Chicken Skin Music [CD, Import, from US]

   彼の持ち札であるフォーク、ブルース、テックス・メックスに加え、ハワイアンの要素を大胆に取り入れた、彼の5作目となる1976年発表の作品。ハワイアン音楽で使用されるスラック・キー・ギターやアコーディオンなどの響きが印象的な、彼独自のボーダーレスな無国籍の音楽世界が堪能できる、お気楽にして味わい深い名作である。現地ハワイのミュージシャンたちとの<7><8>のゆるいスウィング風味、ハワイの音楽技法を絶妙に生かした名曲<3>、リトル・フィートがゆるんだような<5>、ユニークでせつない<9>など。（麻路 稔）

This 1976 effort contains some of Cooder's most compelling work and finds him reexploring some of the fundamental influences on a musician known for remarkable eclecticism. Most notable are "Always Lift Him Up," "Smack Dab in the Middle," and a beautiful adaptation of "Stand By Me" (which includes Flaco Jimenez on accordion.) The album opens and closes with covers of Leadbelly, namely "The Bourgeois Blues" and (you guessed it) "Goodnight Irene." Also notable is a fine reworking of the traditional number "I Got Mine." --Wayne Pernu

This 1976 effort contains some of Cooder's most compelling work and finds him re-exploring some of the fundamental influences on a musician known for remarkable eclecticism. Most notable are "Always Lift Him Up", "Smack Dab in the Middle", and a beautiful adaptation of "Stand By Me" (which includes Flaco Jimenez on accordion.) The album opens and closes with covers of Leadbelly, namely "The Bourgeois Blues" and (you guessed it) "Goodnight Irene". Also notable is a fine reworking of the traditional number "I Got Mine". --Wayne Pernu