Born in Los Angeles, California, Cooder first attracted attention in the 1960s, playing with Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, after previously having worked with Taj Mahal in The Rising Sons.
He was a guest session guitarist on various recording sessions with the Rolling Stones in 1968 and 1969, and Cooder's contributions appear on the Stones' Let It Bleed, and (most significantly) Sticky Fingers, on which he contributed the haunting slide guitar solo to "Sister Morphine". Cooder is reputed to have taught Keith Richards to play in Open G tuning, now a Richards hallmark 1, as well as to have authored the Open G signature riff of Honky Tonk Women. He was briefly con...
