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Post by Richard W on Sept 27, 2013 1:06:24 GMT -5
You took the adjectives right out of my mouth, djay.
I don't think it will get any better than this. (I loved how eager she was to return even after the second part; you could tell that she -- and he -- was just having a great time.)
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Post by Richard W on Sept 27, 2013 1:03:39 GMT -5
Having seen her many times over the years, I can attest to the fact that she did all of her performing through and with her voice. You went to a Linda Ronstadt concert to listen, it didn't matter that she simply stood behind the microphone. And listening, you couldn't take your eyes off her.
BTW, I missed the first night on TV because the Chicago affiliate, WTTW, had the wrong dates. I tuned in tonight only to find that part 2 was on. Sorry to any of my fellow Chicagoans who may have been misled. I watched part 1 on Smiley's site.
I have to say that this was a great interview, perhaps the best I've seen of Linda. So funny and honest and forthcoming. And whip smart. So kudos to Tavis for this; you can really read his admiration for her.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 24, 2013 12:11:10 GMT -5
Quote by sliderocker: I think Linda had a much more moderate, and not overly radical, approach to being a hippie, part of her rural Arizona upbringing transferring itself to California when she made the 500 mile move west. Also, I think in retrospect that the image that M.H. has as a hippie basher, based as it is on just two songs, is rather overrated. And as for Nashville, if he really wanted to be based out of there instead of Bakersfield, it seems to have helped him very little over the long term, since the man is, to my knowledge, neither a member of the Opry (he may still be considered too rough) nor in the Country Music Hall of Fame (yet, anyway). Still, it is nice to know that he thought so highly of Linda. Haggard was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994. Love his version of "Hobo's Meditation", which I'd never heard before.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 24, 2013 10:42:36 GMT -5
BTW, there is a comment section on the Smiley page (link above) for those who want to say something. No registration required.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 24, 2013 10:16:57 GMT -5
Yeah, I don't get that sort of ungrateful behavior. I mean, someone just did you a favor, how much effort does it take to say "thank you"? It's only two syllables, something you could easily vocalize while exhaling. What a jerk.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 24, 2013 9:36:48 GMT -5
For those in the Chicago area, the Tavis Smiley 2-part interview with Linda has different dates; it will air on Thursday the 26th at 12:00 PM (part 1) and Friday the 27th at 12:00 PM (part 2). Should you miss it, you can watch the episodes online (24 hours after broadcast). Here's the link to Smiley's page, specifically to this interview: www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/interviews/singer-linda-ronstadt/?show=19214The promo for this states that she's sold "30 million albums" but I've heard recently 100 million. That's a big difference.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 23, 2013 12:45:06 GMT -5
While reading Simple Dreams, I was struck by how often Merle Haggard was mentioned and idolized by Linda and the many fellow country-inspired artists surrounding her, often singing his songs in group jam sessions.
Given the facts that Merle has often mentioned Linda as his favorite female singer and that Linda recorded his "Silver Wings", I'm left wondering why Linda and Merle didn't collaborate. Perhaps it's a simple matter of their voices being incompatible, but I don't "hear" that incompatibility (then again, I'm no singer).
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Post by Richard W on Sept 22, 2013 21:20:23 GMT -5
Love those photos (and when you click on them they get really big and give a "you are there" feel). I especially like the one that shows "author" on her tag!
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Post by Richard W on Sept 21, 2013 14:03:23 GMT -5
Well, so far we have fans from Poland, Belgium (top 3!), England and, I believe, Japan. Anyone else outside the US?
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Post by Richard W on Sept 21, 2013 14:01:23 GMT -5
First of all thanks for nice welcome. Secondly, I would like to say that I consider "Don't Cry Now" to be one of the best albums in Linda's career. Sometimes I get the feeling that the success of "Heart Like A Wheel" steals the whole show and people (including fans) don't realize how great and meaningful music she'd been recording up to 1974's commercial breakthrough. For example, her rendition of "Love Has No Pride" has to be the definitive version of this beautiful ballad. I have heard few performances of this song (most notably by Bonnie Raitt and Rita Coolidge) but only Linda was able to capture all these subtleties of the melody and lyrics and create an incomparable atmosphere. Another song from that album that really gets to me is "Colorado". I know that "Don't Cry Now" is widely recognized as country album but for me it transcends the simplicity of categorization. It's just a musical masterpiece that resonates on many levels and most importantly can open up the listner for new experiences. But speaking the truth, I was able to appreaciate the album's beauty due to the fact that earlier I had been exposed to Linda's three straight-country albums, most notably "Linda Ronstadt" which still ranks as one of my Top 3 albums from Linda following "Winter Light" and "Mad Love". In the beginning I was reluctant to explore that facet of Ronstad's artistry but I gave it a chance and it opened up my eyes again. Her performance of "Birds" is breathtaking. And speaking about "opening up to new things", thanks to Linda I was able to discover Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons and other great yet completely unknown in Poland artists. Some people are ready to criticize fans of Linda Ronstadt for their "omnivorousness" but I think that this eclectic approach to music teaches us how to respect different qualities of music and different nuances that artists bring into it. Piotrek, you are my new best friend. You nailed what it is about Linda (well, one of the things), that makes her so vocally compelling: the way she straps herself to a song's melody and rides it for all she's worth. Glad you have already heard -- and appreciated -- Don't Cry Now. In my opinion it's a country-rock-soul masterpiece and sounds as new now as it did then.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 21, 2013 11:41:06 GMT -5
Seems to be a companion photo to this one from the AP article:
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Post by Richard W on Sept 21, 2013 10:00:58 GMT -5
Stellar review, Erik.
BTW, the book is #19 on the Barnes & Noble bestsellers list.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 21, 2013 9:55:32 GMT -5
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Post by Richard W on Sept 21, 2013 9:48:56 GMT -5
Piotrek: Reading your post gave me goosebumps. Your experience with discovering Linda's voice echoes mine and most of us here; a certain song -- in your case "Faithless Love" -- just burrows into you and you are addicted, and then a whole world of music opens up to you. That's the difference between hardcore fans like us (now including you!) and everyone else.
Others may casually like Linda and some of her songs but they haven't had that "hook in the heart" moment like we have. Mine was hearing and watching her sing "Desperado" in the '70s on TV. I didn't know who she was, but the next day I bought the album "Don't Cry Now." I haven't been the same since. (If you don't have that album and have a taste for country music, by all means you should get it. It's my personal favorite).
And for you to favor the album "Winter Light" really shows what a fan you are. Most of us here regard it as not only her most overlooked and ignored album, but also one of her very best.
I am so glad you posted. A sincere welcome to a fan from Poland!
PS: We basically get the same reaction at music shops here with regards to Linda!
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Post by Richard W on Sept 19, 2013 17:58:05 GMT -5
I think it may also have something to do with much of their music having to do with getting laid all the time. That is what I have read anyway and it seems to be a consistent comment. Now why would any 20 year old, even a musician be preoccupied with sex? Still can't figure that one out. It's a mystery, for sure. So let's see, Henley and Frey are maligned because of sex, drugs...um, we are talking about rock and roll here, right? As for egos (I say egos, not Eagles), seems to me that the members of the rock press who apparently hate them so much (cue Church Lady voice) might just have a bit of penis envy. Besides, there's no one in rock with a bigger ego than Dylan (check out his 4-hour-plus vanity film Renaldo and Clara if you need proof), but you won't hear a rock critic call him to task for that. Seems Henley and Frey are the male rock critic whipping boys by default. I have no doubts these two were probably jerks at one time or another in the sex/drug-fueled '70s rock of their heyday, but no more than any countless number of others, and it's this singling-out that befuddles me.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 19, 2013 17:40:08 GMT -5
That was a nice write-up on LITUSA at the Ultimate Classic Rock site, as well as their follow-up page of 10 best songs (by which I believe they mean 10 best hits).
I was going to leave a comment but the "leave a comment" didn't work. I assume it also didn't work for anyone else here since there weren't any comments.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 19, 2013 14:22:43 GMT -5
So Phoebe sang with Linda and Emmylou...
WHERE IS THAT MUSIC?
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Post by Richard W on Sept 19, 2013 14:20:59 GMT -5
Yeah, Rob, I just finished reading that section about cocaine and it wasn't all that. Stevie Nicks has nothing to sniff about.
Two other things about this: 1) Why are Henley and Frey so persistently maligned? I mean, did they actually do or say anything worse than any other males in rock? And, 2) I do get tired of that "soft rock" label that some people insist in slapping on Linda. Besides being an oxymoron, I suspect that "soft rock" is a label largely reserved for women, since I rarely hear it applied to any of the contemporaneous men (Bob Dylan, Eagles, James Taylor, Billy Joel, etc.) who shared much of the same musical territory with her.
But I agree, nice to see the book singled out for the top 10 list, and the author's appreciation of it being self-penned.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 18, 2013 16:55:46 GMT -5
I'm trying to make it last by confining myself to one chapter a day, but today I devoured four chapters!
As someone who is interested in Linda's musical journey, I am loving the book.
She certainly was in the thick of things. That story about her and Keith Richards shouldering a blotto Gram Parsons to bed is quite something.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 18, 2013 16:52:37 GMT -5
Quote by Richard W: Odd, yes, but given who the ringmaster is, not too terribly shocking (IMHO). Wonder what RS's review will be...or do they review books? Not generally, but they do review musi-related books, so maybe...
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Post by Richard W on Sept 18, 2013 16:50:20 GMT -5
I was wondering the same thing about money/sales.
The way I understand it -- in the most broad and general terms -- is that the artist makes money on the album sales, while the songwriters make it on radio/performance.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 18, 2013 15:05:32 GMT -5
Well, Frenesi is in the top 10 in the latin music subcategory of "ranchera" music, although it's not at all ranchera, but tropical Latin (but there's no separate chart for that). Still, it's on some list!
Also, Mas Canciones (not Canciones de Mi Padre) is #18 in the overall Latin charts.
What's gratifying is that on some charts she has 4 or 5 albums in the top 10.
Although I must add the footnote that none of the sales has evidently translated to iTunes; none of her albums are in the top 200. The difference being, I suppose, that Amazon's sales are largely CDs while iTunes deals with downloads.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 18, 2013 14:35:02 GMT -5
Linda's albums are all over Amazon's bestsellers (most updated hourly).
Greatest Hits Vol 1/2, Simple Dreams, Hasten Down the Wind, What's New, even Don't Cry Now (at #81) are all in the Top 100 bestselling albums. Various albums are placing in top 100 -- in some cases top 10 -- in various categories (country, country rock, oldies, vocals, etc.).
Did we ever think we'd see the day when this would happen?
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Post by Richard W on Sept 16, 2013 20:28:29 GMT -5
Odd, isn't it, that "one of rock's true queens" isn't in the RRHoF...
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Post by Richard W on Sept 16, 2013 9:27:16 GMT -5
Erik, I took the link to your top 25 Ronstadt country songs and reread it. That is a fabulous piece of music criticism (in the full, not negative, sense of the word).
And while every one of us could carp about the omission of a favorite song ("The Fast One", for example, is, for me, iconic of the country-rock sound), it's your list -- you are the one who took the time and effort to write it.
Fantastic.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 13, 2013 7:58:34 GMT -5
Don't have a scan (or a scanner), but originally there were the Spanish lyrics and the English translations to the songs. These translations opened the door for me on this music. While I would have enjoyed hearing Linda sing them regardless, having the English translations added a depth beyond Linda's magnificent vocals and their emotional conveyance of happy, sad, pensive, etc. I really got to appreciate the beautiful imagery of the lyrics. Coupling that imagery with Linda's singing brought the songs to life.
There was a time when I caught myself actually singing "La Cigarra" -- in Spanish -- while riding my bike!
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Post by Richard W on Sept 11, 2013 19:09:10 GMT -5
Dang! To get the chance to hear Linda Ronstadt and Richard Dawkins on the same stage!
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Post by Richard W on Sept 11, 2013 12:39:25 GMT -5
I would have sworn they mentioned a doctor. Guess I completely fabricated that one myself!
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Post by Richard W on Sept 11, 2013 12:24:08 GMT -5
Goofy but sincere.
And on a superficial level, I'm glad to finally see someone publicly appreciate some of Linda's iconic styles (the hoop earrings, the bare feet, the Betsy Johnson dress, etc.).
To say nothing of Polly's shout-out to "Mohammed's Radio," one of my favorites and one that too often gets overlooked.
Also, love the "adios, adios" he winkingly tosses in at the exit.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 11, 2013 8:30:01 GMT -5
Recalls the story from the Chicago Tribune many years back that falsely stated that Linda had married a doctor.
Still don't know where the writer got that falsehood from. I mean, it's almost as if he had to completely fabricate it.
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