Linda Ronstadt – Hasten Down The Wind (1976)

Hasten Down the Wind is the Grammy Award-winning seventh studio album by singer/songwriter/producer Linda Ronstadt. Released in 1976, it became her third straight million-selling album. Ronstadt was the first female artist in history to accomplish this feat. The album earned her a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Female in 1977, her second of 11 Grammys. It represented a slight departure from 1974’s Heart Like a Wheel and 1975’s Prisoner in Disguise in that she chose to showcase new songwriters over the traditional country rock sound she had been producing up to that point. A more serious and poignant album than its predecessors, it won critical acclaim.

Hasten Down the Wind is the Grammy Award-winning seventh studio album by singer/songwriter/producer Linda Ronstadt. Released in 1976, it became her third straight million-selling album. Ronstadt was the first female artist in history to accomplish this feat. The album earned her a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Female in 1977, her second of 11 Grammys. It represented a slight departure from 1974’s Heart Like a Wheel and 1975’s Prisoner in Disguise in that she chose to showcase new songwriters over the traditional country rock sound she had been producing up to that point. A more serious and poignant album than its predecessors, it won critical acclaim.

The album showcased songs from artists such as Warren Zevon (“Hasten Down the Wind”) and Karla Bonoff (“Someone to Lay Down Beside Me”), both of whom would soon be making a name for themselves in the singer-songwriter world. The album included a cover of a cover: “The Tattler” by Washington Phillips, which Ry Cooder had re-arranged for his 1974 album Paradise and Lunch. A reworking of the late Patsy Cline’s classic “Crazy” was a Top 10 Country hit for Ronstadt in early 1977.

Her third album to go platinum, Hasten Down the Wind spent several weeks in the top three of the Billboard album charts. It was also the second of four number 1 Country albums for her. (by wikipedia)

This is Linda Ronstadt’s tenth album (including the three made with her first group, the Stone Poneys). While it is certainly not in a league with her masterpiece, Heart like a Wheel (and I’m beginning to believe its perfection occurs but once in an artist’s career), Hasten down the Wind is nonetheless representative of Ronstadt redivivus, of Ronstadt, the sensitive, introspective stirring we have admired all these years.

Aside from the inclusion of two innocuous songs — “Lo Siento Mi Vida” and Karla Bonoff’s “If He’s Ever Near” — the album’s problems are fairly well exemplified by the totally wrongheaded interpretation of the Warren Zevon-penned title song, which delineates the chilling tale of a lover’s indecisiveness. In the original version, stinging, venomous guitar lines plus ethereal guitar solos accentuated Zevon’s weary vocal. Here, strings and Andrew Gold’s impersonal piano accompaniment take the song all the way out of the danger zone, and Ronstadt’s carefully articulated, stodgy vocal belies her misunderstanding. When she is joined on the chorus by Don Henley (of the Eagles) the impact of the song’s touching and mystifying lyric is completely blunted by the beauty of the harmonizing.

The album’s only other major mistake is John and Johanna Hall’s “Give One Heart,” one of the worst songs — reggae or otherwise — I’ve heard. Orleans couldn’t salvage it, nor can Ronstadt. No amount of sweetening can rescue lyrics as inane as “That’s the paradox of I love you” or “If your baby loves you right/You can have skyrockets any old night.” A rock & roll bridge has been punched up, which only makes things worse by forcing a scream from Ronstadt as she tries to move up the scale. Worse still, one verse of an immaculately beautiful reggae song, “Rivers of Babylon,” is ruined by being used as a prelude to “Give One Heart.”

Otherwise the album is in good shape. And in a few instances it’s as good as anything Ronstadt has done.

I’ve always appreciated Ronstadt’s good-natured approach to her remakes of rock ‘n’ roll oldies. The version of “That’ll Be the Day” included here neither alters my feelings for nor threatens the Buddy Holly original. Her reading could be tougher, but the music behind it — particularly the solo sparring between guitarists Andrew Gold and Waddy Wachtel — has enough bite to overcome the vocal shortcomings.

Ry Cooder’s “The Tattler” is one of the album’s two gems. Swirling electric piano figures and a barely audible mandolin establish an irresistibly exotic ambiance. Ronstadt’s interpretation is extraordinarily subtle, sly and witty. She sounds at peace with herself as she sings of foolish lovers who don’t take the time to discover love’s true meaning. She doesn’t battle the instruments; she doesn’t strain for high notes. She simply allows the beauty of this well-structured song to speak for itself.

Ultimately, there is the Ronstadt-Gold song, “Try Me Again.” As in “Love Has No Pride” and “Long Long Time,” something precious is at stake here. The song’s theme summons from Ronstadt myriad emotions; midway through the first verse, she is befuddled — not yet wanting to admit what is going on in her life:

Lately I ain’t been feelin’ right
And I don’t know the cure, no
Still I can’t keep from wonderin’
If I still figure in your life

Realization and abject resignation in the second verse turn into frustration by the third (“When you say you tried/And you know you lied/My hands are tied”), which elicits the final, desperate plea of the title.

Near the end of the song, Gold hammers out angry piano chords beneath Dan Dugmore’s sorrowful steel guitar lines, then comes back with a powerful guitar solo that is the instrumental topping for the quintessential Ronstadt performance.

Willie Nelson’s “Crazy,” an inspired choice, follows. After the tumult of “Try Me Again,” “Crazy” is rather a boozy coda; a “what the hell, you gotta give love a try” barroom ballad that is lighthearted and loose enough for Ronstadt to falter on the last line without destroying the mood.

This isn’t Heart like a Wheel. But it is, despite its flaws, a fine album that begs closer inspection than, I fear, many of us are willing to give to Linda Ronstadt’s art. Like the best moments of the preceding nine, though, the best moments of Hasten down the Wind will be with us a long, long time. (by David McGee, Rolling Stone, 1976)

Personnel:
Michael Botts (drums)
Dan Dugmore (guitar, steel-guitar)
Kenny Edwards (bass, mandolin, background vocals)
Andrew Gold (keyboards, clavinet, guitar, clavichord, background vocals)
Russ Kunkel (drums)
Linda Ronstadt (vocals)
Wendy Waldman (guitar, background vocals)
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Peter Asher (guitar, percussion, background vocals)
David Campbell (viola)
Richard Feves (bass)
Don Henley (drums, vocals)
Dennis Karmazyn (cello)
Clarence McDonald (keyboards)
Paul Polivnick (viola)
Charles Veal (violin)
Ken Yerke (violin, viola)
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vocals/background vocals:
Herb Pedersen – Bill Thedford – Ron Hickland – Gerry Garrett – Sherlie Matthews – Clydie King – Gerald Garrett – Jim Gilstrap – Pat Henderson – Ron Hicklin – Becky Louis – Karla Bonoff

Tracklist:
01. Lose Again (Bonoff) 3.37
02. The Tattler (Cooder/Titelman/Phillips) 3:56
03. If He’s Ever Near (Bonoff) 3:15
04. That’ll Be The Day (Allison/Holly/Petty) 2:32
05. Lo Siento Mi Vida (I’m Sorry My Love) (L.Ronstadt/Edwards/G.Ronstadt) 3:54
06. Hasten Down The Wind (Zevon) 2:40
07. Rivers Of Babylon (Dowe/McNaughton) 0:52
08. Give One Heart /John Hall/Johanna Hall) 4:07
09. Try Me Again (L. Ronstadt/Gold) 3:59
10. Crazy (W.Nelson) 3:58
11. Down So Low (T.Nelson) 4:08
12. Someone To Lay Down Beside Me (Bonoff) 3.58

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Various Artists – FM (OST) (1978)

FM is the original AOR soundtrack to the 1978 film FM. In the United States, the album reached the Top Five of Billboard’s album chart and quickly earned a Platinum-certified disc. It reached 37 in the UK charts. The soundtrack also won the 1979 Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

QSKY radio station manager/program director Jeff Dugan (Michael Brandon) builds a large fan base by assembling a group of charismatic DJ personalities playing popular rock and roll. He soon finds that corporate management expects Jeff to use the station’s position atop the ratings to sell more advertising time. (Jeff Dugan is based loosely on Mike Herrington, the program director of Los Angeles radio station KMET while writer Sacks was working there.)

The conflict grows until sales manager Regis Lamar (Tom Tarpey) presents him with the chance to advertise for the U.S. Army using a series of cheesy radio ads. When Jeff refuses to endorse the contract, Regis takes the issue to upper management. Jeff is then ordered to run the ads as provided by the Army and on the schedule specified in the advertising contract. Rather than comply, Jeff quits his job.

All of the remaining DJs decide to take control of the station in a sort of lock-in/sit-in/protest. They get listeners to gather in the street outside the station as a sort of protest while the DJs play music without any commercials.

Jeff Dugan wakes up to hear the DJs take control of the station. The crowd is already present when he arrives at the station. The DJs lift him up to the second story with a fire hose as they have already barricaded the front doors.

The lock-in lasts only until the police get an injunction to remove the staff. A tow truck rips off the front doors and the police enter the building. The DJs battle back using a fire hose and throwing tapes and other office objects at the police.

The battle is resolved when Jeff Dugan finds himself fighting a policeman outside on an overhang. Jeff saves the policeman from falling off and decides that fighting is the wrong thing to do. He calms the crowd and announces that the DJs are coming out.

Unknown to him, the company owner, Carl Billings (Norman Lloyd), has watched from the crowd as the events unfolded. He insists that the DJs stay in the station, fires his management staff responsible for the advertising conflict, and then joins the DJs inside the station.

The story unfolds across a background of concerts, broadcast music, appearances by various rock stars, and public appearances by the station DJs. A minor subtheme to the film is the competition between QSKY and another area radio station. The major event of that subtheme occurs when Jeff arranges to broadcast a live concert by Linda Ronstadt that is being sponsored by the competitor’s radio station.

Another minor subtheme is the ongoing task of massaging egos of the various DJs to keep them happy and on the air.

Martin Mull appears in his feature film debut as a zoned-out record spinner. He plays Eric Swan, a libidinous disc jockey with eyes for everyone female. The character is self-centered, smarmy, quick tempered, and overbearingly insincere. During the course of the film, Swan beds a supposed girlfriend, encounters a female fan with a peculiar physical “gift”, and barricades himself in owing to a severe emotional breakdown due to his agent’s dropping him and his girlfriend’s leaving him, all within the confines of QSKY’s studio.

Also rounding out the cast are Cleavon Little, who plays the Prince of Darkness, QSKY’s overnight host (Little had previously played a disc jockey in the 1971 film, Vanishing Point); Eileen Brennan as ” Mother”, the 40-something nighttime DJ; Alex Karras as “Doc Holiday”, the midday DJ with the lowest ratings on the station who is eventually let go from the station; and Tom Tarpey as new sales manager Regis Lamar, the bane of the disk jockeys’ existence.

In addition, the film includes live appearances by Tom Petty & REO Speedwagon and live performances by Linda Ronstadt & Jimmy Buffett. Steely Dan performed the title theme, which became a sizable hit. The Eagles, James Taylor, Bob Seger, Dan Fogelberg, Billy Joel, and Queen were featured on the Platinum-plus soundtrack album.

Rolling Stone magazine considered the music heavily biased towards musicians who had been managed by Irving Azoff, who was head of MCA Records at the time. Some reference books claim that the TV sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati was based on FM. The physical resemblance between Michael Brandon and WKRP lead actor Gary Sandy and the fact that their respective characters were both based upon KMET programming director Mikel Hunter may have contributed to this speculation. However, WKRP series creator Hugh Wilson asserts that the sitcom was already in development when the film came out. He also states that he was “scared to death” when the film came out, afraid that it would eclipse the CBS show, which made its debut in September 1978. Wilson was relieved when FM came and went from theaters quickly. (by wikipedia)

Appropriately, the soundtrack for the 1978 movie FM feels like a radio play list of the era, collecting songs from Joe Walsh, Randy Meisner, Boz Scaggs, and other ’70s radio staples. Steely Dan’s title track, Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band’s “Night Moves,” Billy Joel’s “Just The Way You Are,” and Boston’s “More Than a Feeling” are some of the highlights from this double-disc set, which also includes tracks from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Foreigner, and Linda Ronstadt, all of whom also appeared in the film. Though FM itself wasn’t exactly a box-office smash, its soundtrack is a surprisingly durable and entertaining collection of classic rock that is arguably better than many of the ’70s rock compilations available today. (by Heather Phares)

In other words: If you like to celebrate a Seventies party … use this soundtrack and you can´t do wrong !

Tracklist:
01. Steely Dan: FM (Becker/Fagen)  4:52
02.  Bob Seger: Night Moves (Seger) 3:27
03. Steve Miller Band: Fly Like an Eagle (Miller) 3:04
04. Foreigner:  Cold As Ice (Gramm/Jones) 3:20
05. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Breakdown (Petty)  2:44
06. Randy Meisner: Bad Man (Frey /Souther)  2:38
07. Eagles: Life in the Fast Lane (Frey/Henley/Walsh) 4:46
08. Steely Dan: Do It Again (Becker/Fagen) 5:54
09. Boz Scaggs: Lido Shuffle (Paich/Scaggs) 3:42
10. Boston: More Than a Feeling (Scholz) 4:45
11. Linda Ronstadt: Tumbling Dice (Jagger/Richards  4:51
12. Linda Ronstadt: Poor, Poor Pitiful Me (Zevon/Ronstadt) 4:15
13. Jimmy Buffett: Livingston Saturday Night (Buffett)  3:10
14. Dan Fogelberg: There’s A Place In The World For A Gambler (Fogelberg) 5:41
15. Billy Joel: Just the Way You Are (Joel) 4:49
16. The Doobie Brothers: It Keeps You Runnin’ (McDonald)  4:13
17- James Taylor:  Your Smiling Face (Taylor) 2:43
18. Joe Walsh: Life’s Been Good (Walsh) 8:05
19. Queen: We Will Rock You (May) 2:04
20. Steely Dan: FM (Reprise) (Becker/Fagen) 2:54

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This is another item from the great greygoose collection !
Thanks a lot !

The Chieftains – The Wide World Over (2002)

In the Chieftains’ four decades of recording, they’ve changed labels a handful of times, and each label has seen fit to record at least one or two collections of the band’s output under their tenure. At this point they have so many best-ofs and greatest-hits compilations, it’s tough for the listener to know the best of what they’re actually hearing. New millennium — new collection: the band’s longtime label, RCA Victor, has done the Celtic community a favor by releasing a collection that deals more with the band’s journey through their different phases as opposed to trying to reassemble a hits package. The end result is almost like listening to a radio station that only plays Chieftains songs. There are some live tracks, their countrified romp through “Cotton-Eyed Joe”; Van Morrison’s adult-contemporary “Shenandoah”; an unusual introduction of the bandmembers in Chinese; appearances from Sting, Diana Krall, and Art Garfunkel; and a couple of new recordings. The breezy cover of “Morning Has Broken” fares better than the hybridized “Redemption Song” (in fact, it’s a challenge to think of any instances of a successful Celtic/reggae alloy). The album will be enjoyed by Chieftains fans as a fun collection of songs they have never heard back-to-back before, and those looking for a greatest-hits collection will have plenty of other places to look. (by Zac Johnson)

Personnel:
Derek Bell (cláirseach, oboe, keyboards, tiompán, vocals)
Kevin Conneff (bodhrán, vocals)
Martin Fay (fiddle, bones, vocals)
Seán Keane (fiddle, tin whistle, vocals)
Matt Molloy (flute, tin whistle, vocals)
Paddy Moloney (uilleann pipes, tin whistle, button accordion, bodhrán, vocals)
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Anúna (vocals)
Jean Butler (dancer)
Ry Cooder (electric guitar, mandocello)
Elvis Costello (vocals)
Art Garfunkel (vocals)
Diana Krall (vocals, piano)
Ziggy Marley (vocals, guitar, percussion)
Joni Mitchell (vocals)
Van Morrison (vocals)
Carlos Nunez (bagpipe)
Sinéad O’Connor (vocals)
Linda Ronstadt (vocals)
Ricky Skaggs (vocals)
Don Was (percussion)
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Belfast Harp Orchestra
Chinese Ensemble
Cincinnati Pops Orchestra conducted by Erich Kunzel
Los Lobos
The Corrs
The Rolling Stones

Tracklist:
01. March Of The King Of Laois (Traditional) 4.25
02. The Foggy Dew (feat: Sinéad O’Connor) (Traditional) 5.01
03. I Know My Love (feat: The Corrs) (Traditional) 3.27
04. Cotton-Eyed Joe (feat: Ricky Skaggs) (Traditional) 2.45
05. The Magdalene Laundries (feat: Joni Mitchell) (Mitchell) 4.57
06. Live from Matt Molloy’s Pub (Traditional) 2.21
07. Shenandoah (feat: Van Morrison) (Traditional) 3.52
08. The Munster Cloak (Traditional) 6.12
09. Morning Has Broken (feat: Art Garfunkel / Diana Krall) (Traditional) 2.55
10. Morning Dew /Women Of Ireland (P.Moloney) 2.57
11. Mo Ghile Mear (feat: Sting) (P.Moloney/Traditional) 3.20
12. Carolan’s Concerto (feat: Belfast Harp Orchestra) (Traditional) 3.02
13. Guadalupe (feat: Los Lobos / Linda Ronstadt) (Traditional) 3.31
14. Full Of Joy (feat: Chinese Ensemble) (Traditional) 3.24
15. Here’s A Health To The Company (Traditional) 3.03
16. Chasing the Fox (feat: Erich Kunzel / Cincinnati Pops Orchestra) (P.Moloney/ Traditional) 4.11
17. Long Journey Home (Anthem) (feat: Anúna / Elvis Costello) (Costello/P.Moloney) 3.20
18. The Rocky Road To Dublin (feat: The Rolling Stones) (Traditional) 4.17
19. Redemption Song (feat: Ziggy Marley) (B.Marley) 4.22

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Gustavo Santaolalla & Various Artists – Brokeback Mountain (OST) (2005)

What is most notable about the soundtrack to Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain is the original score by Argentinian music wizard Gustavo Santaolalla (producer of the grand Café Tacuba recordings and a songwriter in his own right, as evidenced by his two albums, Gas and Ronroco). His interludes and cues evoke the very landscape that Lee portrays in his film, but there are also some fine vocal performances by a star-studded cast of singers. Willie Nelson’s read of “He Was a Friend of Mine,” complete with squeezebox and layered acoustic guitars, is gorgeous. Emmylou Harris’ performance of Santaolalla and Bernie Taupin’s “A Love That Will Never Grow Old” is simple, spare, and poignant. The shuffling honky tonk ballad that Santaolalla wrote for Mary McBride, with its crying pedal steel, hits close to the bone and evokes Patsy Cline. Likewise, the hard-driving country of “I Will Never Let You Go,” written for Jackie Greene, is tough and tender. Santaolalla’s cues, like the best of Ry Cooder’s film scores, touch the film’s scenery, move its narrative, and pricelessly frame it in time. Teddy Thompson and Rufus Wainwright team for a throwaway country-swing version of Roger Miller’s “King of the Road,” but Thompson does a fine job on the Santaolalla and Taupin tune “I Don’t Want to Say Goodbye,” which is as heartbroken a ballad as one is likely to hear. This is an utterly wonderful soundtrack that could have done without Linda Ronstadt’s version of Buddy Holly’s “It’s So Easy,” Steve Earle’s “The Devil’s Right Hand,” or even Wainwright’s “The Maker Makes,” but this is a small complaint. (by Thom Jurek)

Tracklist:
01. Gustavo Santaolalla: Opening (Santaolalla) 1.31
02. Willie Nelson: He Was A Friend Of Mine (Dylan) 4.39
03. Gustavo Santaolalla: Brokeback Mountain 1 (Santaolalla) 2.32
04. Emmylou Harris: A Love That Will Never Grow Old (Santaolalla/Taupin) 3.20
05. Teddy Thompson & Rufus Wainwright: King Of The Road (Miller) 2.52
06. Gustavo Santaolalla: Snow (Santaolalla) 1.18
07. Steve Earle: The Devil’s Right Hand (Santaolalla(Earle) 2.34
08. Mary McBride: No One’s Gonna Love You Like Me (Santaolalla) 3.06
09. Gustavo Santaolalla: Brokeback Mountain 2 (Santaolalla) 1.59
10. Teddy Thompson: I Don’t Want To Say Goodbye (Santaolalla/Taupin) 3.12
11. Jackie Greene: I Will Never Let You Go (Santaolalla/Spillman) 1.55
12. Gustavo Santaolalla: Riding Horses (Santaolalla) 1.24
13. Gas Band: An Angel Went Up in Flames (Santaolalla) 2.36
14. Linda Ronstadt: It’s So Easy (Holly/Petty) 2.27
15. Gustavo Santaolalla: Brokeback Mountain 3 (Santaolalla) 2.14
16. Rufus Wainwright: The Maker Makes (Santaolalla/Wainwright) 3.50
17. Gustavo Santaolalla: The Wings (Santaolalla) 1.52

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