Ry Cooder – Jesus On The Mainline

I had another Ry Cooder song written up and scheduled to go today, but in a conversation,  halffastcyclingclub played me this song while we were talking about something else. I decided to try to write this one up for Sunday. I love the spirit and soulfulness of this song. I’ll post the other Cooder song soon. Halffastcyclingclub posted this song on Ry Cooder’s 75th Birthday here. 

This song was on his 1974 Paradise and Lunch album. This isn’t a solo showcase or a guitar clinic. Cooder doesn’t treat roots music like a museum exhibit; he has fun with it. You can hear the respect, but you can also hear the joy. It’s a song that, after a minute, I fell in love with. 

He sent me the live version, which I would recommend. It’s an old spiritual, passed down and passed around, sung in churches and on chain gangs, more often associated with Sunday salvation. The writer of this beautiful song is unknown, but has been in the American folk and gospel circles for years. Mavis Staples also did a great version of this one. Cooder’s version is almost like a tent revival crossed with a Muscle Shoals jam session.

Cooder’s guitar is wonderful as always in this, but his voice lifts the whole thing skyward with that gospel chorus. This is the kind of song that you don’t just listen to, you get in and ride with it. The album peaked at #174 on the Billboard Album Charts in 1974.

Jesus On The Mainline

I know Jesus is on that mainlineTell Him what you wantJesus is on that mainlineTell Him what you wantJesus is on that mainlineTell Him what you wantCall Him up and tell Him what you want

Well, the line ain’t never busyTell Him what you wantWo, that line ain’t never busyTell Him what you wantWell, the line ain’t never busyTell Him what you wantKeep on calling Him upAnd tell Him what you want

Well, if you want His kingdomTell Him what you wantIf you want His kingdomTell Him what you wantIf want His kingdomTell Him what you wantCall Him up, call Him up, call Him up, call Him upYou can call Him up and tell Him what you wantWell, if you’re sick and want to get wellTell Him what you wantWell, if you’re sick and you want to get wellTell Him what you wantIf you’re sick and you want to get wellTell Him what you wantCall Him up and tell Him what you want

And if you’re feeling down and outTell Him what you wantAnd if you’re feeling down and outTell Him what you wantAnd if you’re feeling down and outTell Him what you wantCall Him up and tell Him what you want

I know Jesus is on that mainlineTell Him what you wantJesus is on that mainlineTell Him what you wantJesus is on that mainlineTell Him what you wantCall Him up, call Him up, call Him up, call Him upCall Him up and tell Him what you want

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

46 thoughts on “Ry Cooder – Jesus On The Mainline”

    1. This one just sang out to me so to speak…I just turned the other song into a draft…I really like this. Oh…sorry about my mistake last night…that is why Max shouldn’t ever reply with a phone!

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      1. That’s OK, don’t worry about it. I was tired and probably half of what I was typing didn’t make sense. Did you listen to those Jayhawks albums?

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      2. No it was my phone! It blocked butcher…I thought you stopped typing…but I never knew people would be taught how to cut like that…kind of like a chef does.
        No I haven’t yet but they are on my list…my buddy passing had something to do with that but this week I plan to.

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      3. Oh, OK. Yeah, their butcher was from Germany, and he was not somebody you would mess with. Very stern, but he knew his stuff.

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      4. Bailey is with a German girl…so yea…they are stern. I just looked it up…and yes there used to be places where they were trained…now it’s, like you said, they are trained on the job now. Very interesting subject though.

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    1. Clive…I have you mentioned on the other post I’ll get to in the upcoming weeks for mentioning him….about how good he did How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?… well come to find out…I already covered it but I picked another song off of that album that will come soon.
      That is a great description of him about inhabiting songs….I agree.

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      2. Thanks Clive! Yea I told him that I was going to post one by Cooder and he just played me this one…I fell hook, line, and sinker as the expression goes.

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  5. Thanks for the shout out. Now I’ll confess that the album version is the ringtone I use for one of my oldest and best friends – when we were younger he looked like the stereotypical pictures of Jesus (light skin, blue eyes, long brown hair and beard). (Yeah, when I got older I wondered why the pictures of Jesus in my bible made him look northern European.)

    As usual, you hit the nail on the head – while Cooder can’t be pigeon-holed, he is not an academic ethnomusicologist. As Clive put it, he “inhabits” the music. He learns the traditions and takes on the feelings. He doesn’t just play the notes.

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    1. No thank you! I’ll be honest…I loved the other song I had but this one….I just had to post it. Some songs just hit me after a few seconds of listening to it. I love the vibe, the music, and love how they delivered the lyrics with the backups.
      Yes…Clive nailed it with that. Great ringtone I have to say.
      Thanks again for introducing this song to me.

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  7. Cooder is one of those we all know and love and always sometimes forget about….he does so many different things, I still remember an album that my mom sold when may parents sold their home that was Hawaiian with someone named Gabby recorded at a remote spot on the big island that was amazing, and Little Sister on that No Nukes album…..and dam him he makes what he play seem so easy!….for some reason thinking of him has me thinking of Martin Sexton another player that just plays…

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    1. He does make it sound and look so easy. Warren did you notice that short scaled 12 string he was playing in that video? At first I thought it was a mandolin but turns out a short scale 12 string they call an E-Mando.
      I’ll look up that Little Sister version….

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  8. Interesting song for sure. I tend to get him mixed up with Mitch Ryder, whom I think you featured yesterday. This one, definitely Gospel but sounds more ‘tent revival’ or the type of thing movies suggest slaves sang all day long in the fields than a church tune. He sounds into it & authentic, I’d say.

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    1. Yea I heard it once yesterday and I put my other Ry Cooder song in the drafts…I just fell for the spirit of this…it drew me in with the live version. I love the studio version as well after I heard it.

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  9. I love the gospel vibe, Max! Ry Cooder has done some really great stuff. The first time I came across his name was in connection with the 1984 Wim Wenders picture “Paris, Texas.” Cooder’s acoustic slide guitar playing on the soundtrack still gives me chills.

    My next exposure to Cooder came a few years later when my longtime Germany music buddy introduced me to his 1979 album “Bop Till You Drop” – it was instant love. Afterwards, Cooder kind of fell off my radar screen until I “rediscovered” him about 6 years ago in the context of my music blogging.

    Cooder definitely is an artist worthwhile exploring.

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    1. Chrisitian…this one knocked me out and I just heard it yesterday! I had to post it. It is infectious.
      Yes he is worth it and I will be posting something soon with him because I have one already written up…I just jumped line with this one. I love that gospel feel and the background singers.

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    1. I don’t guess you can have too many of those. This one spoke to me CB…I have that other one in storage now…I love that other song as well…but that spiritual part of this song just got to me…the whole feel.

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  12. Yes, this is the sort of song you can enjoy even if you’re not much of a believer. There is a strength and sometimes you just enjoy music for what it is. I remember hearing Mahalia Jackson singing on the radio some Sunday as a wee kid and it might not have spiritually moved me but musically it sure as hell did.

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    1. It has that feel with it. I believe but I look at it as a great song…so it satifies both…those backup vocals just sound so damn good.

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  14. One I haven’t heard. I’ve liked Cooder since the early 70s primarily for his guitar work, but this is something so Americana, old-style gospel, it’s like he’s embodied an old black gospel singer sitting on a porch in cotton country. Great pick, Max, I’m sending this one to my Pastor at church, he digs music like this.

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      1. Max, you jogged my brain with this one. With your permission, I would like to use the tune in a story that weaves into my own childhood. It fits right into an experience I had as a wee lad.

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      2. Phil…feel free! Since I don’t post during the week…can you give me an email when you post it? I’ll check it out.

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