By the spring of 1974, Ry Cooder was four albums into his longtime recording contract with Warner Bros., not only cementing his role as rock’s hottest gun for hire, but also a solo performer of unlimited grace and soul. And both attributes were on full display on May 20 of that year for an intimate solo acoustic performance at the tiny Denver club Ebbetts Field, which was broadcast on the local rock station KCUV-FM. Captured and cleaned up for this CD release, the 10-song set found Cooder in top form both as a singer and a slinger as he moseyed through such deep blues treasures as Blind Blake’s “Too Tight This Rag of Mine” and “Blind Man Messed up by Tear Gas” by Sleepy John Estes with his trademark ease. Rounded out by four songs from a WNYU broadcast from The Bottom Line four days earlier, Down at the Field is crucial Cooder.