Bop till You Drop

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]

Bop Till You Drop
Studio album by Ry Cooder
Released	July 1979[1]
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
Jazz (1978) Bop Till You Drop (1979) Borderline (1980)

Professional ratings

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

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 – vocals, backing vocals
• Ronnie Barron – organ, guitar, keyboards
• Ry Cooder – guitars, mandolin, vocals, background vocals, producer
• Tim Drummond – bass guitar
• Cliff Givens – vocals, backing vocals
• Rev. Patrick Henderson – organ, keyboards
• Milt Holland – percussion, drums
• Bill Johnson – backing vocals
• Herman E. Johnson – vocals, backing vocals
• Jim Keltner – drums
• Chaka Khan – vocals
• Bobby King – vocals, backing vocals
• David Lindley – guitar, mandolin
• Randy Lorenzo – vocals, backing vocals
• George "Biggie" McFadden – vocals, backing vocals
• Simon Pico Payne – vocals
• Greg Prestopino – vocals, backing vocals

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

Year	Chart	Peak
1979	Australian (Kent Music Report)	7[7]
1979	Billboard Pop Albums	62

References

1. "Bop Till You Drop by Ry Cooder". Rate Your Music. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
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.
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.