I, Flathead:The Songs of Kash Buk and the Klowns is a concept album

Concept album

In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...

 by Ry Cooder

Ry Cooder

Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...

. It is the third in his "California trilogy

Trilogy

A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...

" that began with Chávez Ravine

Chávez Ravine (album)

Chávez Ravine: A Record by Ry Cooder is a concept album and historical album by Ry Cooder which tells the story of Chávez Ravine, a Mexican-American community demolished in the 1950s in order to build public housing. The housing was never built...

(2005) and was followed by My Name Is Buddy

My Name Is Buddy

My Name Is Buddy: Another Record by Ry Cooder is a social-political concept album by Ry Cooder. Cooder has described it as the second in a trilogy that began with Chávez Ravine and concluded with . The album is packaged in a small booklet that includes a brief story and drawing to accompany each...

(2007).

The Deluxe Edition of the album is accompanied by a 104 page hardback book which included a CD in paper pocket, a novella (on 97 pages) and song lyrics. That story even subtitled "The Songs of Kash Buk and the Klowns." It's told about beatnik, salt-flats racer, and country musician Kash Buk, his band the Klowns, the girls, the strange and wonderful extraterrestrial visitor called Shakey, and the Passenger who pursues him, and other characters.

The title is a play on the Isaac Asimov novel "I, Robot

I, Robot

I, Robot is a collection of nine science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov, first published by Gnome Press in 1950 in an edition of 5,000 copies. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines Super Science Stories and Astounding Science Fiction between 1940 and 1950. The stories are...

", but the flathead in question is the Ford Flathead engine

Ford Flathead engine

The Ford flathead V8 was a V8 engine of the flathead type, designed by the Ford Motor Company and built by Ford and various licensees...

.

Track listing

1. "Drive Like I Never Been Hurt" (Ry Cooder, Joachim Cooder) - 4:07
2. "Waitin' for Some Girl" (Ry Cooder) - 3:48
3. "Johnny Cash
   Johnny Cash
   John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
   
   " (Ry Cooder) - 3:08
4. "Can I Smoke In Here?" (Ry Cooder) - 4:19
5. "Steel Guitar Heaven" (Ry Cooder) - 3:40
6. "Ridin' with the Blues" (Ry Cooder) - 3:01
7. "Pink-O Boogie" (Ry Cooder) - 3:05
8. "Fernando Sez" (Ry Cooder) - 4:44
9. "Spayed Kooley
   Spade Cooley
   Donnell Clyde Cooley , better known as Spade Cooley, was an American Western swing musician, big band leader, actor, and television personality...
   
   " (Ry Cooder) - 2:09
10. "Filipino Dancehall Girl" (Ry Cooder) - 3:54
11. "My Dwarf Is Getting Tired" (Ry Cooder) - 3:59
12. "Flathead One More Time" (Ry Cooder, Joachim Cooder, Jared Smith) - 3:12
13. "5000 Country Music Songs" (Ry Cooder) - 6:41
14. "Little Trona Girl" (Ry Cooder, Joachim Cooder) - 3:13

Musicians

• Gil Bernal - Sax (Tenor)
• Ron Blake – Trumpet
• Rene Camacho – Bass
• Juliette Commagere
  Juliette Commagere
  Juliette Commagere is a Los Angeles based singer/songwriter who previously worked with the band Hello Stranger and The Bird and the Bee. She has toured with Nick Lowe, Ry Cooder, Pete Yorn and played the Download Festival with Bat for Lashes as well as co-headlined the 2nd annual Manimal Festival...
  
   – Vocals (14)
• Joachim Cooder – Drums, Timbales
• Ry Cooder
  Ry Cooder
  Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
  
   – Vocals, Guitars, Bass guitar, Mandolin, Piano (Electric), Producer, Package Design, Laud
• Jesús Guzmán – Arranger, String Arrangements
• Jon Hassell
  Jon Hassell
  Jon Hassell is an American trumpet player and composer. He is known for his influence in the world music scene and his unusual electronic manipulation of the trumpet sound.-Life and career:...
  
   – Trumpet
• Flaco Jiménez
  Flaco Jiménez
  Leonardo "Flaco" Jiménez is a Tejano music accordionist from San Antonio, Texas. Jiménez's father, Santiago Jiménez Sr. was a pioneer of conjunto music. He began performing with his father at age seven and recording at age fifteen, as a member of Los Caporales...
  
   – Accordion
• Jim Keltner
  Jim Keltner
  James Lee "Jim" Keltner is an American drummer known primarily for his session work. He has contributed to the work of many well-known artists...
  
   – Drums
• Martin Pradler – Drums, Piano (Electric), Engineer, Mixing, Package Design
• Jared Smith
  Jared Smith
  Jared Smith is an American amateur singer specializing in Spanish. His singing career achieved some attention in the mid-1990s when his brothers Colin and Ian of Freeverse Software combined a recording of his singing with an animated smiley face...
  
   - keyboards
• Francisco Torres – Trombone
• Mariachi
  Mariachi
  Mariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...
  
   Los Campreros

Production

• Producer - Ry Cooder

Recorded & mixed by Martin Pradler

• Production Supervisor, Karina Benznicki 
• Production Coordination, Eli Cane
• Editorial Coordinator, Ronen Givony
• Mastering by Stephen Marcussen
  Stephen Marcussen
  Stephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer of Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California. Marcussen is one of the most sought-after mastering engineers in the music industry and his expertise has been coveted by a wide range of artists over the years...
  
  
• Assistant, Alex Pavlides

Releases

year	format	label	catalog #
2007	CD	Nonesuch Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...	511762

Further reading / listening

• "Cooder's Buddy Revives Tales of Bygone America", Morning Edition
  Morning Edition
  Morning Edition is an American radio news program produced and distributed by National Public Radio . It airs weekday mornings and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 05:00 to 09:00 ET, with feeds and updates as required until noon...
  
  , NPR, March 6, 2007
• "From the Dust", The Observer
  The Observer
  The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
  
  , March 4, 2007

External links

• My Name is Buddy, site at Nonesuch Records
  Nonesuch Records
  Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...