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Post by Richard W on Sept 10, 2013 15:22:12 GMT -5
She's a "music icon"! Finally...
I wonder if Linda knows she can take the Mega Bus to Chicago...
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Post by Richard W on Sept 10, 2013 15:19:42 GMT -5
I don't know, Slide, but Linda Ronstadt getting married would be news!
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Post by Richard W on Sept 10, 2013 11:20:06 GMT -5
I think it is great that Linda can get to read and hear the accolades she well deserves.. So do I, Robert. And actually I get a kick out of reading them, too. What makes me scratch my head is that the only thing that's changed is that Linda can no longer sing. And it seems that this is what it takes for her to finally be acknowledged as the "singing legend" that she's been for decades. I mean, it wasn't that long ago that we were carping about her lack of recognition, and now critics and writers and magazines and newspapers -- everything from the New York Times to the National Enquirer -- all seem to be saying what we on this forum have always known. It almost seems as if her previous critical/public perception as the musical dilettante who covered other peoples' songs has instantaneously morphed into "music pioneer" whose voice "defined a generation." Naturally I'm thrilled about this, but at the same time the cultural meme-shift is fascinating, if bewildering.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 10, 2013 9:47:23 GMT -5
It's funny how often she is now referred to as a "music legend" and "musical pioneer" since her diagnosis. I'm not carping about it -- we all have said the same thing for years -- but where were all these accolades, all of this recognition, during the last decade?
I'm going to quote Erik quoting Joni Mitchell: "You don't know what you've got till it's gone..."
Better late than never.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 7, 2013 18:34:39 GMT -5
Some really kind, classy stuff over at the Dusty forum.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 5, 2013 0:42:15 GMT -5
Yes, thank you.
This tour was the last time I saw Linda live, at the Rosemont Theatre outside Chicago near O'Hare airport.
When she sang "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" she brought the house down.
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Post by Richard W on Sept 4, 2013 8:22:11 GMT -5
From what I recall, Gainsville was from Randy Newman's concept album, "Faust." (As was "Feels Like Home", although Bonnie Raitt sang that song on Newman's record. Linda, of course, recorded it later.)
The other two songs are non-released tracks recorded for the "Simple Dreams" sessions.
Correct me if I'm wrong, y'all.
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Post by Richard W on Aug 30, 2013 15:50:27 GMT -5
According to what she said in the AARP interview, she wasn't diagnosed with Parkinson's until June. So until that time her singing (dis)abilities could have been attributed to any of her other health issues (tick-borne disease, shoulder surgery, diabetes, Hatsimoto's) etc.). So everyone else, like Linda herself, didn't know what was the cause of the problem, only that there was one.
I remember that Jimmy Webb interview where he talked about Linda singing on his album and he eluded to some serious health issue affecting her voice. Of course, that was probably a reference to the tick-borne disease, something else we didn't -- and couldn't -- know about until just the other day.
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Post by Richard W on Aug 30, 2013 12:01:19 GMT -5
Nah. A peasant top is off the shoulders.
Although Dianna might be the final arbiter on this one!
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Post by Richard W on Aug 30, 2013 10:48:11 GMT -5
I had that poster in my room, too.
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Post by Richard W on Aug 28, 2013 12:35:37 GMT -5
That closing paragraph -- Jesus.
Thanks for posting, opus.
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Post by Richard W on Aug 27, 2013 17:11:46 GMT -5
I like this review of the Album Series (it's always great when someone new gets it):
"My name is Arthur von Legger, I'm from Amsterdam in the Netherlands, 48 years old, music lover, but because I live in Europe I never heard anything from Linda Ronstadt until 2 years ago when I bought for 1,50 a very worn vinyl titled "Heart Like A Wheel" -and I was blown away. Never heard any singing like that. So intense. Such timing.
Since then I bought all her LP's (second and third hand) and many of her cd's (new). Every time again it hits me how exceptionally well even her worn vinyls sound: incredible dynamics, breathtaking depth. And how very poor the cd's are in sound quality. Only her cd series with Nelson Riddle is very well done. And the recent release of her early Capitol recordings.
But even those, compared to the records: a bit thin, too much treble, few dynamics and depth. And the same goes for this Original Album Series. Great music, expressly Prisoner in Disguise and Hasten Down the Wind. I've got these on LP's, mint versions from the mid-seventies. So I know what they should sound like. And how they could be improved -a bit. But nothing happens on these newly remastered cd's: thin, low sound quality. No dynamics. Which makes them sound a bit... uhm... boring and dull... And that's such a shame!!!! So I wonder: has mrs. Ronstadt a say in these outputs or are they purely a studio production?
Because I cannot imagine that Linda Ronstadt would be happy with these productions. More so because her own productions, such as Frenesi and Winter Light are excellent. Even though they've been recorded ancient cd-style 20 years ago. But said all this, I think it's quiet amazing that recordings from nearly 40 years ago still have such musical strength and emotion. My advise: skip the cd's and purchase the LP's."
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Post by Richard W on Aug 27, 2013 17:05:38 GMT -5
You got that right, Erik. What a twerkfest!
Just noticed that while she still has 4 albums in Amazon's top 10 sellers, one of the hits compilations has dropped out in favor of the Album Series collection, which is pretty interesting since it's albums and not singles collected.
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Post by Richard W on Aug 27, 2013 14:18:16 GMT -5
Well, that would have made a different greatest hits vol. 4!
Her version of When I Stop Dreaming from McCabes is just killer. Emmylou's always killed me, and still does, but Linda's slays me.
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Post by Richard W on Aug 27, 2013 11:51:55 GMT -5
High-five, musicaamator!
(smack!)
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Post by Richard W on Aug 27, 2013 11:48:53 GMT -5
4 of her albums are in the top 20, all of them compilations with the singular exception of "What's New."
True what you say, Erik, but sometimes it takes something to get some people to pay attention.
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Post by Richard W on Aug 27, 2013 11:42:00 GMT -5
That was an excellent appreciation. I really liked that the author sort of walked through Simple Dreams to illustrate the many "powers" of Linda's voice. And all without the creeping hipster smarm to temper the praise. And great photo to boot!
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Post by Richard W on Aug 27, 2013 8:31:41 GMT -5
As far as I'm concerned, Linda's version of Hurt So Bad rips Little Anthony and the Imperials' to shreds.
I mean, if Linda hadn't recorded her version and all I knew was Little Anthony's, I'd be satisfied with his magisterial version (even if his quirky enunciations sometimes cause eye-rolls).
But then along comes Linda's Hurt So Bad and all majesty is blown away by Linda's sheer emotional angst, by her vocal power, by the ripping, rocking guitars -- and that haunting guitar hook. Little Anthony can't help but seem a little anemic by comparison.
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Post by Richard W on Aug 27, 2013 8:20:36 GMT -5
Try Me Again should have been a single and would have fit in with her other left-of-center hits on '70s country radio.
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Post by Richard W on Aug 26, 2013 18:00:42 GMT -5
Although Linda -- and we -- have been robbed by Parkinson's of even more music from her, there still remains the fact that perhaps no singer has left a better and broader record of her voice and all its many colors than Linda has.
All that eclecticism now appears more important to her artistry and legacy than ever.
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Post by Richard W on Aug 25, 2013 11:24:25 GMT -5
My favorite singer.
My favorite person, although I've never her.
She has been -- and continues to be -- an important part of my life.
Which is why heart feels so bad for her.
My love to you, Linda. Find strength. You rock.
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Post by Richard W on Aug 23, 2013 10:13:42 GMT -5
That slowed-down version was awesome, sliderocker!
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Post by Richard W on Aug 23, 2013 10:09:12 GMT -5
For an alternative take on "Jolene" you need to hear the Stone Coyotes' chunky-metal version from their album "Born to Howl." The lead female singer just rocks it and yet doesn't miss the poignancy of the song.
Wait for 28 seconds for it to kick in.
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Post by Richard W on Aug 23, 2013 9:59:34 GMT -5
Let's just say that Thicke (and his writers/producers) didn't create the exact same bass-line/groove/arrangement out of thin air. It already existed and it would be magical thinking to believe that they did.
And Erik, your point about the pre-emptive suit is spot on.
It would have been gracious of Thicke had he acknowledged the theft from the outset and let his song be an homage to Gaye's song instead of trying to pass it off as original and taking the low road.
(I still like his song, though, mainly because what he stole is such a great groove.)
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Post by Richard W on Aug 21, 2013 17:16:00 GMT -5
The very first time I heard Thicke's song I said "that's Got to Give It Up".
I don't know enough about copyrights to know whether you can copyright a bass line -- I doubt it -- but boy, "Blurred Lines" practically Xeroxes the one from Gaye's song.
Both are still great dance songs, albeit for the exact same reason.
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Post by Richard W on Aug 9, 2013 22:30:17 GMT -5
Goddammit, Linda, come to Chicago!
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Post by Richard W on Aug 9, 2013 22:29:37 GMT -5
How can I get the audio for this?
I have a fantasy of recreating some of Linda's albums track by track with live versions of the songs. This set is awesome.
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Post by Richard W on Aug 9, 2013 22:25:18 GMT -5
The facts speak for themselves, djay, but the art is putting those facts into perspective.
If you haven't already done so, there is a movement (and link, on the appropriate forum topic) to get Linda a Kennedy Center honor. Your very persuasive argument might go a long way toward that.
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Post by Richard W on Aug 9, 2013 14:11:32 GMT -5
In terms of what Linda said about our behavior towards Cuba in general, and Castro in particular, she is right up to a point; we have behaved really stupidly towards them. On the other hand, however, I would point out a little thing called the Cuban Missile Crisis, in which Castro had Soviet missiles pointed right at the United States in October 1962. That was a near world-ending mistake on his part. Absolutely, Erik. Castro gets no passes on that one. That said, the Cuban Missile Crisis was over 50 years ago and the world has changed since then, including the breakup of the Soviet Union. We are still punishing Cuba for that under the guise of democracy vs. communism, something which, if our political motives for sanctions were pure, we would apply just as stringently to China. The essential difference between China and Cuba being one is an economic giant we can't live without, the other an economic midget we can continue to ignore. I think what Linda was getting at was the state of things and people in Cuba now, in the present time. They have managed to live without us and, from the reportage of the limited number of people allowed to visit there, seem to be doing quite well, in spite of living in a physical-goods time warp.
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Post by Richard W on Aug 9, 2013 13:57:27 GMT -5
djay, you said it better than I could -- or did.
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