Talking Timbuktu

Credited to Ali Farka Touré with Ry Cooder. Nick Gold told Carlo Massarini that Cooder contacted him in 1993 wanting to work with an African guitarist. Gold found free days in Touré's American tour and booked Ocean Way, a studio Cooder liked, and the band rehearsed at Cooder's house. Most of the takes were first or only takes, because Touré disliked replaying and analysing his music. Cooder, interviewed while the album was being mixed, said Touré plays with his thumb and first finger in semi-open tunings, and that the band played composed songs rather than jams. The songs are in Peul, Bambara, Songhai and Tamasheq. Touré's liner note on Gomni says every job has its worth and everyone should contribute.

It debuted at number one on Billboard's World Music chart and stayed there for a record 32 weeks. It won Best World Music Album at the 37th Grammy Awards in 1995 and the Down Beat Critics' Poll 'Beyond' album of the year for 1994, and it is in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Critics were divided. AllMusic and Music Week each gave it three out of five, and Robert Christgau was unmoved, while Trouser Press wrote that Cooder turned Touré's voice into a powerful melody instrument. Touré later said he preferred the albums he made without Cooder.