|
Post by simpledream on May 1, 2016 23:39:21 GMT -5
Hi Everyone Like you, I am pleased that Linda is receiving the acknowledgement she so clearly deserves especially in light of her inability to continue her career. And I love how she is ever so gracious to acknowledge others (as demonstrated many times). Which is why I find the following article grating/irksome (especially last par!). Also, whoever is 'ghosting' Andrew Gold's twitter is clearly delusional - the following are examples of the tweets, uggh. www.laweekly.com/music/this-man-may-be-responsible-for-linda-ronstadts-career-4255413 Andrew Gold Music @andrewgoldmusic 19 Aug 2015 Andrew played a big role in Linda Ronstadt' s music including arranging on Billboard hit "You're No Good" Andrew Gold Music @andrewgoldmusic Feb 2 Andrew Gold and Linda Ronstadt m ade a great duo on stage and in the studio! Andrew Gold Music @andrewgoldmusic Jan 17 Andrew and Linda Ronstadt made such a dream teamAndrew Gold Music @andrewgoldmusic 30 Oct 2015 Andrew played a big role in Linda's music including arranging & playing multiple instruments on her hit albums #tbt Andrew Gold Music @andrewgoldmusic 17 Oct 2015 Andrew with Linda Ronstadt and Peter Asher holding their platinum albums!
|
|
|
Post by Tony on May 2, 2016 0:05:40 GMT -5
I think there is some validity to the "fact" that Andrew Gold helped Linda get her first big solo radio hit. That hardly makes him responsible for her whole career, but he was an important part of Linda's mid-70s success, and I don't have a problem with his twitter people promoting his part in her success.
|
|
|
Post by simpledream on May 2, 2016 0:34:40 GMT -5
@tony I would suggest Peter Asher played a bigger part. It could be argued AG benefited more from his association with LR esp with her working on his subsequent solo material, him opening for her shows ... a 'big role', 'great duo" ... 'dream team' ...'their platinum albums' ... seriously? ...
|
|
|
Post by goldie on May 2, 2016 1:35:18 GMT -5
As a huge fan and his namesake here I am probably a bit biased but he was quite instrumental (no pun intended) in kick-starting her career. Linda was singing You're No Good in her act before Andrew arrived on the scene but it wasn't near as good as with him. He was a talented and creative genius and was quite fond of Linda. There was a real coming together, a perfect storm of Linda, Peter, Kenny, Andrew, Waddy, Dan to name a few. I do disagree with the title of that article which is where I can see one might take issue. I think Linda was destined for greatness with or without Andrew but he was on all of her biggest Rock albums, in her band and quite taken with her. He surely enhanced her success and his own with that collaboration. He supposedly even wrote a song about Linda. Linda was quite supportive of his career. I doubt Linda being Linda would disagree Andrew was one of the keys to her success. I sure do miss the guy terribly.
He played a major role as multi-instrumentalist and arranger for Linda Ronstadt's breakthrough album, 1974's Heart Like a Wheel, and her next four albums. Among other accomplishments, he played the majority of instruments on "You're No Good," Ronstadt's only #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, and the same on "When Will I Be Loved," "Heat Wave" and many other classic hits. He was in her band from 1973 until 1977, and then sporadically throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Andrew and Linda duet
|
|
|
Post by simpledream on May 2, 2016 2:05:52 GMT -5
goldie vis LR's memoir, it's not the impression one has ... many of LR's contemporaries who have worked with her have praised her abilities (including those beyond singing ) which she has often downplayed ...if AG was in a band (like he was with Bryndle), one would understand the self promotion but as far as I can recall it is Linda Ronstadt, not the Linda Ronstadt Band ...he was sufficiently acknowledged on HLAW and so were others ...
|
|
|
Post by Guest on May 2, 2016 2:09:43 GMT -5
For some reason Linda skipped over much of her Rock era time period in her book to the chagrin of many fans even though that was the time period that really made her career and allowed her to later do the things she wanted to do musically.
|
|
|
Post by simpledream on May 2, 2016 3:19:34 GMT -5
though there is a chapter on "Heart Like A Wheel" ...
|
|
|
Post by simpledream on May 2, 2016 3:43:51 GMT -5
goldie interesting the interview doesn't include Linda or Peter or Kenny (who suggested the song) ... there is also a distinction regarding 'duet' and 'duo' ...
|
|
|
Post by sliderocker on May 2, 2016 6:27:49 GMT -5
goldie interesting the interview doesn't include Linda or Peter or Kenny (who suggested the song) ... there is also a distinction regarding 'duet' and 'duo' ... I recall that when Kenny died, Linda said it was Kenny who helped arranged the song. I don't remember when Kenny rejoined with Linda but I recall she had been performing "You're No Good" for over a year before she recorded the song. So, it was there and perhaps Kenny was the one suggested recording the song in a rock arrangement, and Andrew (and Peter) took it from there.
|
|
|
Post by simpledream on May 2, 2016 7:35:08 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by sliderocker on May 3, 2016 10:09:43 GMT -5
This was one of the obits/articles I remember reading on Kenny after he died. I sometimes wondered if Linda had a crush on Kenny as in her book she described him as tall and handsome. And even after the Stone Poneys broke up and he went to India, it seemed like he was always a part of her life, though in an in and out fashion. Writing the song "The Long Way Around" and then returning as a musician and backing vocalist to play in her band, staying for a good long while. There was a moment in her 1980 HBO concert where it looked like she was looking back his way but the camera shot was only on her, so one couldn't really tell. But, the ghosting tweets, whoever is doing that should stop it because that could possibly be upsetting to his family and friends. I don't think Andrew ever claimed to have been solely responsible for Linda's success, although I think Linda probably would've said he was. They remained friends until his death, and that a ghoster is a weasel pretending to be Andrew. Probably hoping to stir up some kind of trouble.
|
|
|
Post by eddiejinnj on May 3, 2016 15:04:42 GMT -5
yeah, I can't see AG saying that either. I don't know that for sure but if he did I think we would of heard of this prior to his death. if he truly had those feelings they imo would have been known by now unless a deep dark secret and somebody he trusted said he said so after he died but this quote is supposedly AG himself. I wonder if others find it convenient Andrew is not here to confirm/refute/deny. eddiejinnj
|
|
|
Post by simpledream on May 3, 2016 18:54:42 GMT -5
not that i wish to speculate but simply reporting what's out there. the twitter account has the tick of authenticity which i'm assuming has the endorsement of either his estate or someone who has a formal business connection to AG. either way, it's inappropriate and misleading. next thing, they will have us believing Andrew helped with Linda's singing ... no wait ..the latest tweet ...
Andrew Gold MusicVerified account @andrewgoldmusic May 1 Andrew helps Linda Ronstadt out on this chilling cover of Patsy Cline's Crazy
|
|
|
Post by hazardaguest on May 6, 2016 10:29:57 GMT -5
Hi all. Re the autobiography, I'll take the plunge and admit to being very disappointed with the brevity with which LR dealt with her 70s music, to the point where it made me feel somewhat 'ripped off' despite her simple, sincere writing style and my enjoyment of what she did choose to write about. Trouble was, and purely personally, so little of it was the musical period I was most interested in. I know she largely disavows the breakthrough and big hits years but it's likely that that's when most fans 'met' her and arguably the songs they still listen to the most now. Sure she has had a wildly eclectic career, and some fans probably like the non 70s stuff best, but when I 'think' about Linda Ronstadt it's albums like HLAW, Prisoner, Hasten, etc. And it's the writers and musicians she led me to after I bought HLAW and, dorky 70s teenager as I was, read and re-read the album credits. All that poring led me to Emmylou Harris, Maria Muldaur, Wendy Waldman, the McGarrigles and, a little later, Valerie Carter and Nicolette Larson (disclaimer - I like lots of women singers!). By the time I was in my early 20s Emmylou had led me down, down, down to Gram Parsons and from then on the flirtation with country that Linda had awakened turned into a love affair that`s lasted 40 years. Sorry this is turning lengthy but it seemed to need a bit of backstory as to why, after much anticipation, Simple Dreams disappointed me so much. There was quite a lot about Emmylou but where were all the others? Far as I can recall, Maria is only mentioned in the context of her sexy stage persona, Nicolette in a few anecdotes, Valerie Carter and Wendy Waldman not at all. They were all over one and other's albums in that period, using many of the same musicians and songwriters, embroiled in the same musical scene, and the book virtually ignores all that. After the chapter on Heart Like a Wheel the next one goes on to say something like 'Life settled into a pattern of record an album and do a tour for the rest of the decade'. I was like WTF, is that it? And it was. Nothing about finding and choosing the songs for those albums, working with people like Andrew Gold and the rest of those guys, risking Elvis Costello's acid tongue and the critic's scorn for daring to do a 'new wave' album, singing Warren Zevon songs and singing with him, ditto Karla Bonoff. And later (from memory) nothing on work like Feels Like Home or We Ran. I think in one of the interviews she gave when the book came out she said that the publishers kept wanting more and she didn't know what to write about - well, she could have fleshed out 1975 to 1980 beyond a sentence. This might be starting to sound a little bitter (he suddenly thinks to himself!) but really it's the words of disappointment. There was so little written about that part of her career, a moment in time when she was a central part of a vibrant, successful, influential, loved and despised in equal measures Americana musical stew. Was anyone else similarly disappointed? Anyways, what was going to be my two bob's worth has turned into at least 20 bucks! When I starting writing this I switched from my Steely Dan to LR playlist (her's is much longer) and as I come to the end Willin' has just finished. I recall her saying in a long ago interview that it was the only song she never got sick of singing - that could have been another sentence or two to up the word count and please the publisher! I know there's lots of reading material here about that period, old interviews and the like, and that's great and much appreciated but it would also have been appreciated to have gotten some of that in Simple Dreams, a Musical Memoir. IIRC she doesn't even mention that album, which was such a 'big one' in sales, radio play etc, by name in the book. PS 'Are My Thoughts with You' is playing now - love that song.
|
|
|
Post by goldie on May 6, 2016 11:25:52 GMT -5
Linda could do a book on her 1970's alone, especially the latter half. When I think of the Linda Ronstadt Band I think of Andrew, Kenny, Waddy and Dan (Dugmore) as the bands core and an assortment of drummers and other peripherals mixed in at different times. I think there may have been some relationships there Linda might not have wanted to talk about without some degree of difficulty and disclosure. Possibly too hard to separate for her so she decided not to go there. A lot of reading between the lines if you look at old interviews of her and her band-mates. The funny thing is the first half of the 1970's she was very open about her personal life. After Heart Like A Wheel and fame she was a steel trap. So why the change in behavior? I can only guess and most likely would be wrong.
|
|
|
Post by simpledream on May 6, 2016 16:57:12 GMT -5
the beauty of 'Simple Dreams' is her writing and revelations that otherwise haven't been publicised. session players, songwriters et al are sufficiently acknowledged elsewhere - attracting attention/assisting with their careers by contributing to their records, recording their songs ... interviews in this era are easily tracked online ... surely it's her call on what she chooses to write in her memoir ...
|
|
|
Post by erik on May 6, 2016 17:14:05 GMT -5
I think the whole point of this is that fans, far from wanting a tell-all expose about her life, would have wanted Linda to go into greater detail about how she interacted with the musicians she worked with during the 1970s; how much she learned about production, arrangement, and sound from her collaborators like Peter Asher, John Boylan, George Massenburg, Val Garay, and others; and how she shaped the songs that she recorded. I can understand her avoidance of saying anything so blatantly salacious, and her frustration about performing in places (stadiums; arenas, etc.) that have no business in being artistic showcases--that, I get. At the same time, however, she could have gone into greater detail about those parts of her life in the 1970s that had directly to do with her music; and since she still has a mind like a steel trap, it was a touch disappointing to see that she didn't in her memoir.
Beyond that quibble, however, there's nothing I can say about the book that is negative in any way.
|
|
|
Post by sliderocker on May 6, 2016 20:26:35 GMT -5
Linda could do a book on her 1970's alone, especially the latter half. When I think of the Linda Ronstadt Band I think of Andrew, Kenny, Waddy and Dan (Dugmore) as the bands core and an assortment of drummers and other peripherals mixed in at different times. I think there may have been some relationships there Linda might not have wanted to talk about without some degree of difficulty and disclosure. Possibly too hard to separate for her so she decided not to go there. A lot of reading between the lines if you look at old interviews of her and her band-mates. The funny thing is the first half of the 1970's she was very open about her personal life. After Heart Like A Wheel and fame she was a steel trap. So why the change in behavior? I can only guess and most likely would be wrong. I seem to recall Linda saying she hadn't had many good relationships with men, despite the fact she remained on friendly terms with many of them. I always thought her effect on men was the same as Marilyn Monroe, in that men were in with love with LINDA RONSTADT (the celebrity) and not Linda Ronstadt (the human being). After she soared to super-super-superstardom and the attending fame and wealth, I think she had to wonder how many guys were seriously attracted to her and not using her as a stepping stone for their own careers or were in love with her bank account but not her. As for why Linda glossed over much of her career, I recall that in her book or an interview somewhere, she mentioned she had forgotten so many things - an effect of her Parkinson's, I would guess - and couldn't recall some things without someone else bringing them up. There may also be bad memories associated with that time that Linda didn't want to bring up. Add to the fact many people she worked with or knew - Andrew, Kenny, drummer Mike Botts, Nicolette, keyboardist Don Grolnick, et al, are dead, all dying at a relatively young age, it's also a possibility that it's something that could make her tear up. I didn't have a problem with what she wrote or what was left out. That was her choice to make, not ours, even though most of us probably would've preferred a auto-biography on the order of 6-700 pages. Given the stage of her illness, which I don't think she's ever brought up, I don't know if she would've had the strength to have tackled something longer than what she was able to provide. And I'm not going to fault her for that. I love and care for her too much to criticize her over what wasn't included. She's got more serious problems to deal with, and we should all be grateful for what there is instead of grousing about what there's not.
|
|
|
Post by hazardaguest on May 7, 2016 8:09:15 GMT -5
Thanks for the responses though totally disagree with this 'it's her choice, we should all be grateful for what there is' attitude. Yeah, it's her right to include what she wants, and my right as the customer to feel let down, after buying the book both in hardback to have a copy and for my kindle to be able to read it immediately, by her choice to sum up the five years of her greatest commercial success in a sentence. If you are going to title a book Simple Dreams, you might at least mention that you once recorded an album called that. BTW, I hope it was clear in my post that it was the big musical omissions that irked me, not the lack of any 'celebrity gossip', which wouldn't interest me. Anyways, thanks again.
|
|
|
Post by sliderocker on May 7, 2016 12:20:02 GMT -5
Thanks for the responses though totally disagree with this 'it's her choice, we should all be grateful for what there is' attitude. Yeah, it's her right to include what she wants, and my right as the customer to feel let down, after buying the book both in hardback to have a copy and for my kindle to be able to read it immediately, by her choice to sum up the five years of her greatest commercial success in a sentence. If you are going to title a book Simple Dreams, you might at least mention that you once recorded an album called that. BTW, I hope it was clear in my post that it was the big musical omissions that irked me, not the lack of any 'celebrity gossip', which wouldn't interest me. Anyways, thanks again. The reason for my 'it's her choice, we should all be grateful...' comment is because of the fact of Linda's Parkinson's illness. She wrote her book before she was diagnosed with the illness although she had been dealing with the illness long before she was diagnosed with it, which included the period in which she was writing her book. Linda has talked about how difficult the illness has made life for her. One of the difficulties is she can't sit for long periods of time, that tires her out. Even sleeping is difficult for her. Based on what I've read about Parkinson's and the symptoms of the five stages of the illness, my guess is that she was in stage two of the illness when she wrote the book. And possibly stage three when she made the announcement of her illness. And I think it was said Linda wrote her book by hand rather than by typewriter or on a computer, which was remarkable given she didn't know seriously ill she was. And again, she couldn't sit for long periods of time and another problem she was likely dealing with was tremors in her hands, which would've made writing for long periods of time difficult. It was one of Linda's musician friends who noticed how bad off she was, health wise, and who encouraged her to see the doctor. The life expectancy for someone with Parkinson's ranges from 2 to 37 years. No one can say how long Linda will live before she dies because of her illness. And again, add in her diabetes and other health problems. Linda may have wanted to cover more of her career and either thought she did or planned on coming back to it after getting tired, but instead moved on. Many of us were disappointed she didn't cover that part of her life. But, I've read autobiographies by other singers and musicians, and some of them didn't write about their recordings at all. Wrote about everything else but their career. Or if they wrote about it, also wrote very little. Maybe someone should do a documentary movie on Linda, where someone can get her to talk about that part of her life. That would be a suitable substitute for the fans who can't attend one of her speaking engagements because they don't live close to the cities where she gives them and can't afford to drive or fly there.
|
|
|
Post by hazardaguest on May 13, 2016 14:02:43 GMT -5
Thanks for the thoughtful response sliderocker and I see what you mean - her illness would not have helped with the task of writing a memoir. And I get your point re the artists who barely touch on the music in their autobiographies. I was thinking of getting Carly Simon's memoir but by reading reviews on amazon it seems to be more 'and then I slept with Warren Beatty' which is not what I am interested in.
I have been listening to a lot of Linda this week as a good friend of mine lost her long and hard fought battle with breast cancer and your comments re Linda's illness made me think of her. She was a huge Linda (and Dusty) fan and a great singer in her own right. Many good nights sitting drinking in the kitchen and listening to her singing along with 'Willin', 'Mohammed's Radio', 'Different Drum'. A friend of her's from the days she used to sing in a band found and uploaded them doing 'It Doesn't Matter Anymore' to youtube so I have pasted the link in below. I know it's not LR, and my friend would be the first to admit it, but a credible cover nonetheless I think.
|
|
|
Post by the Scribe on May 13, 2016 16:25:27 GMT -5
Very touching video. Well done. Your friend had a beautiful voice and a lot of heart. I am so sorry for your loss.
|
|
|
Post by eddiejinnj on May 13, 2016 17:40:46 GMT -5
I had thought Linda said she did the book on her laptop. I think she said at one point sometimes in bed. So sorry about your friend, hazard. eddiejinnj
|
|
|
Post by eddiejinnj on May 13, 2016 17:41:38 GMT -5
I had thought Linda said she did the book on her laptop. I think she said at one point sometimes in bed. So sorry about your friend, hazard. eddiejinnj
|
|
|
Post by sliderocker on May 13, 2016 21:01:31 GMT -5
Condolences, Hazard...very sad indeed for your loss, and the same for her family and all her friends. I would love to have heard Fiona's other performances of Linda's songs as her version of "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" was just so incredibly good. Her singing reminded me a little of Kathi Dalton ("Boogie Bands and One Night Stands"). She's also like Eva Cassidy, another beautiful voice who left the world too soon. Like Eva,I wish I had known of Fiona earlier. We don't know what treasures we miss until we find out too late about them.
|
|
|
Post by sliderocker on May 13, 2016 21:04:30 GMT -5
I had thought Linda said she did the book on her laptop. I think she said at one point sometimes in bed. So sorry about your friend, hazard. eddiejinnj She may have written it on laptop but I thought I read she had written it by hand. Still, as she was already dealing with Parkinson's and didn't know it, it wouldn't have made sense that she would've written it out by hand as it may not have been readable.
|
|
|
Post by hazardaguest on May 15, 2016 12:01:53 GMT -5
Thanks very much for the kind words and also the compliments re my friend's version of Linda's song. She would have been chuffed that long time LR fans thought she did a good job. Somewhere there is video of her doing Different Drum at a gig about a year or so ago so if I can find that i will post it too.
|
|
|
Post by Dianna on May 15, 2016 18:30:54 GMT -5
loved the video of your friend Fiona singing.. I'm sorry for your loss.I got a little teary eye'd at the end xx00
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 18, 2022 7:28:49 GMT -5
Linda could do a book on her 1970's alone, especially the latter half. When I think of the Linda Ronstadt Band I think of Andrew, Kenny, Waddy and Dan (Dugmore) as the bands core and an assortment of drummers and other peripherals mixed in at different times. I think there may have been some relationships there Linda might not have wanted to talk about without some degree of difficulty and disclosure. Possibly too hard to separate for her so she decided not to go there. A lot of reading between the lines if you look at old interviews of her and her band-mates. The funny thing is the first half of the 1970's she was very open about her personal life. After Heart Like A Wheel and fame she was a steel trap. So why the change in behavior? I can only guess and most likely would be wrong. I seem to recall Linda saying she hadn't had many good relationships with men, despite the fact she remained on friendly terms with many of them. I always thought her effect on men was the same as Marilyn Monroe, in that men were in with love with LINDA RONSTADT (the celebrity) and not Linda Ronstadt (the human being). After she soared to super-super-superstardom and the attending fame and wealth, I think she had to wonder how many guys were seriously attracted to her and not using her as a stepping stone for their own careers or were in love with her bank account but not her. As for why Linda glossed over much of her career, I recall that in her book or an interview somewhere, she mentioned she had forgotten so many things - an effect of her Parkinson's, I would guess - and couldn't recall some things without someone else bringing them up. There may also be bad memories associated with that time that Linda didn't want to bring up. Add to the fact many people she worked with or knew - Andrew, Kenny, drummer Mike Botts, Nicolette, keyboardist Don Grolnick, et al, are dead, all dying at a relatively young age, it's also a possibility that it's something that could make her tear up. I didn't have a problem with what she wrote or what was left out. That was her choice to make, not ours, even though most of us probably would've preferred a auto-biography on the order of 6-700 pages. Given the stage of her illness, which I don't think she's ever brought up, I don't know if she would've had the strength to have tackled something longer than what she was able to provide. And I'm not going to fault her for that. I love and care for her too much to criticize her over what wasn't included. She's got more serious problems to deal with, and we should all be grateful for what there is instead of grousing about what there's not. Linda's biography will be that, for somebody else to write in the future. Hopefully it will be both comprehensive and kindly and informed. Hopefully someone is already writing it..open ended. I wonder if Linda imagined in 2012, she would still be with us in 2022, have more honours, and a music hall named after her.
|
|
|
Post by Biff McFly on May 18, 2022 19:33:22 GMT -5
Andrew Gold had a big impact on her sound when he came on the scene with HLAW, PID and HLTW. When he left, that impact was felt. Waddy had an impact on her sound (though lesser) on SD and LITUSA. Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar also had an impact on Mad Love. IMO, "Hurt So Bad" is a very second to "You're No Good" with "Heat Wave" and "Tumbling Dice" tied for third (this is my own taste/opinion). From 'Get Closer' on there was no prominent guitar player impact, just a mix of players. Maybe she should have looked harder for a prominent guitar player....Somewhere Out There (couldn't resist). For example, "We Ran" would have been totally different with a single prominent guitar player type of impact. Maybe "Mary Ford" lost her "Les Paul" so to speak.
|
|