Into the Purple Valley is the second studio album by roots rock musician Ry Cooder, released in 1972.

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

Into the Purple Valley

Critical receptionRecord Collector'' wrote that the album "reached deep into tradition, unearthing neglected treasures from America’s past and reshaping them for the post-Woodstock generation."

Into the Purple Valley

Track listing

Side One

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

Into the Purple Valley

Side Two

"On a Monday" (Lead Belly) – 2:52

"Hey Porter" (Johnny Cash) – 4:34

"Great Dream from Heaven" (instrumental) (Joseph Spence) – 1:53

"Taxes on the Farmer Feeds Us All" (Traditional; arranged by Ry Cooder) – 3:52

"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

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

References

1972 albums

Ry Cooder albums

Albums produced by Lenny Waronker

Albums produced by Jim Dickinson

Reprise Records albums