294. John Leventhal on Ry Cooder 'Paradise and Lunch' (1974)

John Leventhal is a master of tastefulness, over decades as a producer, guitarist and songwriter with everyone from Shawn Colvin to Marc Cohn to William Bell and his wife Rosanne Cash. Today he welcomes me to his home studio in New York to talk about Ry Cooder’s 70s classic ‘Paradise and Lunch’.
We delve into Ry’s genius as an arranger and reinterpreter of songs, his influence as a musician, how the album puts songs first over guitar flexing, how Ry has influenced John’s playing and production and what it was like for John and his wife Rosanne to collaborate with Ry on new arrangements of Johnny Cash songs.