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Post by JasonKlose on Mar 22, 2013 15:04:01 GMT -5
I recently bought two CDs of Linda's; "Winter Light" from 1993, and "We Ran" from 1998. They are both out of print, so I purchased them on ebay. They were quite cheap; they were $3.99 each.
I bought "Winter Light" first, just before Christmas. I played that CD every day for almost a month over the holidays. Seriously. What an amazing album! I love every song on it, especially the title track "Winter Light".....she simply sounds like an angel. I love her covers of the Dusty Springfield and Dionne Warwick songs. They are the very best versions I've heard in my opinion. "Do What You Gotta Do"......what else can you say about it........mindblowing! Unbelievable at the end when she really belts it out and holds that note for what seems like forever. All the songs are fantastic!
Most recently I bought "We Ran," which was brand new, still sealed. I've now been playing that for almost two weeks now. What an absolutely solid album this is. Great singing from Linda......goes without saying.....great musicians, some from the old days: like Russell Kunkel, Waddy Wachtel, Bob Glaub......various members of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers......pristine production from Glyn Johns, Peter Asher, George Massenburg, and Linda too. Love "Heartbreak Kind" with her old pal from the Eagles, Bernie Leadon. Her voice is so pretty.....no one can sing harmony like Linda. I can't believe this album only sold 60,000 copies in the U.S. That just boggles my mind. This album should have won a Grammy Award for something. It's amazing!
It's sad to think that Linda was at one time the most popular female singer in the world, and now is for some reason or another.....forgotten. I know things do change, as far as what music is being recorded and played on the radio, what people want to listen to, what is popular, a new generation of fans. Yet I see other older artists, many from Linda's generation still putting out albums and winning awards, having successful tours, and maintaining their popularity.
It's a shame these albums of Linda's did not do much better, among many others she has done.....they are hidden and forgotten gems, that's for sure. I think Linda was doing her best music in the 1990s. It's becoming my favorite decade of her career.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2013 15:25:22 GMT -5
We Ran in particular was a 'return to form' for Linda.. I am still surprised and disappointed it did not do better.. Winter Light also contains some of Linda's best vocals ever..
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Post by musicaamator on Mar 22, 2013 17:43:41 GMT -5
Thanks for the review Jason as these are my next purchases to get!
It is sad that these did not sell as much but unfortunately the music scene has changed so much that I don't know if the radio programmers knew where to fit Linda's stuff at the time of their release (I am guessing). Thus, not as much exposure?
Read and heard a lot about these releases so I am anxious to get these soon!
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Post by erik on Mar 22, 2013 18:10:48 GMT -5
I have been of the opinion that Winter Light and We Ran are the two most criminally under-appreciated albums of her entire career, not just of the 1990s.
With respect to Winter Light, I consider her version of her good pal Emmylou's "A River For Him" to be the sleeper gem; it's a sort of throwback to some of her more acoustically-tinged country/folk material, enhanced by synthesizers, strings, and the glass armonica, and her voice is full of poignancy. I also have warmed up much more over time to "Adonde Voy", which I didn't like at first (I originally first felt that she had overemphasized the Mexican music aspect of herself).
On We Ran, I have to confess to really liking "Heartbreak Kind" with its retro-C&W/rock throwback sound (plus Bernie's harmonies and Telecaster twang); it's a shame Linda never did more songs with this kind of tempo or arrangement. And her slithery take on John Hiatt's "Icy Blue Heart" is another throwback song (IMHO).
This is just my viewpoint, but I think the reason those two albums (and really Linda's entire output since 1990) failed to catch fire is that the mainstream music audience of the 1990s no longer trusted her. One headline I remember from 1995, at the time Feels Like Home was released, said that "Linda Ronstadt's Diversity Is Her Own Worst Enemy." This may very well have proven to be true, at least in part, and thus some of the blame must rest on Linda herself. Just the same, however, it was a tremendous shame to see some of the best stuff she had ever done slip into a black hole in favor of the audience being fed superficial s**t more and more everyday, a trend that has only gotten worse over time (IMHO).
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Post by JasonKlose on Mar 22, 2013 19:04:57 GMT -5
I think too her musical diversity did affect her popularity and record sales.....it's very unfortunate.......for her and for us fans who would have loved to see her get the recognition she and these albums deserved. I think in a way her diversity affected me also. I first heard Linda's sweet voice on the radio so many years ago, but when she changed musical styles so dramatically in the early '80s......moving from rock to American standards......I strayed away from her music for many years. I knew about her and would hear about her occasionally, but I just never became a fan......until over two years ago. Now I'm hooked for life.
Like you said, it was a real shame to see some of the best music she had ever done basically just ignored in favor of the mainstream music that was popular at the time. And you're right, it is getting MUCH worse, and I'm afraid it isn't going to get better. So much of what is passing for music these days lacks in good taste, quality and integrity.....all the things that define Linda as an artist and as a person; and some of the many reasons why we love her so much.
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Post by the Scribe on Mar 22, 2013 21:03:31 GMT -5
Linda Ronstadt had a career longer than most of her peers and in my opinion it was her diversity that kept it going, opening her up to new sets of fans and cultures with each change. It was also this diversity that kept her going. I seriously doubt she could have continued doing rock and roll for very long and enjoyed it enough to continue. It wasn't music made for a singer of her caliber. Sure, her sales may have declined but it was the rarest of rare acts whose sales didn't decline. As a result of her diversity she will go down as one of the all time musical greats of our time, sales or no sales.
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Post by eddiejinnj on Mar 23, 2013 6:46:15 GMT -5
well said az and you gang know i have been saying the same thing for a long time. she had a great diverse career and each phase had it ups and downs etc. one could say there were some sales declines in the 90's but she won a lot of grammys which she always deserved. also, say dedicated; it did very well for technically a children's album and was well known. the 2 albums from '99 did well. considering her health, she really kept in there as much as possible and also raise her kids. kudos eddiejinnj
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Post by MokyWI on Mar 23, 2013 9:22:11 GMT -5
I wouldn't waste your time wishing she had continued like she was in the 70's, I have a feeling she is just fine with the way things worked out, and she got to do the music that she always wanted to do in the first place, she just had to make a lot of money for the record company first before she could make what she REALLY WANTED to make, she did, and I think she is pleased with her career and the way things turned out.
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Post by MokyWI on Mar 23, 2013 9:28:07 GMT -5
Its great to see the new people on here who are discovering these albums, especially the less known new albums that us old timers have felt were slighted. We are seeing new people on this site, that is very promising sign that she might be "nighted" at some point.
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Post by RKEANE49 on Mar 23, 2013 9:28:44 GMT -5
I think that album Winter Light was a pretty decent one. Her song selection was quite inspired.Just listen to the warhorse Any had a heart. Her take on this often sung gem is thrilling. On the other hand, the album We Ran was quite the disappointment. Although there were pretty classic L R moments on it the album ultimately fails... in a big way She herself had admitted that Glyn Johns had a very different style of making albums; he was not as fussy as she could be. That's not to say it was a bad thing on her part. She had still been quite ill during the making of this album.. they even propped it up with discarded tracks from the winter Light sessions.. I believe mostly that her albums in general succeeded because she had ome producer(peter Asher) who was in sync. with Linda. I like the Rod wood era Rod Stewart sound on the title track, but Linda's vocal is not good at all . She sounds like exhausted. right from the very top of the album.I do love the final tracks beginning with Damage, that is truely one of her best Rock performances.
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Post by kgreen on Mar 23, 2013 10:19:39 GMT -5
I love how Linda sang "We Ran" Love the smooth octave jump and transition from we....to ran. I defy anyone to try and do it without sounding like a squealing pig from Silk Purse....lol. One of the great things about Linda's talent and diverse career is there is music for everyone. If you don't like her rock, she has standards....if you don't like that there might be classical or country or mariachi.....you get the idea. Her talent has taken me to musical styles (many times on the same recording!!) I did not at the time appreciate or even like but she made me "get it"! I am thankful for that and has made me much more eclectic in my tastes. She also sets a high standard and makes it hard for other performers to meet her high level of artistry. Would love if she continued her singing career with more softer material like she did with Ann Savoy and recently her duet with Jimmy Webb. It's clear she could still do that and sound magnificent. I don't care if she can't hit and sustain those monster notes that she easily hit during her heyday. The world could use more Linda...more beauty. Alas, she has a huge songbook if we indeed are at the end. Kev
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Post by erik on Mar 23, 2013 11:21:18 GMT -5
Quote by ronstadtfanaz:
Of course I agree that she'll go down as one of the greats, but it won't necessarily be as a result of her diversity alone, which I think is a touch overrated. What needs to be looked at much more closely than it has been, both by the media (which has fallen asleep at the switch in this matter), and by us fans especially, is her influence on several different generations, starting with Emmylou, Nicolette Larson, and Karla Bonoff from her own generation, through Maria McKee (in the 80s); Trisha Yearwood, Sheryl Crow, Patty Loveless, Martina McBride, and Tish Hinojosa in the 90s; and, in recent years, Tift Merritt and Caitlin Rose. And that's just a mere handful, many of them singer/songwriter artists, roots-rockers, mainstream country, or alternative country/Americana. Albums like Winter Light and We Ran, regardless of how poorly they sold to a general public brainwashed by MTV and tabloid television during the 1990s, clearly had a great deal to do with that. But it is the artists she's influenced that will be an even bigger part of her legacy than her diversity (IMHO).
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Post by sliderocker on Mar 23, 2013 15:24:43 GMT -5
Linda Ronstadt had a career longer than most of her peers and in my opinion it was her diversity that kept it going, opening her up to new sets of fans and cultures with each change. It was also this diversity that kept her going. I seriously doubt she could have continued doing rock and roll for very long and enjoyed it enough to continue. It wasn't music made for a singer of her caliber. Sure, her sales may have declined but it was the rarest of rare acts whose sales didn't decline. As a result of her diversity she will go down as one of the all time musical greats of our time, sales or no sales. I think the diversity kept her career going, her willingness to take chances with doing something different, but I also think one keep doing something to the point of turning people off. People - as in the general music fans as opposed to fans dedicated to the artist - don't necessarily want an artist doing something radically different. They want the artist doing the same kind of songs that brought the artist to their attention. For the artist to keep doing something other than what brought them fame and fortune is to risk losing fans along the way, and also run the risk some might regard an artist's later work (and the artist as well) as pretentious. Rock and roll may not have been music made for a singer of Linda's caliber for her to have kept doing it and enjoying it, but it was that genre that gave her the greatest visibility she had with the public. But, maybe her problem wasn't with the genre in and of itself but in its evolution. Maybe she didn't want to do the kind of songs that others were doing, written by the professional hitmakers, or was bored of it and couldn't find enough songs to make up an entire album. When he was asked at his 1972 press conference for the Madison Square Garden concert as to why he didn't record an album of all rock songs, Elvis Presley said he wanted to but he couldn't find enough rock songs to make up an album. The songs were out there and it wasn't a question of whether a song was good or bad, but Elvis finding a song that was suitable for him. Linda was probably the same way: it had to be suitable for her and not whether the song was good or bad.
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Post by profstadt on Mar 25, 2013 18:51:44 GMT -5
I think the diversity kept her career going, her willingness to take chances with doing something different, but I also think one keep doing something to the point of turning people off. People - as in the general music fans as opposed to fans dedicated to the artist - don't necessarily want an artist doing something radically different. They want the artist doing the same kind of songs that brought the artist to their attention. For the artist to keep doing something other than what brought them fame and fortune is to risk losing fans along the way, and also run the risk some might regard an artist's later work (and the artist as well) as pretentious. Rock and roll may not have been music made for a singer of Linda's caliber for her to have kept doing it and enjoying it, but it was that genre that gave her the greatest visibility she had with the public. But, maybe her problem wasn't with the genre in and of itself but in its evolution. Maybe she didn't want to do the kind of songs that others were doing, written by the professional hitmakers, or was bored of it and couldn't find enough songs to make up an entire album. When he was asked at his 1972 press conference for the Madison Square Garden concert as to why he didn't record an album of all rock songs, Elvis Presley said he wanted to but he couldn't find enough rock songs to make up an album. The songs were out there and it wasn't a question of whether a song was good or bad, but Elvis finding a song that was suitable for him. Linda was probably the same way: it had to be suitable for her and not whether the song was good or bad. I agree completely with this assessment. Its probably unrealistic to expect a rock star to continue to perform and be successful doing the same kind of music that made him/her popular in the first place. Not only do the music and audience tastes evolve through generational changes, but the performer also matures and evolves, too. And changing to other musical genres in later years is a way to stay relevant and is form of survival. That last statement is probably a bit too cynical in Linda's case, because it is clear (to me, at least) that her forays into operetta and the Nelson series made her a better technical singer which only served to complement her native talents and gifts. This situation seems to not be necessarily true in all musical genres, e.g. Sinatra had a long career doing essentially the same thing.
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Post by Robert Morse on Mar 26, 2013 12:01:58 GMT -5
Had it not been for the diversity I think Linda would have packed it in years ago. Had she not had the opportunity to explore many genres I she would have been bored to tears and closed up shop a long time ago. Let's also not forget that her explorations were also wildly successful - all you have to do is look at the sales of What's New and Canciones to confirm that.
Personally I am glad that Linda ventured out into other types of music - she has broadened the scope of what I listen to and also introduced me to many artists who are now among my favorites.
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markv
A Number and a Name
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Post by markv on Mar 26, 2013 13:06:34 GMT -5
DITTO ROB
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Post by profstadt on Mar 26, 2013 18:01:48 GMT -5
Had it not been for the diversity I think Linda would have packed it in years ago. Had she not had the opportunity to explore many genres I she would have been bored to tears and closed up shop a long time ago. Let's also not forget that her explorations were also wildly successful - all you have to do is look at the sales of What's New and Canciones to confirm that. Personally I am glad that Linda ventured out into other types of music - she has broadened the scope of what I listen to and also introduced me to many artists who are now among my favorites. Absolutely! I think many of us would feel the same way if they thought about it.
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Post by sliderocker on Mar 26, 2013 19:37:25 GMT -5
Had it not been for the diversity I think Linda would have packed it in years ago. Had she not had the opportunity to explore many genres I she would have been bored to tears and closed up shop a long time ago. Let's also not forget that her explorations were also wildly successful - all you have to do is look at the sales of What's New and Canciones to confirm that. Personally I am glad that Linda ventured out into other types of music - she has broadened the scope of what I listen to and also introduced me to many artists who are now among my favorites. I've got doubts that Linda would've packed it in if it hadn't been for the diversity in her music. If the big band style recordings and Mexican-language albums had been commercial flops instead of being a success, she might well have resigned herself to recording more rock and country. Or maybe someone could've enticed her into writing or cowriting more of her own songs and relying less on songs written by others. Or encouraged her to at least look at songwriters other the ones she covered with some regularity.
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Post by erik on Mar 27, 2013 9:53:43 GMT -5
Quote by mikekoecher:
With all due respect, whether Linda should still have continued doing in the 90s what she did in the 70s isn't what is at issue. The issue, I think, is twofold. One is that, as I've said, the music-buying public, during the 90s, if not sooner, began to see her stylistic shifts from jazz standards to Mexican rancheras and then back into pop and country not as a sign of diversity but as a sign of artistic confusion; and whether you agree with that perception or dismiss it as an attitude of so-called "fair weather fans", it nevertheless existed. People just began to get turned off by it.
The second thing is that these stylistic shifts basically fragmented the fan base that she still had into different sectors: one in favor of the Spanish material; another in favor of the jazz standards; another in favor of the material on Dedicated To The One I Love or A Merry Little Christmas; and still another in favor of what she did in extending her country-rock legacy, like on We Ran. The fan bases rarely, if ever, crossed over from their own little covens to result in steady album sales and, with any luck, radio airplay.
There are times when I get the feeling that any kind of legitimate criticism of Linda is a sign of disloyalty in the eyes of some people here, and that is not nearly the case. I don't believe in gratuitous slams of her (like Dave Marsh and Robert Christgau have done repeatedly in the press), but I also don't believe in the notion that she cannot be critiqued ever.
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Post by Richard W on Mar 27, 2013 11:28:27 GMT -5
I'm a fan because of that voice, not the style of music.
When she led me to standards, I was thrilled with the astonishing sound of a whole other voice, one I hadn't heard on the country-rock albums.
Ditto when I followed her into the rancheras. Again, another amazing facet that I hadn't heard before.
I couldn't imagine if I'd stopped listening after, say, Mad Love. I can only pity those who gave up and missed out on all the rest.
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Post by the Scribe on Mar 27, 2013 11:53:19 GMT -5
Linda made enough money by the end of the 1970's for both herself and her record company that she felt emboldened to follow her bliss. By 1982, the handwriting was on the wall with “rock and roll” as Get Closer sales and airplay was more of a struggle and somewhat disappointing. Her heart wasn’t in it.
The 80’s emergence of Madonna and a new musical tide made her switch to the Great American Songbook a very smart move but it was not so much of a risk as one would think. The greater risk would have been had her next album been a Rocker that absolutely flopped. It may have totally ended her career disallowing her record company from taking any risk with What's New. She made that move while she was still somewhat “hot” and had “musical capital” left to spend.
What’s New(s) great success allowed her to go on and it set the precedent that she was “smarter” than the music execs that were so reluctant to support her genre change. It set the stage for a second change into Country with Trio which was so successful that the giddy execs were more than happy (if not a bit side-swiped) to allow her radical departure into yet ANOTHER successful genre change with Mariachi music. That was a salute to her father and her heritage, and that one made musical history. At that point she was asked if she would ever make another Rock album again and she said "not unless I can find 10 great songs" and we know that recording came to be CLARHLTW. A huge success. She really didn't need to go any further after this musically or career-wise. She could have stopped as her rock fan base was back (not that they ever left in any great number) as strong as ever plus she now had a strong Country and pre-Boomer following along with a whole new career in Spanish. Anything past that point was icing on the cake.
Unfortunately she began to become plagued by health issues which made for a very difficult decade. Even so, she has given her fans and record company a new album just about every year to year-and-a-half since she came onto the music scene until the year 2000. By then she was 54 years old with a successful 33 year career span. Scattered in between her album successes were hundreds of wonderful guest appearances, some of which rivaled her single successes.
Even her old fans, as old fans do, become pre-occupied with living life and expanding their musical universe if they ever find the time. I don't know of any other act that lasted this long with such a diverse fan base. I think this “record” speaks for itself and we her fans are much richer for it.
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Post by Richard W on Mar 27, 2013 12:27:28 GMT -5
We sometimes neglect the successes when speaking of her mid-to-late career, so thanks for restating them, ronstadtfanaz.
Still, Winter Light and We Ran are, as Erik points out, criminally overlooked albums that should have been eagerly embraced by the same rock/country/pop fan base that sent CLAR to the top. Why they didn't snap up these two gems is attributable, perhaps, to the fact (stated above) that that very fan base had things on its mind other than buying music which, as we all know, is largely the passion/obsession of the young -- and the young create their own idols.
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Post by the Scribe on Mar 27, 2013 12:43:59 GMT -5
Tweens and slightly older seem to be the main target of the industry as they spend the $. Will their loyalties stick with Justin more than a few years down the road even if he sticks with whatever genre he is famous for? I doubt it. They will be in college or starting careers and families. Music becomes secondary. But that won't be Bieber's fault any more than it was Linda's fault. And todays tweens too will become irrevelant after 20. We live in a changing world. The most loyal of the loyal will stick around assuming their idol does and everyone else moves on or comes back for a visit now and then. Meanwhile the media does its own thing. All should hope for a career like Linda's and the talent to branch out like she did. No matter how good Linda or Justins' future albums may be it will never be the new flavor of the day and that is where the focus is. Lament and blame are not realistic in this type of culture.
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Post by Robert Morse on Mar 27, 2013 13:40:53 GMT -5
Quote by mikekoecher: Critquing Linda is perfectly fine. Everything she recorded is not a gem - including some of what she recorded in the 70's. Where I think the issue is - and this is just my opinion - is in wishing Linda had stayed in her 70's formula right through to 2013 and had never had to guts to explore the other types of music she wanted to make. I also do not understand the need to constantly pit one type of music she recorded against another. People may have an affection for one style over another but that does not necessarily make it "better". One could argue that Linda's sales in the 90's were merely the result of a changing music industry - when you think about it how many of her contemproraries are still selling millions? I have a hard time with the "confusion" idea as well. Was it confusion that led to Linda selling several million copies of "What's New?" or led to her performing Canciones for 18 performances on Broadway?
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Post by Robert Morse on Mar 27, 2013 13:54:28 GMT -5
We sometimes neglect the successes when speaking of her mid-to-late career, so thanks for restating them, ronstadtfanaz. Still, Winter Light and We Ran are, as Erik points out, criminally overlooked albums that should have been eagerly embraced by the same rock/country/pop fan base that sent CLAR to the top. Why they didn't snap up these two gems is attributable, perhaps, to the fact (stated above) that that very fan base had things on its mind other than buying music which, as we all know, is largely the passion/obsession of the young -- and the young create their own idols. Great point. Some of those mid to late career successes rival anything from earlier periods (Trio, CLAR, What's New) and they often get lost in the shuffle. I think Winter Light might have suffered due to lack of promotion and no tour. I remeber living in L.A. at that time and seeing several billboard advertisements and Linda did do the tonight show - but there was not much else if I recall. That may have had some impact on sales but also may have been the only choice to make due to health reasons. I think the change in the fan base is also a factor. As we get older priorities change. I finally got to listen to Emmylou's latest last night a full month after its release - life just kind of gets in the way sometimes of things that would have been priority 30 years ago:)
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Post by the Scribe on Mar 27, 2013 15:12:24 GMT -5
life just kind of gets in the way sometimes of things that would have been priority 30 years ago:)
Everything seems so complicated and time flies by as we age. Most of us are lucky to still be around.
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Post by sliderocker on Mar 27, 2013 15:24:15 GMT -5
Critquing Linda is perfectly fine. Everything she recorded is not a gem - including some of what she recorded in the 70's. Where I think the issue is - and this is just my opinion - is in wishing Linda had stayed in her 70's formula right through to 2013 and had never had to guts to explore the other types of music she wanted to make.
That is the point I was making about fandom, in which there are many fans who want an artist to stay where they are (or were) musically and don't want them to change too dramatically. The artist has an obligation, I think, to listen to what his or her or their fans want, as it's a kind of suicidal risk for any artist to say to their fans, "F--k you! I'm going to do what I want." Suicidal because if the artist has wealth, it's because of the fans. The recording industry is full of artists who recorded all sorts of great music but who sold nothing or next to nothing. There are many artists who do listen to their fans and what the fans are wanting from them. And balancing artistic desires and fan expectations can be a delicate balance for any artist.
I also do not understand the need to constantly pit one type of music she recorded against another. People may have an affection for one style over another but that does not necessarily make it "better". One could argue that Linda's sales in the 90's were merely the result of a changing music industry - when you think about it how many of her contemproraries are still selling millions?
Quite right, there is no need to constantly pit one type of music Linda recorded against another, yet on the other hand, I don't think it's a question of one being better than the other, unless one is trying to imply an artist was getting into a musical rut by staying in one genre. Many of Linda's contemporaries stayed in the musical genres that brought them to the attention of the fans. There was no "Gee, I'm tired of singing this crap and want to try my hand at singing something else!" An artist can grow within the genre in which they found success although granted, it can be harder when the artist has a disadvantage, like not being a songwriter.
I have a hard time with the "confusion" idea as well. Was it confusion that led to Linda selling several million copies of "What's New?" or led to her performing Canciones for 18 performances on Broadway?
The confusion I think can be in an audience wondering about an artist's commitment. Linda followed her musical muse but did she do so with indifference as to what her fans wanted to hear from her? There's no question she had great success with the multi-million selling What's New or the 18 performances of Canciones on Broadway but here again, how many of her older, original fans yearned for the pre-What's New Linda? Granted, Linda made some new fans in the What's New era but how many of those fans stuck around with her through the Canciones era and what came afterwards? One can make the argument that the fans of the What's New era were fair weather fans who didn't becomes fans of Linda's entire recorded output. Likewise, it was said the Spanish-sung recordings Linda sold, sold more in the Latin market within the US than within the general population. Likewise, the fans in the Latin market did not acquire Linda's overall catalog. Or maybe they were fans all along and had the recordings to begin with, but likewise, where were they on Linda's other solo recordings that came afterwards?
Linda had a pretty large fan base before What's New, a fan base that liked what she did in the mid-to late 70s and early 80s, and probably would've kept liking what she would've done if she had remained exclusive to country-rock. There were fans who did not like the 1940s standards or the Spanish-sung recordings, though just how many fans she lost during that time is unknown because she did pick up some new fair weather fans. There are those of us who love what Linda did no matter what but we are the minority rather the majority.
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Post by Richard W on Mar 27, 2013 18:42:56 GMT -5
Back to the subject at hand, Linda blew me away with her version of Dylan's Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (although I still don't get the meaning of the title). It quickly became a top 10 favorite of her recorded performances.
Some critics quibbled, as usual, that she somehow didn't understand the song and missed the boat in interpreting it, but I argue that her shift from initially pretty to finally jaded on each verse reflects the disillusionment of the song's narrator.
She just rocks that verse about the doctor and the shot and doesn't know what it is she's got.
To say nothing of her sly nod to Dylan's own voice and phrasing.
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Post by the Scribe on Mar 27, 2013 18:51:08 GMT -5
Back in the day a bad review for Linda seemed like an international incident but when I look at reviews of some of todays artists I think "what was I complaining about?" In reality most of her reviews were not so bad and the negativity may have been overblown. No matter, I still don't forgive Robert and Georgia Christgau (no relation) and then there is the matter of Dave Marsh.
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Post by erik on Mar 27, 2013 20:02:21 GMT -5
Quote by ronstadtfanaz:
I have never been able to find anything negative that Georgia Christgau ever said about Linda. In fact, I recall seeing her name in Mary Ellen Moore's 1978 bio on Linda, and Georgia pointed out a number of positive attributes about Linda's persona and the differences between Linda and her fellow female thespians in the 1970s.
Of course, Robert Chrsitgau and Dave Marsh are a whole different kettle of fish...that I'd personally like to fry.
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