Bop Till You Drop

Bop Till You Drop
Bop Till You Drop
Studio album by Ry Cooder
Released	July 1979
Recorded	Warner Brothers Recording Studios, North Hollywood, CA
Genre	R&B; Blues rock;
Length	39:56
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder chronology

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]
Christgau's Record Guide	B+^[3]
Rolling Stone	(favorable)^[4]

Bop Till You Drop is Ry Cooder's eighth album, released in 1979. The album was the first digitally recorded major-label album in popular music. Bop Till You Drop was recorded on a digital 32-track machine built by 3M.^[5]^[6]

The album consists almost entirely of covers of earlier rhythm and blues and rock and roll classics, including Elvis Presley's "Little Sister" and the 1965 Fontella Bass-Bobby McClure hit "Don't Mess Up a Good Thing", on which Cooder duetted with soul star Chaka Khan. Khan also performed on the only original track on the album, "Down in Hollywood".

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Little Sister"	Doc Pomus Mort Shuman	3:49
2.	"Go Home, Girl"	Arthur Alexander	5:10
3.	"The Very Thing That Makes You Rich (Makes Me Poor)"	Sidney Bailey	5:32
4.	"I Think It's Going to Work Out Fine"	Rose Marie McCoy Sylvia McKinney	4:43
5.	"Down in Hollywood"	Ry Cooder Tim Drummond	4:14
6.	"Look at Granny Run Run"	Jerry Ragovoy Mort Shuman	3:09
7.	"Trouble, You Can't Fool Me"	Frederick Knight Aaron Varnell
8.	"Don't Mess Up a Good Thing"	Oliver Sain	4:08
9.	"I Can't Win"	Lester Johnson Clifton Knight Dave Richardson	4:16

Personnel

Musicians

Jimmy Adams – backing vocals (3, 7)
Ronnie Barron – organ (5), guitar (8)
Ry Cooder – guitars, mandolin, lead vocals, backing vocals, producer
Tim Drummond – bass guitar
Cliff Givens – backing vocals (3)
Rev. Patrick Henderson – organ (2)
Milt Holland – percussion, drums
Bill Johnson – backing vocals (3)
Herman Johnson – backing vocals (1, 9)
Jim Keltner – drums
Chaka Khan – vocals (5, 8)
Bobby King – vocals (5, 9), backing vocals (1, 2, 3, 7)
David Lindley – guitar, mandolin
Randy Lorenzo – backing vocals (2)
George "Biggie" McFadden – backing vocals (7)
Simon Pico Payne – backing vocals (3)
Greg Prestopino – backing vocals (3)

Technical

Loyd Clifft – assistant engineer
David Alexander – photography
Vicki Fortson – production coordination
Lee Herschberg – engineer
David Kraai - technical support
Penny Ringwood – production coordination
Mike Salisbury – design

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1979–80)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)^[7]	7
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[8]	30
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[9]	7
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[10]	10
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[11]	25
US Billboard 200^[12]	62

Year-end charts

Chart (1980)	Position
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[13]	29

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)^[14]	Platinum	70,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

^ Black, Johnny (September 2010). "Ry Cooder: Bop Until You Drop Vinyl Icon". Hi-Fi News & Record Review. United Kingdom. Ry Cooder's eighth album, Bop Till You Drop, released at the very end of July 1979...
^ Allmusic review
^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: C". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 23, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
^ Rolling Stone review
^ Roger Nichols. "I Can't Keep Up With All The Formats II". Archived from the original on 2002-10-20. The Ry Cooder Bop Till You Drop album was the first digitally recorded pop album
^ "1978 3M Digital Audio Mastering System". NewBay Media, LLC. 1 September 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 73. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Ry Cooder – Bop till You Drop" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
^ "Charts.nz – Ry Cooder – Bop till You Drop". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Ry Cooder – Bop till You Drop". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
^ "Swedishcharts.com – Ry Cooder – Bop till You Drop". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
^ "Ry Cooder Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
^ "Top Selling Albums of 1980 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2000 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved December 27, 2021.

[1] Black, Johnny (September 2010). "Ry Cooder: Bop Until You Drop Vinyl Icon". Hi-Fi News & Record Review. United Kingdom. Ry Cooder's eighth album, Bop Till You Drop, released at the very end of July 1979...

[2] Allmusic review

[3] Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: C". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 23, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.

[4] Rolling Stone review

[5] Roger Nichols. "I Can't Keep Up With All The Formats II". Archived from the original on 2002-10-20. The Ry Cooder Bop Till You Drop album was the first digitally recorded pop album

[6] "1978 3M Digital Audio Mastering System". NewBay Media, LLC. 1 September 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2017.

[aus-7] Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 73. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

[ac_Netherlands_Ry_Cooder-8] "Dutchcharts.nl – Ry Cooder – Bop till You Drop" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2022.

[ac_New_Zealand_Ry_Cooder-9] "Charts.nz – Ry Cooder – Bop till You Drop". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2022.

[ac_Norway_Ry_Cooder-10] "Norwegiancharts.com – Ry Cooder – Bop till You Drop". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2022.

[ac_Sweden_Ry_Cooder-11] "Swedishcharts.com – Ry Cooder – Bop till You Drop". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2022.

[ac_Billboard200_Ry_Cooder-12] "Ry Cooder Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 28 January 2022.

[13] "Top Selling Albums of 1980 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved 28 January 2022.

[AustraliaRy_CooderBop_till_You_DropalbumCertRef-14] "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2000 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved December 27, 2021.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

v t e Ry Cooder
Solo albums	Ry Cooder (1970) Into the Purple Valley (1972) Boomer's Story (1972) Paradise and Lunch (1974) Chicken Skin Music (1976) Show Time (1977) Jazz (1978) Bop Till You Drop (1979) Borderline (1980) The Slide Area (1982) Get Rhythm (1987) Chávez Ravine (2005) My Name Is Buddy (2007) I, Flathead (2008) Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down (2011) Election Special (2012) The Prodigal Son (2018)
Collaborative albums	Jamming with Edward! (1972) Little Village (1992) A Meeting by the River (1993) Talking Timbuktu (1994) Buena Vista Social Club (1997) Mambo Sinuendo (2003) Buena Vista Social Club at Carnegie Hall (2008) San Patricio (2010) Live in San Francisco (2013)
Soundtrack albums	Performance (1970) The Long Riders (1980) Southern Comfort (1981) The Border (1982) Streets of Fire (1984) Paris, Texas (1985) Music from Alamo Bay (1985) Blue City (1986) Crossroads (1986) Johnny Handsome (1989) Trespass (1993) Geronimo: An American Legend (1993) Last Man Standing (1996) The End of Violence (1997) Primary Colors (1998) My Blueberry Nights (2007)