Into the Purple Valley

Into the Purple Valley is the second studio album by roots rock musician Ry Cooder, released in 1972.^[7][8]

Into the Purple Valley
Studio album by Ry Cooder
Released	January 1972
Recorded	1971
Genre	Country folk[1]
Length	37:06
Label	Reprise[2]
Producer	Jim Dickinson, Lenny Waronker[3]
Ry Cooder chronology
Ry Cooder (1970) Into the Purple Valley (1972) Boomer's Story (1972)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Christgau's Record Guide	B+[5]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[2]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide	[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[6]

The album's front cover is listed at number 12 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Album Covers.^[9] It shows Cooder and his then wife, Susan Titelman, in a Buick convertible at the Warner Bros. film lot in Burbank, California.

Critical reception

Record Collector wrote that the album "reached deep into tradition, unearthing neglected treasures from America’s past and reshaping them for the post-Woodstock generation."^[10]

Track listing

Side One

1. "How Can You Keep On Moving (Unless You Migrate Too)" (Agnes "Sis" Cunningham) – 2:25
2. "Billy the Kid" (Traditional; arranged by Ry Cooder) – 3:45
3. "Money Honey" (Jesse Stone) – 3:28
4. "FDR in Trinidad" (Fitz McLean) – 3:01
5. "Teardrops Will Fall" (Gerry "Dickey Doo" Granahan, Marion Smith) – 3:03
6. "Denomination Blues" (George Washington Phillips) – 3:58

Side Two

1. "On a Monday" (Lead Belly) – 2:52
2. "Hey Porter" (Johnny Cash) – 4:34
3. "Great Dream from Heaven" (instrumental) (Joseph Spence) – 1:53
4. "Taxes on the Farmer Feeds Us All" (Traditional; arranged by Ry Cooder) – 3:52
5. "Vigilante Man" (Woody Guthrie) – 4:15

(Note: "Taxes on the Farmer Feeds Us All" was actually composed by Fiddlin' John Carson.)

Personnel

• Ry Cooder – guitars, mandolin, vocals
• Van Dyke Parks – keyboards
• Gloria Jones – vocals
• Claudia Lennear – vocals
• George Bohanon – horns
• Jim Keltner – drums
• John Craviotto – drums
• Joe Lane Davis – horns
• Jim Dickinson – piano
• Chris Ethridge – bass
• Milt Holland – percussion
• Jerry Jumonville – saxophone
• Fritz Richmond – washtub bass
• Donna Washburn – vocals
• Donna Weiss – vocals
• Ike Williams – horns

Technical

• Mike Salisbury – cover design
• Marty Evans – cover photography

Billboard charts

Chart	Peak
Pop albums	113[11]