A dozen blocks from the end of Route 66, in Santa Monica, lives Ry Cooder, musician and composer. He’s been a favorite of mine since the 1970s for his brilliant interpretations of traditional songs and his superb musicianship on guitar and mandolin. Recently, he’s been known as the producer of a feature-length documentary on Cuban music, The Buena Vista Social Club. Yet he began his career recording old songs from Route 66.

"I first went on Route 66 about the same time I got my first guitar, when I was 4. I have been driving along it most of my life, particularly the desert. I still hitch up a teardrop trailer to my truck, packed with food and water, and drive out to the eastern Mojave." Born in 1947, Cooder was musical from the time he was 4 and someone gave him a guitar. By high school, he had formed his first band with Taj Mahal, the Rising Suns. He points out how deeply tied the music of Route 66 is to California. "Many of these songs come, including Woody Guthrie’s ‘Do-Re-Mi,’ come from people—like Woody—who settled in California for a time. I heard the old songs on folkways records: old and scratchy tunes. You have to remember, to a white kid from Santa Monica, this was very exotic." We are at home in his studio, barely out of earshot of the ocean. Around us are drum kits, guitars on stands, hi-fi gear and shiny chrome. Cooder scratches his light beard thoughtfully. When excited, his hands and eyebrows lift together, like a tide picking up a houseboat. As I leave, Ry Cooder closes the door and says: "Route 66 means something special to the American imagination. There’s people out there who want to make a theme park out of 66. But it’s more gritty than that. I hope it sticks around for a while."