Garage Sale Vinyl: Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt / Capitol Records / January 1972
by Christopher Long
A few years ago, I nearly had to fight a famed rock star I was working for at the time. What triggered the tension? I asserted (quite passionately) that in “the day,” Linda Ronstadt was THE hottest chick taking in oxygen, AND that she made some of THE best, most authentic roots records of the era. Said rock star maintained (with equal passion) that she was not, AND did not. FYI, I totally could have taken him. Damn cops!
Back in the mid-1900s, there was rock, country, and folk. By nineteen-hundred and seventy, those once mutually exclusive ingredients were being whipped into a tasty new treat. Proving to have a shelf life in perpetuity, that confection is what the kids today call alt. country. But during the days before this Reese’s-like merger created a craze, a little gal with a big voice was at the forefront of the exciting new culinary experiment.
Linda Ronstadt’s early body of work was exhaustive, to be sure. Despite scoring a Top 20 hit with “Different Drum” as the frontchick for Stone Poneys in 1967 and a Top 30 hit with “Long, Long Time” as a solo artist in 1970, her first two solo albums tanked. Produced by country-rock guru, John Boylan, her self-titled third LP arrived in January 1972. And although Linda Ronstadt didn’t fare any better on the charts, the album did set the stage for her impending interplanetary explosion. Talk a about a Big Bang Theory!
Honestly, I’m not even sure where my current copy came from. While rummaging through my own garage recently, I came across a musty mystery box filled with old LPs of an unknown origin; Fandango!, Bat Out of Hell, Barry Manilow Live, Heaven Tonight, Chicago X, and… Linda Ronstadt.
The album boasted a bounty of the day’s fattest up-and-coming studio cats and songwriters, including all the fledgling eaglets; Glenn, Don, Bernie, Randy — even ol’ Sneaky Pete Kleinow and Moon Martin show up for the soiree. Layers (and layers) of electric and acoustic guitars, pedal steel, banjo, fiddle and — real drums were woven into the tightly-knit fabric of (human) singing voices — culminating in a record that still sounds as vibrant and special as the day it was released, more than 50 years ago.
The warm, cozy crackle of the stylus gliding across the grooves only adds to the music’s authenticity. In fact, I refuse to buy this one on CD or from iTunes, as I fear that losing the crackle would compromise the magic. And NO, I don’t stream! That’s for lazy bones who fear commitment. But, I digress.
Ronstadt’s vocals on the LP opener “Rock Me on the Water” were simply divine. Glenn Frey’s guitar work and Sneaky Pete’s pedal steel combined with Don Henley’s meat and potatoes drum work made this Jackson Browne staple a super-standout.
In addition to a cavalcade of classic country remakes, including the 1956 Ray Price hit “Crazy Arms,” the Johnny and Roy Cash-penned “I Still Miss Someone,” and the iconic Hank Cochran / Harlan Howard tune “I Fall to Pieces,” Linda Ronstadt also offered such personal factory-fresh faves as Eric Kaz’ “I Won’t Be Hangin’ Round,” Livingston Taylor’s “In My Reply,” and Eric Andersen’s “Faithful.”
Renown fiddle player Gib Guilbeau left his Cajun-flavored fingerprints all over the record. However, nowhere was his contribution more compelling than on the Lead Belly / Woody Guthrie / John A. Lomax standard, “Ramblin’ ‘Round.” Combined with Herb Pedersen’s banjo and Jimmie Fadden’s harmonica, this one was a slow-burnin’ bea-ute.
Several tracks were recorded in concert at LA’s famed Troubadour, including a heart-stopping rendition of Neil Young’s “Birds.” The record wound up out in the stratosphere with a fiery remake of the 1965 Fontella Bass chart-buster, “Rescue Me” — a version so sassy, it stood confidently nose-to-nose with the original. Whoa, Baby! Help me, Baby!
Linda Ronstadt’s career soon would skyrocket. Hello, Love. I’m Peter Asher. And I’m going to make you a superstar! Yet even when placed next to her subsequent string of multi-platinum platters, this lil’ sleeper still sparkles as one of her best and brightest achievements.
(5/5) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Linda Ronstadt Track List
SIDE ONE
- Rock Me On the Water (Browne) – 3:40
- Crazy Arms (Mooney, Seals) – 3:33
- I Won’t Be Hangin’ Round (Kaz) – 3:03
- I Still Miss Someone (J. Cash, R. Cash Jr.) – 2:42
- In My Reply (Taylor) – 3:32
SIDE TWO
- I Fall to Pieces (Cochran, Howard) 3:11
- Ramblin’ ‘Round (Lead Belly, Guthrie, Lomax) – 3:22
- Birds (Young) – 3:01
- I Ain’t Always Been Faithful (Andersen) – 2:51
- Rescue Me (Miner, Smith) – 2:47
