In 1979 Ry Cooder had made a surprising change of direction with Bop Till You Drop, moving towards 50s R&B territory for his source material, yet updating it with a modern sheen. The follow-up record, Borderline, came out the next year, with a similar R&B / rock style. The one familiar song to be re-invented was Wilson Pickett’s “634-5789”, and for the rest of the album he dug up typically obscure and sometimes surprising tunes, including The Cadillacs’ “Speedo”, Joe South’s “Down In The Boondocks” and Billy ‘The Kid’ Emerson’s “Crazy ‘Bout An Automobile”. There was also a brief interlude of Tex-Mex with “The Girls From Texas”. Backing came from guitarist John Hiatt (who also contributed the song “The Way We Make A Broken Heart”), drummer Jim Keltner, percussionist George Pierre, bassists Tim Drummond and Reggie McBride, keyboardists William D. Smith and Jesse Harms, and singers Bobby King and Willie Green Jr.
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