Linda Ronstadt – Simple Dreams (1977)

Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American Music Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, and an ALMA Award. Many of her albums have been certified gold, platinum or multiplatinum in the United States and internationally. She has also earned nominations for a Tony Award and a Golden Globe award. She was awarded the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award by the Latin Recording Academy in 2011 and also awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award by the Recording Academy in 2016.

She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2014. On July 28, 2014, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts and Humanities. In 2019, she received a star jointly with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their work as the group Trio. Ronstadt was among five honorees who received the 2019 Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievements.

Ronstadt has released 24 studio albums and 15 compilation or greatest hits albums. She charted 38 US Billboard Hot 100 singles. Twenty-one of those singles reached the top 40, ten reached the top 10, and one reached number one (“You’re No Good”). Ronstadt also charted in UK as two of her duets, “Somewhere Out There” with James Ingram and “Don’t Know Much” with Aaron Neville, peaked at numbers 8 and 2 respectively and the single “Blue Bayou” reached number 35 on the UK Singles charts. She has charted 36 albums, ten top-10 albums, and three number 1 albums on the US Billboard Pop Album Chart.

Ronstadt has collaborated with artists in diverse genres, including: Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Bette Midler, Billy Eckstine, Frank Zappa, Carla Bley (Escalator Over the Hill), Rosemary Clooney, Flaco Jiménez, Philip Glass, Warren Zevon, Gram Parsons, Neil Young, Paul Simon, Earl Scruggs, Johnny Cash, and Nelson Riddle. She has lent her voice to over 120 albums and has sold more than 100 million records, making her one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time. Christopher Loudon, of Jazz Times, wrote in 2004 that Ronstadt is “blessed with arguably the most sterling set of pipes of her generation.”

Ronstadt reduced her activity after 2000 when she felt her singing voice deteriorating, releasing her last full-length album in 2004 and performing her last live concert in 2009. She announced her retirement in 2011 and revealed shortly afterwards that she is no longer able to sing as a result of a degenerative condition later determined to be progressive supranuclear palsy. Since then, Ronstadt has continued to make public appearances, going on a number of public speaking tours in the 2010s. She published an autobiography, Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir, in September 2013. A documentary based on her memoirs, Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, was released in 2019. (wikipedia)

Simple Dreams is the eighth studio album by the American singer Linda Ronstadt, released in 1977 by Asylum Records. It includes several of her best-known songs, including her cover of the Rolling Stones song “Tumbling Dice” (featured in the film FM) and her version of the Roy Orbison song “Blue Bayou”, which earned her a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year. The album also contains covers of the Buddy Holly song “It’s So Easy!” (a top-5 hit) and the Warren Zevon songs “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” (another top-40 hit) and “Carmelita”. The album was the best-selling studio album of her career, and at the time was the second best-selling album by a female artist (behind only Carole King’s Tapestry). It was her first album since Don’t Cry Now without long-time musical collaborator Andrew Gold, though it features several of the other Laurel Canyon-based session musicians who appeared on her prior albums, including guitarists Dan Dugmore and Waddy Wachtel, bassist Kenny Edwards, and producer and multi-instrumentalist Peter Asher.

The album was originally released by Asylum in the LP format in September 1977 (catalogue number 104 or 6E-104). Later, in 1986, Asylum released the album in the Cassette format (TCS-104) and in the CD format (2-104). The album has never been out of print.

One of the most successful albums of Ronstadt’s career, Simple Dreams spent five successive weeks at number 1 on the Billboard album chart in late 1977, displacing Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours after it had held that position for a record-breaking 29 weeks. It also knocked Elvis Presley out of the number 1 position on the Billboard Country Albums chart after “The King” had held it for fifteen consecutive weeks following his death in August. Simple Dreams was Ronstadt’s fifth consecutive million-selling platinum album and sold over 3½ million copies in less than a year in the United States alone—a record for a female artist. Among female recording artists at that time, only Carole King, with her album Tapestry, had sold more copies of one album.

The album was such a success that Ronstadt became the first female artist—and the first act overall since The Beatles—to have two singles in the top five at the same time: the Platinum-certified “Blue Bayou” (#3 Pop, #3 Adult Contemporary, and #2 Country) and “It’s So Easy” (#5 Pop). “It’s So Easy” was originally recorded by Buddy Holly and The Crickets in 1958 but had failed to chart in its original version. It was Ronstadt’s second cover of a Holly song to become a hit in as many years; she had taken a rousing cover of “That’ll Be the Day” to #11 Pop in 1976, using a similar arrangement.

The album includes songs by Warren Zevon, Eric Kaz, and J.D. Souther, as well as The Rolling Stones’ “Tumbling Dice”. Ronstadt was joined by Dolly Parton on the traditional ballad “I Never Will Marry”, which became a Top 10 Country hit during the summer of 1978. (Ronstadt, Parton, and Emmylou Harris were also working on an ill-fated collaborative project around this same time, but nine years would pass before the release of their first Trio album.)

Ronstadt also recorded a Spanish-language version of “Blue Bayou” entitled “Lago Azul” only released as a single in 1978 (Asylum E-45464). The album’s 40th anniversary reissue in 2017, augmented by the addition of four live tracks, likewise omits this recording.

Originally, the cover photograph was to show Ronstadt dressed in a mini-slip and seated in front of multiple mirrors. Uncomfortable with the physical exposure, she changed into a robe, and the picture was made artificially grainy. A retouched photo from the original photo sessions was included on the inner sleeve of her platinum-plus album Greatest Hits, Volume 2, released in 1980. At the 20th Grammy Awards, John Kosh won the Grammy Award for Best Recording Package for Simple Dreams.

Reviewing in Christgau’s Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote:

“In which Andrew Gold goes off and Pursues His Solo Career, enabling Ronstadt to hire herself a rock and roll band. She’s still too predictable—imagine how terse and eloquent ‘Blue Bayou’ would seem if instead of turning up the volume midway through she just hit one high note at the end—but she’s also a pop eclectic for our time, as comfortable with Mick Jagger as with Dolly Parton, interpreting Roy Orbison as easily as Buddy Holly. Even her portrayal of a junkie seeking succor from Warren Zevon’s ‘Carmelita; isn’t totally ridiculous. And I admit it—she looks great in a Dodger jacket.”

“Blue Bayou” was nominated for the Record of the Year Grammy award in early 1978. It also earned Ronstadt a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance Female, alongside Barbra Streisand, Dolly Parton, Carly Simon, and Debby Boone. (wikipedia)

Featuring a broader array of styles than any previous Linda Ronstadt record, Simple Dreams reconfirms her substantial talents as an interpretive singer. Ronstadt sings Dolly Parton (“I Never Will Marry”) with the same conviction as the Rolling Stones (“Tumbling Dice”), and she manages to update Roy Orbison (“Blue Bayou”) and direct attention to the caustic, fledgling singer/songwriter Warren Zevon (“Poor Poor Pitiful Me” and “Carmelita”). The consistently adventurous material and Ronstadt’s powerful performance makes the record rival Heart Like a Wheel in sheer overall quality. (by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

Personnel:
Mike Auldridge (dobro on 05. + 10.)
David Campbell (viola on 03.)
Dan Dugmore (guitar on 01.,02.,07. + 09., pedal steel guitar on 03. + 06.)
Kenny Edwards (bass on 01., 02. 03.,06. – 09., mandolin on 06., background vocals)
Richard Feves (bass on 03.)
Steve Forman (marimba on 06.)
Don Grolnick (clavinet on 01. + 07., organ on 02., piano on 03. 04., 06. + 09.)
Dennis Karmazyn (cello on 03.)
Rick Marotta (drums. syndrums, percussion)
Linda Ronstadt (vocals, guitar on 05. + 10.)
Charles Veal (violin on 03)
Waddy Wachtel (guitar, slide guitar on 09.) (1, 2, 7, 8, 9)
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background vocals:
Dolly Parton – Don Henley – Larry Hagler – JD Souther – Herb Pedersen – Peter Asher

Personnel on the live tracks:
Peter Asher (backround vocals)
Dan Dugmore (guitar)
Kenny Edwards (bass, background vocals)
Rick Marotta (drums)
Linda Ronstadt (vocals)
Waddy Wachtel (guitar, background vocals)

Tracklist:
01. It’s So Easy (Holly/Petty) 2.26
02. Carmelita (Zevon) 3.02
03. Simple Man, Simple Dream (Souther) 3.07
04. Sorrow Lives Here (Kaz) 2.42
05. I Never Will Marry (Traditional) 3.08
06. Blue Bayou (Orbison/Melson) 3.55
07. Poor Poor Pitiful Me (Zevon) 3.44
08. Maybe I’m Right (Wachtel) 2.55
09. Tumbling Dice (Jagger/Richards) 3.06
10. Old Paint (Traditional) 2.59
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11. It’s So Easy (live) (Holly/Petty) 3.16
12. Blue Bayou (live) (Orbison/Melson) 4.30
13. Poor Poor Pitiful Me (live) (Zevon) 4.22
14. Lago Azul (Blue Bayou) (Single A side) (Orbison/Melson/G.Ronstadt) 3.55
15. Lo Siento Mi Vida (Single B side) (L.Ronstadt/Edwards/G.Ronstadt) 3.55

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More from Linda Ronstadt:

The official website:

Various Artists – Divas (2001)

Diva is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of diva is closely related to that of prima donna. Diva can also refer to a woman, especially one in show business, with a reputation for being temperamental or demanding.

The word entered the English language in the late 19th century. It is derived from the Italian noun diva, a female deity. The plural of the word in English is “divas”; in Italian, dive [ˈdiːve]. The basic sense of the term is goddess, the feminine of the Latin word divus (Italian divo), someone deified after death, or Latin deus, a god.

The male form divo exists in Italian and is usually reserved for the most prominent leading tenors, like Enrico Caruso and Beniamino Gigli. The Italian term divismo describes the star-making system in the film industry. In contemporary Italian, diva and divo simply denote much-admired celebrities, especially film actresses and actors, and can be translated as “(film) star”. The Italian actress Lyda Borelli is considered the first cinematic diva, following her breakthrough role in Love Everlasting (1913).

Woman are often referred to as a “diva” if they are “difficult, temperamental and demanding”. Welsh National Opera note that the title emerged in the early 19th century after an increase of female leading sopranos who became “almost became goddess-like in the eyes of their adoring public”. They also note that the word has been used by the media to name many female politicians and entertainers rather than “just ambitious and assertive like their male counterparts”. (wikipedia)

And here´s a low budget compilation:

Ok, then let us celebrate all these divas … my favourite singers were Bette Midler, Nina Simone, Maria Muldaur, Aretha Franklin and of course Alannah Myles

Tracklist:
01. Bette Midler: The Rose (McBroom) 3.44
02. Dionne Warwick: Walk On By (Bacharach/David) 2.59
03. Rose Royce: Love Don’t Live Here Anymore (Gregory) 3.57
04. Nina Simone: Papa Can You Hear Me (A.Bergman/M.Bergman/Legrand) 4.24
05. Linda Ronstadt: Blue Bayou (Orbison/Melson) 3.54
06. Mary Coughlan: I’d Rather Go Blind (Foste/Jordan) 4.22
07. Maria Muldaur: Midnight At The Oasis (Nichtern/Muldaur) 3.54
08. Rickie Lee Jones: Chuck E’s In Love (Jones) 3.35
09. Emmylou Harris: Sweet Dreams (Gibson) 3.10
10. Judy Collins: Both Sides Now (Mitchell) 3.18
11. Aretha Franklin: Respect (Redding) 2.26
12. Candi Staton: Young Hearts Run Free (Crawford) 4.12
13. Sarah Vaughan: Get Back (Lennon/McCartney) 2.59
14. Donna Lewis: I Love You Always Forever (Lewis) 4.02
15. Alannah Myles: Black Velvet 4.48

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Linda Ronstadt – Greatest Hits (1976)

Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American Music Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, and an ALMA Award. Many of her albums have been certified gold, platinum or multiplatinum in the United States and internationally. She has also earned nominations for a Tony Award and a Golden Globe award. She was awarded the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award by the Latin Recording Academy in 2011 and also awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award by the Recording Academy in 2016. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2014. On July 28, 2014, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts and Humanities. In 2019, she received a star jointly with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their work as the group Trio. Ronstadt was among five honorees who received the 2019 Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievements.

Ronstadt has released 24 studio albums and 15 compilation or greatest hits albums. She charted 38 US Billboard Hot 100 singles. Twenty-one of those singles reached the top 40, ten reached the top 10, and one reached number one (“You’re No Good”). Ronstadt also charted in UK as two of her duets, “Somewhere Out There” with James Ingram and “Don’t Know Much” with Aaron Neville, peaked at numbers 8 and 2 respectively and the single “Blue Bayou” reached number 35 on the UK Singles charts. She has charted 36 albums, ten top-10 albums, and three number 1 albums on the US Billboard Pop Album Chart.

Ronstadt has collaborated with artists in diverse genres, including: Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Bette Midler, Billy Eckstine, Frank Zappa, Carla Bley (Escalator Over the Hill), Rosemary Clooney, Flaco Jiménez, Philip Glass, Warren Zevon, Gram Parsons, Neil Young, Paul Simon, Earl Scruggs, Johnny Cash, and Nelson Riddle. She has lent her voice to over 120 albums and has sold more than 100 million records, making her one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time. Christopher Loudon, of Jazz Times, wrote in 2004 that Ronstadt is “blessed with arguably the most sterling set of pipes of her generation.”

Ronstadt reduced her activity after 2000 when she felt her singing voice deteriorating, releasing her last full-length album in 2004 and performing her last live concert in 2009. She announced her retirement in 2011 and revealed shortly afterwards that she is no longer able to sing as a result of a degenerative condition later determined to be progressive supranuclear palsy.[24][a] Since then, Ronstadt has continued to make public appearances, going on a number of public speaking tours in the 2010s. She published an autobiography, Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir, in September 2013. A documentary based on her memoirs, Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, was released in 2019.

In August 2013, Ronstadt revealed she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, leaving her unable to sing due to loss of muscular control, which is common to Parkinson’s patients. She was diagnosed eight months prior to the announcement and had initially attributed the symptoms she had been experiencing to the aftereffects of shoulder surgery and a tick bite.[164][165] In late 2019, it was reported her doctors had revised their diagnosis to progressive supranuclear palsy, a degenerative disease commonly mistaken for Parkinson’s due to the similarity of the symptoms. (wikipedia)

Greatest Hits is Linda Ronstadt’s first major compilation album, released at the end of 1976 for the holiday shopping season. It includes material from both her Capitol Records and Asylum Records output, and goes back to 1967 for The Stone Poneys’ hit “Different Drum.”

It remains the biggest-selling album of Ronstadt’s career, being certified seven times Platinum (over 7 million US copies shipped) by the Recording Industry Association of America[4] in America alone, with 1.87 million units consumed after 1991 when SoundScan started tracking sales. It peaked at No. 6 on the main Billboard album chart and also reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, where it remained for over three years.

The album was criticized by the Rolling Stone Record Guide for being “premature,” as Ronstadt continued to have record-breaking mainstream successes for many years following this release. By the time this collection came out, however, Ronstadt had already been recording hit records (as a solo artist and with the Stone Poneys) for a decade, and there were many examples of other artists releasing greatest hits albums much sooner, such as Elvis Presley.

In terms of being released while the performer was still in the midst of their career, this collection is unusual for a major artist in that it compiled works from two unrelated labels thanks to, as the sleeve states, a “special arrangement” between Asylum and Capitol; this overlap mirrors the situation in which Ronstadt briefly alternated releasing albums between Capitol and Asylum in 1973-74 in order to fulfil her contract with Capitol. (wikipedia)

Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 is a good 12-track collection of Linda Ronstadt’s biggest hits from the early ’70s, beginning with the Stone Poneys’ “Different Drum” and running through “Tracks of My Tears,” from 1975’s Prisoner in Disguise. In between, all of her best-known songs — “You’re No Good,” “When Will I Be Loved,” “Heat Wave” — are included, plus selected minor hits, making it an excellent overview of her peak years. (by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

Personnel:
Peter Asher (percussion)
Ed Black (guitar, pedal steel-guitar)
Michael Botts (drums)
Mike Bowden (bass)
Richard Bowden (guitar)
John Boylan (keyboards)
Richard Burden (guitar)
John Connor (harmonica)
Dan Dugmore (pedal steel-guitar)
Kenny Edwards (guitar, bass, background vocals)
Chris Ethridge (bass)
Jim Fadden (harmonica)
Andrew Gold (guitar, drums, keyboards, percussion,background vocals)
Jim Gordon (saxophone)
Gib Guilbeau (fiddle)
Andy Johnson (guitar)
Mac Johnson (trumpet)
David Kemper (drums)
Sneaky Pete Kleinow (pedal steel-guitar)
Danny Kortchmar (guitar)
Russ Kunkel (drums)
Bernie Leadon (guitar)
Daryl Leonard (trumpet)
David Lindley (fiddle)
Gail Martin (trombone)
Mickey McGee (drums)
Weldon Myrick (pedal steel-guitar)
Spooner Oldham (piano)
Herb Pedersen (guitar, banjo, background vocals)
Norbert Putnam (bass, harpsichord)
Don Randi (harpsichord)
Linda Ronstadt (vocals)
John David Souther (guitar)
Buddy Spicher (fiddle)
Dennis St. John (drums)
Nino Tempo (saxophone)
Al Viola (guitar)
Waddy: Electric Guitar
Pete Wade (guitar)
Bob Warford (guitar)
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background vocals:
Don Francisco – Ginger Holliday – Mary Holliday – Clyde King – Shirley Matthews – Marty McCall –

Tracklist:
01. You’re No Good (Ballard Jr.) (1974) 3.46
02. Silver Threads And Golden Needles (Rhodes/Reynolds) (1973) 2.28
03. Desperado (Frey/Henley) (1973) 3.36
04. Love Is A Rose (Young) (1975) 2.48
05. That’ll Be The Day (Allison/Holly/Petty) (1976) 2.34
06. Long, Long Time (White) (1970) 4.24
07. Different Drum (with The Stone Poneys) (Nesmith) (1970) 2.40
08. When Will I Be Loved (Everly) (1974) 2.11
09. Love Has No Pride (Kaz/Titus) (1973) 4.19
10. Heat Wave (Holland/Dozier/Holland) (1975) 2.47
11. It Doesn’t Matter Anymore (Anka) (1974) 3.30
12. Tracks Of My Tears (Robinson/Moore/Tarplin) (1975) 3.13

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More from Linda Ronstadt:

The official website:

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)
+
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)
+
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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