnie’s rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle might have led him astray. This is, after all, the man who claimed that he banned his children from eating sweets with icing sugar on them because he kept sniffing it off the carpet thinking it was cocaine! And people seem to have completely forgotten Bill Wyman’s indiscretions of a few decades ago with Mandy Smith.

Nevertheless, there has to be a rational explanation for Ronnie’s behaviour and I have come up with a number of possible scenarios:

a) He was enticed by the highly stimulating intellectual conversations he and Ekaterina had and her intimate knowledge of Russian classics such as War & Peace.

b) He found out he could get a discount if he travelled with a teenager.

c) Unlike Mick Jagger, he’s attracted to older women.

d) He is painting Ekaterina’s portrait for entry into next year’s Archibald prize.

e) None of the above.

Let’s hope Ronnie’s strange (but completely normal behaviour by rock ‘n’ roll standards) doesn’t cruel The Faces getting back together. Now that the Stones are ikn hiatus it’s time for the other great rock band of the 70’s to lay down the gauntlet (and get Rod out of his cabaret stage).

I, Flathead Winners

The winners of the new Ry Cooder album, I, Flathead, are:

Damien Carr
My favourite Ry Cooder number is Jesus on the Mainline from the album Showtime, Chicken Skin Revue. Easily his best album in my opinion. Why – It’s live, just pure clean guitar work. This song (and the album) shows all his skills and his affinity with music.

Adrian Corke
I first came across Ry Cooder as a 15 or 16 years old (I think I was about that age, it’s along time ago now!) while watching GTK on channel 2. Although it is over 30 years ago now I am quite sure that the song he was playing was “Cherry Ball Blues” blues from Boomer’s Story and it just snapped me out of my teenage torpor and sat me bolt upright on the couch. I had never heard music like this before. Any way, I wrote down his name and the album and asked my Dad (who worked in the city) if he could find it for me. I grew up in Lilydale and I knew there was no way I would find it out there!
Well, I think Dad enjoyed the challenge and a few days later he came home with the album. I played that album over and over and it has remained one of my favourites and certainly a huge influence on my musical tastes. In fact the first concert I ever went to was Ry Cooder at the Palais. I was so naïve that I walked from Flinders street station to St Kilda on the idea that St. Kilda Rd must take me there! It was a great gig!
I have a great many of Ry Cooder’s albums and I really like the atmospheric film scores, but I keep coming back to Boomer’s Story. I still love “Cherry Ball Blues”, “Boomer’s Story” and “Rally ‘Round the Flag” from that album, but the stand out song for me and my all time favourite is “Dark End of the Street”. It is such a sad, sweet, uplifting piece of music. In year 12 I had to read Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” and this song seemed to fit somehow.

Harold Frith
I am just another besotted Ry Cooder fan. All his tracks are my favourites,but I will go for ‘down in Hollywood ‘if I must choose, just pipping ‘Mexican Divorce.’
One of the high points of my life was seeing 2 men  making music together at the Melbourne Town Hall. Ry Cooder & David Lynley, perfection. Must be about 20 years ago!

Dr Gonzo
Just listened to your Ry Cooder show from the lobby of our hotel in Ho Chi Minh City here in Vietnam.
My fave Ry Cooder song is  Tattler from his fourth album Paradise and lunch written by Washington Phillips, a lovely piece of soul/rock  – why? I love the feel and the subject matter which is something about romantic relationships. A genuine Cooder classic!

Jeremy Hanley
Favorite Ry Cooder track: ‘Dark End of the Street’:
Ry Cooder’s biggest talent lies, I believe, in his ability to arrange and interpret others’ songs and give them fresh life. I thought that the version of “Dark End of the Street” by James Carr could not be bettered, because its quality depends so much (as all good deep soul music does) on the singer’s peerless voice and soulful take on the lyric.  I still feel it has never been bettered.
Cooder, however, does not try to compete with Carr’s vocal take .  With the simple virtuosity of his soulful slide floating elegantly over the sympathetic arrangement, he creates an instrumental voice of his own, which has no need of a lyric.

Dave Hollands
Tough call asking for one Ry Cooder song. My nomination is “Comin’ in on a wing and a prayer” from Boomers Story. Apart from being a Ry Cooder song, I first heard it in a beer garden in Broken Hill when I was about 10 or 11 (a very long time ago, predating pokies and cable TV. Predating any TV for us in fact). The patrons would gather round the piano and sing old Woody Guthrie songs and this one.
I compiled a CD from all of the vinyl Ry Cooder records I had. It is a patchy best of as I don’t have some albums such as Paris Texas, but here is the list:
‘Tamp Em Up Solid,’ ‘Married Mans A Fool,’ It’s All Over Now’ (another candidate for best), ‘If Walls Could Talk,’ ‘Mexican Divorce,’ ‘Boomer’s Story,’ ‘Dark End Of The Street,’ ‘Comin’ In On A Wing And A Prayer,’ ‘Little Sister,’ ‘Go Home Girl,’ ‘The Very Thing That Makes You Rich,’ ‘I Think It’s Going To Work Out Fine,’ ‘Trouble,’ ‘Why Don’t You Try Me,’ ‘Down In The Boondocks,’ ‘The Way We Mend A Broken Heart,’ ‘The Girls From Texas.’

Anthony Mahoney
The Ry Cooder interview +tracks 28/6/2008 was good enough to repeat sometime not too distant.
Reminded me of what now seems like a previous life, when I listened to Boomer’s Story, Chicken Skin Music, Borderline, Bop Till You Drop even, on vinyl and now in storage.
Favorite track by Ry Cooder : ‘Ax Sweet Mama’ from Boomer’s Story.
There maybe Ry Cooder fans out there quietly watching the wheels turn.

Greg Nugent
Really enjoying the Ry Cooder interview and music this morning  – that track  ‘Dark End of the Street’ is  completely gone  .
Have been a  huge fan of  Ry’s music ever since GTK on the ABC.
Not sure what the criteria for the competition was but if you could play ‘The Tattler ‘ from Paradise and Lunch I’d really appreciate it  ( and re-subscribe early ).

Kathy Pearson
Loved your interview with Ry Cooder. You have made it very difficult for us subscribers trying to name a favourite song from an artist that has put out so much great music. In my early days, the first time and album that I was introduced to Ry’s music was Bop Till You Drop. It was a great blues/rock album that I listened to over and over. One of the songs that I loved bopping too was ‘Little Sister.’ This was a memorable experience as I used to sing it to my younger sister all the time and repeat the line ‘Don’t Do What Your Big Sister’s Done.’ This started a great love and appreciation of Ry’s music and talent ever since. I still listen to Bop Till You Drop and sing along to ‘Little Sister,’ like many other fantastic Ry Cooder songs.

Sue Varley
So good to hear the Ry interview – thank you!
Favourite track: with such excellence in so many genres this was a mean question, but here’s one I just come back to so often… the title track of ‘A Meeting by the River’ from his collaboration with V M Bhatt.  Yep, I went to India, loved the culture, the spirituality and the music, and this track in particular fits perfectly with how I blend those qualities I love with my life and music here.  Its accessible, deeply emotional and uplifting – what more could you want from music!

Wide Open Road

Back in the big smoke after ten days in Central Australia and we were welcomed by some classic Melbourne winter weather. The only clouds and rain we had seen during the trip were on the final day and night at Yulara – and that seemed strange. Contrary to what you might think, the weather at Uluru at this time of the year is quite cool at night (getting down to 4C) and hovered around 20-22C during the day making it very pleasant for travelling.

We spent several nights at Yulara and then headed off to King’s Canyon, Alice Springs and back to Yulara. The countryside is spectacular and I was reminded of when I worked in Kambalda, WA for a while after leaving school and the connection we have with the land. It is nothing like most of Europe where there are towns and villages everywhere and escape seems almost impossible. I recall that after living in the UK for some years, I arrived back in Perth and decided to hitchhike across to Melbourne just to feel the space.

This time I didn’t see much wildlife. Lots of eagles and crows (or are they ravens?), some wild brumbies and several dingoes wandering by the road near King’s Canyon. The only kangaroos we saw were roadkill, along with some cattle and a camel (you wouldn’t want to hit one of those!). With a speed limit of 130kmh you could do some serious damage if you hit something.

Alice Springs was a pleasant surprise. A lovely oasis in the middle of the desert. At one stage I thought I was being discriminated against when I had to show ID to buy a bottle of wine but apparently everyone gets asked. There seems to be a sophisticated system to help control drinking – licences are scanned and the information is sent to a central database – so that you can only purchase a limited amount of alcohol per day. However, the only person who seemed to be affected that night – which had us watching the State of Origin NRL match at the bar with $3 schooners – was me!

One restaurant displayed a notice with a detailed dress code and a statement that read ‘no shower – no entry.’ Do they sniff your armpits before they let you in? Apparently not. I felt like questioning this most dubious (and possibly racist) entry requirement but the security staff seemed quite large. Many stores have signs saying ‘no bare feet’ which seems rather pointed given the fact that many of the indigenous inhabitants do not need to wear shoes. I am sure that in the three days I was there I only got a snapshot of what life is like. I can tell you that a visit to old Lutheran mission of Hermannsburg was a revelation.

We met some guys on trail bikes – two BMW R1150GS’s and a KTM950 Adventure – at the motel who were heading up the Tanami Road to Broome! I hope they made it. One of the BM’s was very hard to start and sounded a bit rough. They came from Queensland and had shipped the bikes to Alice and then would ship them back from Darwin. I had thought of taking my bike but you cannot put it on the Ghan. Next year I’ll ride it up.

On Friday we went to the Alice Springs Show, which reminded me somewhat of what I recall it being like at the Royal Melbourne Show in the late ’50s – but with lots more dust. The highlight was the exhibition of racing, jumping and diving pigs which were presented in a manner befitting their status. A little disappointing that there was only one diving pig.

Despite the tourism boom you can still drive 180km and maybe pass only one roadhouse. You are more likely to encounter the numerous ‘grey nomads’ in their campervans and Winnebagos or towing Jayco caravans. Not quite as impressive as some of the combos you see in the USA – only saw one Winnebago towing a car – but frequent enough to make you think the entire nation has retired. Tourist buses are plentiful, mainly with Japanese holiday makers. There also seemed to be an inordinate number of Italian honeymoon couples. Do they have some sort of special deal?

The Voyages Resort at Yulara – 15km from Uluru – has got pretty much of a monopoly on accommodation and we were lucky to get a room for the final two nights of our trip. We had been quoted $430 a night! That had me unpacking the tent. Luckily, we waited and booked on Wotif. The first few nights after we flew in were not during the school holidays and rates were a lot cheaper. Voyages also have the franchise at King’s Canyon where we stayed for two nights (and paid $2.10 a litre for petrol).

I have to say that it still seems a lot cheaper to travel in the USA.