Linda Ronstadt - The Very Best of Linda Ronstadt
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Free Music Notes for The Very Best of Linda Ronstadt
Free Music Review: A Whole Lotta Linda
Hit: 5 Stars
Ever since she first burst onto the scene in 1967 with the folk-rock classic "Different Drum", Linda Ronstadt has proven herself to be one of the most influential female singers in pop music history. She has essayed so many different styles of music that it is jaw-dropping: big-band jazz, operetta, Mexican mariachi, Puccini, Latin jazz.This new compilation album from Rhino focuses on twenty-one of Linda's best performances in the pop/country-rock arena, where the native Arizonan is second-to-none. A Nineties audience not familiar with the increasingly reclusive pop diva may only know her from the praise heaped upon her by such current stars as Trisha Yearwood and Sheryl Crow, but one listen to this CD will let one know what those two ladies were talking about. For here, we get to hear Linda maneuver her way through Motown ("Ooh Baby Baby"; "The Tracks Of My Tears"; "Heat Wave"), rockabilly ("When Will I Be Loved"; "That'll Be The Day"), the morbid black comedy of Warren Zevon ("Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me"), and the borderline bluegrass of Neil Young's "Love Is A Rose." And there are also the never-to-be-forgotten top-notch renditions Linda gave of "You're No Good" and "Blue Bayou."
Some may complain that a lot of Linda's best stuff has been left off ("Desperado", for instance), and such complaints would be understandable. After all, Linda has made way too many great songs in her lifetime. Still, this is an essential CD for those who have only heard Linda Ronstadt's name in passing. It proves that Linda is still a vital force in the music business. Rhino Records is to be congratulated for proving it.
Free Music Review: 1967-1993; Twenty Seven Years Of Pure Brilliance
Hit: 5 Stars
If you look at my reviews that I typed up prior to this one you will notice that they all have something in common with each other. They are reviews about musical artists that got their start in the 1960s and 1970s. Linda Ronstadt also falls in that category. This, The Very Best Of Linda Ronstadt, disc gives us a very good sampling of her remarkable career from 1967 thru 1993. Her debut 1967 hit, Different Drum, with The Stone Poneys is here and It reached a very impressive # 13 on the pop charts in September of that year. Linda had the beautiful song, Long Long Time, (my all time favorite by Linda) which peaked at # 25 on the pop charts in 1970 and it is also here and her hits just keep coming with the Phil Everly penned, When Will I Be Loved, which went all the way to # 2 on the pop charts. This disc also has, Heat Wave, You're No Good, It's So Easy, Ooh Baby Baby, and, Winter Light, plus there are also three beautiful duets on here. One of them is Linda and James Ingram together singing the beautiful song, Somewhere Out There, which is from the motion picture, An American Tail. The other two are breathtakingly beautiful ballads sung by Linda and Aaron Neville being, All My Life, and the stunning, Don't Know Much, and it doesn't end there. There are twenty one songs on this disc and they all are very good.
In 1967 I was a kid at the ripe old age of fifteen when Linda's debut song,Different Drum,hit the airwaves and I have been listening to her soaring vocals ever since. As many of you already know; she is one of the best.Is this a tribute to Linda? You bet! I highly recommend this disc.
Free Music Review: PEOPLE DON'T GET IT - Ella Fitzgerald of ROCK!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
Linda Ronstadt is the premier Rock Song Interpreter, like her pre-rock contemporary Ella Fitzgerald. Linda Ronstadt is A Female Rock Artist and, in many opinions, THE "First" Female Rock Superstar. Granted Grace Slick and Janis Joplin were rock stars prior, they never were able to establish a string of single songstress successes, i.e. Joplin died young and Slick played with a group, although successful, never grew to her full potential. Likewise, Joni Mitchell, although modestly popular never grasped the wave of commercial, critical success and public desire that Ronstadt enthused with her fans. Ronstadt "does" it all, granted her tremndous commercial and critical success between 1974 and 1982 allowed her the freedom to be the chameleon that she was and allowed her UNIQUE commercial success between 1982 and 1991.
This SET showcases those two eras.
However, this CD includes most of what in what is Volume 1 and 2, except for "How Do I make You" and "Desparado"
I would have liked them to throw in some live singles, i.e. "Alison" LIVE and the forementioned "How do I make you" and unreleased material contained her recently released Box Set.
Likewise, her "GET CLOSER" cd was tremendously rock and soul oriented and it would have been nice to include "Easy for you to Say", "I knew you when"
Otherwise, this compilation is Very Good.
The Sound and Quality are better than Volumes 1 and 2. Likewise, the order is not by date. So the songs that follow one another are approariate.
Personally, My favorites are "Hurt So Bad" "Long Long Time" and " Its So Easy"
Free Music Review: Mostly focusing on the seventies
Hit: 5 Stars
Linda Ronstadt began her career in the sixties and continued making great music into the new millennium. Perhaps there is more to come - who knows? However, this collection mostly focuses on her period of greatest commercial success - the seventies.During the seventies, Linda established her reputation mainly with exquisite covers of classic pop songs such as When Will I Be Loved (Everly brothers), It's so easy, That'll Be The Day (both Buddy Holly), Back In The U.S.A. (Chuck Berry), Hurt so bad (Little Anthony'), Blue bayou (Roy Orbison), Ooh baby baby (Smokey Robinson) and Heat wave (Martha Reeves and the Vandellas), all of which are included here. She also had success with covers of Love Is A Rose (Neil Young) and Poor poor pitiful me (Warren Zevon), though it is Linda who is normally associated with these two songs. Indeed, Warren Zevon owes his reputation to Linda, who recorded several of his songs.
A few songs from other periods are included. Different drum and Long long time represent her folk-country music of the sixties. Two duets with Aaron Neville and one with James Ingram represent the eighties. Winter light represents the nineties. Linda's Great American Songbook recordings with Nelson Riddle, her Spanish music and her Trio work with Dolly and Emmylou are conspicuous by their absence. They are readily available elsewhere for those who want them.
If you want a single CD of Linda's pop and rock recordings, this is the one to go for. To do justice to her whole career would take a boxed set (and one is indeed available) but this will satisfy most people.
Free Music Review: One of the Most Versatile Voices In Music
Hit: 5 Stars
Linda Ronstadt has one of the most amazing female voices in the music industry. I was very excited when I got this CD. It represents her music career well from the casual fan aspect. This woman has sang all different types of music and has been popular since the 60's which definitely displays some staying power. This album contains seven of her top 10 hits and sixteen top 40 hits. Although many of her hits were cover songs, she delivered them so well, they ptactically became her own. Her top 5 version of "Heat Wave" is fantastic and rivals the original. Then there's her #1 hit "You're No Good" which is undoubtably a 70's classic as is "Blue Bayou" (#3 hit.) Her first hit is graciously included being "Different Drum" (#13) from 1967. "It's So Easy" (#5) "Ohh Baby Baby" (#7) and "Hurt So Bad" (#8) are other highlights . Then who could forget her three smash duets which shot Linda back into the spotlight in the late 80's and early 90's. "Somewhere Out There" with James Ingram is now a pop standard and her vocal delivery in it is fantastic. Both her duets with Aaron Neville are also gems. "Don't Know Much" hit #2 and "All My Life" made it to #11 on the pop charts. The album then closes with her beautiful and stunning version of "Winter Light." This hit collection is long overdue. Although there were previous collections of her earlier material, a more complete one was well deserved. Although this may not be all the way up to standards for the die-hards, this is a great collection for new fans. Linda Ronstadt's music should be enjoyed by all.