Rating: NN
Ever since Ry Cooder stumbled into the unlikely gold mine that was the Buena Vista Social Club, it seems that no recording concept he could pitch would be too outlandish for Nonesuch to bankroll. His new album could just as easily have been a collection of polkas inspired by the colour field paintings of Jules Olitski, but instead, My Name Is Buddy happens to be a campfire-quaint allegorical song cycle of Dust Bowl-era folk tunes built around Buddy Red Cat, Lefty Mouse and Reverend Tom Toad. No doubt, banjo-strumming brothers Pete and Mike Seeger happily signed on without any arm-twisting, and same goes for Van Dyke Parks, Flaco Jimenez, Paddy Moloney and Jim Keltner. Whether anyone outside of the NPR listening audience actually gives a shit about what clever socio-political points Cooder is trying to make metaphorically is difficult to say, but with his luck, My Name Is Buddy will become a syndicated Saturday-morning cartoon series for PBS so he can hire Jimmy Sturr for that polka project.
