Great Music Monday: Linda Ronstadt
Today, a little Linda Ronstadt.
I've been a Linda fan for a long time; I love her in the 70s with her rootsy, country-folk rock, I love her in the 80s and 90s with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra doing jazz standards, I love her these days teaming up with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris doing covers and converting rock songs to children's lullabies.
Linda hit the music scene in 1967 as the lead singer of a band called the Stone Poneys, with a song called Different Drum, written by Mike Nesmith of the Monkees. Different Drum was not her most commercially successful song, but her clear-as-a-bell voice did get her the attention of several songwriters, beginning her looong career as a talented vocal artist and champion of then lesser known songwriters including Elvis Costello, Phillip Glass, Randy Newman, James Taylor, Roy Orbison, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Paul Anka, Hank Williams, Patti Griffin, The Everly Brothers, Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Neil Young, Tom Petty and Aaron Neville.
She's incredibly feminine, but also incredibly and tomboyishly tough, and brings a different kind of femininity to her music than other female artists of the time including Diana Ross, Melanie, Carole King and Carly Simon. She was faded blue jeans over flower skirts, electric guitar over whispering folk, and managed to break into the boys club of rock and roll but maintain her identity as a woman at the same time. She was also the first woman to successfully sell out stadium concerts with only herself as the headliner. In 1975 she was photographed by
Annie Leibowitz for an interview and picture spread in Rolling Stone magazine, launching her to super sex-symbol status, but never lost her girl next door appeal.
That's what I like best about her. On top of her importance as a woman in the rock music scene in the 70s, she just makes really good music, and onstage she has a realness about her that draws you in and feels incredibly homey to listen to. Like she might well be playing the night away in a backyard jam session rather than playing to audiences of a thousand or more. And she is a person who simploy loves music. Of all genres. She's collaborated with more artists than I can list here, and has had hits on the pop, country, rock, latin, easy listening, blues, opera, mariachi and children's charts. The big hits, most of us know... It's So Easy, That'll Be the Day, Heat Wave, When Will I Be Loved, You're No Good, Blue Bayou. Below, a few of my favorites, of the lesser known but just as good variety. And a few that are insanely popular but simply too good not to include.
These are all live performances... she's actually never released a live album throughout her career, which is unfortunate as she seems to be a performer who really feeds off of and gets that much better with the energy of the crowd.
Most of these clips are from her 1976 concert Linda Rondstadt London, which is posted on youtube in it's entirety by the fabulous JKTRL. If you've got the time, I encourage you to watch all 12 of the clips. It won't be time wasted.
And now, some favorites. You'll have to follow the links for some of these, as the user denies embedding access. Just click on the song name for the jump.
The Tattler
Willin'
Desperado
Okay, so here are two versions of this song, because it's my favorite of hers and I simply couldn't decide which I liked better. The first is from a 1974 performance on American Bandstand; it sounds much like the studio released version that got radio airplay, and you can really hear how good the song is. Plus I love the backup singer in the yellow jumpsuit behind her who is shaking hip like she doesn't even have bones.
The second version is from an outdoor summer concert she did in 1976 and she is ROCKING OUT. She's really feeding on the energy of the crowd, and the music is loud and hard, and she's putting all her guts into it and the result is awesome, even if the audio quality isn't as good.
Hope you enjoy them both. I just couldn't choose only one.
You're No Good - American Bandstand
You're No Good - Summer of 76 ¶ 11:00 PM
Monday, February 05, 2007
It's been awhile, but I thought it was time for some great music, you know, on Monday, because Monday's suck. And great music is...well...great!Today, a little Linda Ronstadt.
I've been a Linda fan for a long time; I love her in the 70s with her rootsy, country-folk rock, I love her in the 80s and 90s with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra doing jazz standards, I love her these days teaming up with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris doing covers and converting rock songs to children's lullabies.
Linda hit the music scene in 1967 as the lead singer of a band called the Stone Poneys, with a song called Different Drum, written by Mike Nesmith of the Monkees. Different Drum was not her most commercially successful song, but her clear-as-a-bell voice did get her the attention of several songwriters, beginning her looong career as a talented vocal artist and champion of then lesser known songwriters including Elvis Costello, Phillip Glass, Randy Newman, James Taylor, Roy Orbison, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Paul Anka, Hank Williams, Patti Griffin, The Everly Brothers, Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Neil Young, Tom Petty and Aaron Neville.
She's incredibly feminine, but also incredibly and tomboyishly tough, and brings a different kind of femininity to her music than other female artists of the time including Diana Ross, Melanie, Carole King and Carly Simon. She was faded blue jeans over flower skirts, electric guitar over whispering folk, and managed to break into the boys club of rock and roll but maintain her identity as a woman at the same time. She was also the first woman to successfully sell out stadium concerts with only herself as the headliner. In 1975 she was photographed by
Annie Leibowitz for an interview and picture spread in Rolling Stone magazine, launching her to super sex-symbol status, but never lost her girl next door appeal.
That's what I like best about her. On top of her importance as a woman in the rock music scene in the 70s, she just makes really good music, and onstage she has a realness about her that draws you in and feels incredibly homey to listen to. Like she might well be playing the night away in a backyard jam session rather than playing to audiences of a thousand or more. And she is a person who simploy loves music. Of all genres. She's collaborated with more artists than I can list here, and has had hits on the pop, country, rock, latin, easy listening, blues, opera, mariachi and children's charts. The big hits, most of us know... It's So Easy, That'll Be the Day, Heat Wave, When Will I Be Loved, You're No Good, Blue Bayou. Below, a few of my favorites, of the lesser known but just as good variety. And a few that are insanely popular but simply too good not to include.
These are all live performances... she's actually never released a live album throughout her career, which is unfortunate as she seems to be a performer who really feeds off of and gets that much better with the energy of the crowd.
Most of these clips are from her 1976 concert Linda Rondstadt London, which is posted on youtube in it's entirety by the fabulous JKTRL. If you've got the time, I encourage you to watch all 12 of the clips. It won't be time wasted.
And now, some favorites. You'll have to follow the links for some of these, as the user denies embedding access. Just click on the song name for the jump.
The Tattler
Willin'
Desperado
Okay, so here are two versions of this song, because it's my favorite of hers and I simply couldn't decide which I liked better. The first is from a 1974 performance on American Bandstand; it sounds much like the studio released version that got radio airplay, and you can really hear how good the song is. Plus I love the backup singer in the yellow jumpsuit behind her who is shaking hip like she doesn't even have bones.
The second version is from an outdoor summer concert she did in 1976 and she is ROCKING OUT. She's really feeding on the energy of the crowd, and the music is loud and hard, and she's putting all her guts into it and the result is awesome, even if the audio quality isn't as good.
Hope you enjoy them both. I just couldn't choose only one.
You're No Good - American Bandstand
You're No Good - Summer of 76 ¶ 11:00 PM
