Tony's Two Cents

Hey, you guys, its Tony again.

                        So … I’ve recently listened to an album called

“Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down” by Ry Cooder. I know its not the same type of music as my last post but I have to listen to a lot of different types. I found this album different and I thought it was all mixed genre songs. It's WAY different to me because I’m used to listening to different types of metal and alternative music NOT a mixture of Country and Spanish. I like some Spanish songs but I don’t really listen to it. I also found the verses in his songs a tad too long BUT the lyrics tell a great story. It’s like a story beneath the song. I found this album to be a great change of pace from what I normally listen to but it's still not something you'll find me listening to often. I have to give him props though. Ry Cooder has won four “Grammy Awards”. He also started his band in the 70’s and is still going on today. One song I thought was really cool is called "Dreamer". This song is about the Ruelas brothers who are famous in the lowrider community for starting Duke's car club. One of the most well known in Los Angeles. "Dreamer" is a nice tribute song. 

     I’m really no that fond of his music but he has another album my dad listens to called “Chavez Ravine” based on the neighborhoods that once existed where Dodger stadium is today. 

    Chavez Ravine is an entire album based on the culture and the neighborhood of Chavez Ravine. I like this album because:

1. It puts history into a cool set of songs

2. Has some Spanish songs to show the type of culture that was popular there

3. Finally, the lyrics are accurate with the history of Chavez Ravine.

    Some people might think, well who would want to write a set of songs based on an old school city. If you take a moment to think about this question you might say, “It’s all history!” People might not have known that Dodger Stadium used to be a little town. I knew about it due to research and my dad. But I’ve never heard someone bring back history into music. If I were you I would get on to Wiki Pedia and search about Chavez Ravine. It’s an interesting story based on the story of an old buried city. Listen to the lyrics of “Chavez Ravine”, which is the main song of the album and listen to the lyrics. The lyrics don’t give you all the facts on Chavez Ravine but that’s why you need to research. I hope you guys take this post into consideration and please research. Please leave me a 2 sentence summary about what happened between the Dodger baseball team and The Chavez Ravine Community. I'd recommend both of these CDs and you can get them at the branch or ask the librarian to order them for you. Until next time.

Bye.

Anthony Meza is a regular patron at our library. He enjoys playing video games but making music is his main interest. He plays the drums for his school band. You can keep up with his short stories at imaginefreely.wordpress.com.