Paradise and Lunch


Paradise and Lunch is the fourth album by roots rock musician Ry Cooder, released on June 8, 1974 on Reprise Records. The album is composed of cover versions of jazz, blues and roots standards and obscurities recorded at the Warner Brothers Studios. The final track, "Ditty Wah Ditty," showcases a duet between Cooder and jazz pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines. It was produced by Russ Titelman and Lenny Waronker. The album reached #167 on the Billboard 200.
The album also includes Cooder's updated arrangement of bluesman Washington Phillips' "The Tattler" that stands out for its guitar playing. It was subsequently covered by Linda Ronstadt on her 1976 album Hasten Down the Wind and by David Soul on his Playing To An Audience of One album. In 1990 the album was released on CD, while a remastered version appeared in 2007. It was newly remastered from the original master tapes for a high-resolution SACD in 2017.

Track listing

Side One
  1. "Tamp 'Em Up Solid" – 3:19
  2. "Tattler" – 4:14
  3. "Married Man's a Fool" – 3:10
  4. "Jesus on the Mainline" – 4:09
  5. "It's All Over Now" – 4:49
Side Two
  1. "Fool for a Cigarette/Feelin' Good" – 4:25
  2. "If Walls Could Talk" – 3:12
  3. "Mexican Divorce" – 3:51
  4. "Ditty Wah Ditty" – 5:42

    Personnel