Indeed, Ry Cooder is a nice guy, and a fabulous guitarist
He's of course famous for his slide playing, but his fret playing is worth to listen, especially his rhythm playing, which is in many ways close to Mark.
Listen to this version of The very things makes you rich (Santa Cruz 25/03/1987), between 2'30 and 4'40, it's a perfect example of rhythm blended with lead, and it's obvious that Mark has listen a lot to him