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Post by erik on Mar 25, 2012 12:21:08 GMT -5
Not long after Canciones De Mi Padre had won its Grammy, Linda had moved out of L.A. and up to San Francisco in a move that, in some ways, marked the beginnings of her movement into retirement. While she still felt a certain attachment to the City of Angels and the fanbase she had cultivated there, for her the trappings of celebrity that went along with Hollywood had now become far too much for her to stomach. In the meantime, however, she still felt the need to record; and even though her initial all-Spanish album had been wildly successful, it had also polarized her fans along more than just musical lines. In that atmosphere, she returned to the pop/rock genre, and fulfilled a years-in-the-making dream to work with New Orleans R&B legend Aaron Neville, who had acquired a great deal of respect among his peers both in and beyond New Orleans, but whose national notoriety had been limited to one big hit, 1967's "Tell It Like It Is." Linda also became wild about integrating the orchestral textures of her Nelson Riddle recordings into a modern pop framework, utilizing the forces of the Skywalker Symphony, the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, and the Tower of Power horn section. The end result was Cry Like A Rainstorm, Howl Like The Wind, released just before the end of summer in 1989.  Rainstorm, which was Linda's last big selling album, had a lot of the kinds of songs that made Linda famous--songs written by favorites of hers such as Jimmy Webb, Karla Bonoff, and Eric Kaz (the title track), as well a Sam and Dave 60s R&B classic, among others. The ones that got the most attention, however, were those where she duetted with Aaron, most notably the first song released as a single from the album. DON'T KNOW MUCH 09/30/89--#72 (her 32nd Hot 100 hit) 10/07/89--#58 10/14/89--#53 10/21/89--#42 10/28/89--#35 (her 20th Top 40 hit) 11/04/89--#27 11/11/89--#18 11/18/89--#12 11/25/89--#9 (her 10th Top 10 hit, and final one to date) 12/02/89--#8 12/09/89--#5 12/16/89--#3 12/23/89-- #212/30/89-- #201/06/90--#3 01/13/90--#5 01/20/90--#15 01/27/90--#21 02/03/90--#31 02/10/90--#34 02/17/90--#45 02/24/90--#50 03/03/90--#50 03/10/90--#56 03/17/90--#61 03/24/90--#81  This very rich Adult Contemporary ballad, written by Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, and Tom Snow, had the longest run on the Hot 100 of any of Linda's entries at 26 weeks; all that was keeping it out of the #1 spot on the Hot 100 was "Another Day In Paradise" by Phil Collins (it topped the AC chart during the final few weeks of 1989 and the first weeks of 1990 as well). Linda's and Aaron's voices melded in so well, a combination of New Orleans and Los Angeles, that it wasn't too much of a shock that the two of them won the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Duo/Group performance in February 1990 (their performance of the song was, to date, Linda's last appearance at the Grammys). Linda also got a Best Pop Female Vocal nomination for Rainstorm, though she ceded that one to her good friend Bonnie Raitt and her comeback song "Nick Of Time." Elsewhere, Linda's producer Peter Asher won for Producer Of The Year; and George Massenburg won for Best Engineered Recording. Cry Like A Rainstorm peaked at #7 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart, and went on to sell over three million copies. This proved to be Linda’s last appearance in the Top 10 on the album chart. While "Don't Know Much" was still on the Hot 100, a second Linda/Aaron duet was released, this one being one of the three songs on the album penned by longtime friend Karla Bonoff. ALL MY LIFE 02/10/90--#47 (her 33rd Hot 100 hit) 02/17/90--#43 02/24/90--#34 (her 21st Top 40 hit, and final one to date) 03/03/90--#29 03/10/90--#25 03/17/90--#22 03/24/90--#16 03/31/90-- #1104/07/90--#12 04/14/90--#18 04/21/90--#33 (her final appearance in the Top 40 to date) 04/28/90--#46 05/05/90--#63 05/12/90--#76 05/19/90--#98 Although it just missed going into the Top 10, "All My Life" did become Linda's biggest Adult Contemporary hit, topping that particular chart for five weeks; and both she and Aaron repeated their Pop Vocal Duo/Group Grammy for it in February 1991. Both it and "Don't Know Much" remain staples of AC radio, although in some ways those two songs would later erroneously become, in the minds of one too many listeners, the only real popular hits Linda had ever even been known for. The third and final single from Cry Like A Rainstorm fared only modestly, even though it was perhaps the most cut-loose of the duets that Linda and Aaron ever did, a perfectly fine reworking of a Sam & Dave classic from 1966 that was co-written by them and Isaac Hayes. WHEN SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH MY BABY 05/12/90--#96 (her 34th and, to date, final Hot 100 entry) 05/19/90--#88 05/26/90--#85 06/02/90-- #78 (her final Hot 100 peak position to date) 06/09/90--#89 (her last appearance in the Hot 100 to date) This song would also hit #5 on the Adult Contemporary chart; and a follow-up single, this one with Linda going solo, "Adios", one of the four songs on the album written by Jimmy Webb, would reach #9 on the A.C. chart before the end of the summer in 1990. While she would have very mild hits on the A.C. charts into the 1990s, and even penetrate the country singles chart at the mid-point of the decade, however, Linda has not made any appearances on the Hot 100 since June 9, 1990. The final three segments will look at the most recent twenty-two years of Linda's activity, both socially and musically. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2012 13:53:57 GMT -5
Thanks for the review as always, Erik... I think time has shown this album can be ranked with the best of Linda's true classics. Stereo Review rated this the best album of the month and even opined this may be the first true pop-rock album: www.ronstadt-linda.com/revcry1.htm |
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Post by Partridge on Mar 25, 2012 15:00:41 GMT -5
Good grief! What was I on when I created that web page? The color is blinding! |
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Post by Robert Morse on Mar 25, 2012 17:04:08 GMT -5
too much lemonade?  |
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Post by Robert Morse on Mar 25, 2012 17:06:11 GMT -5
I am not sure Linda ever really had much loe for Los Angeles. I thnk she landed there as a necessity for her career and probbaly never would have chosen it otherwise. As a transplanted NYer who landed in LA for career as well I think I can understand that point of view.
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Post by erik on Mar 25, 2012 19:05:28 GMT -5
I'm sure she was cynical about all the artificial trappings of "celebrity" and "stardom", which she never really took as literally as some of those she knew, but this shouldn't be taken as any sign that she never loved L.A., or its fans. The three times I saw her at the Universal Amphitheatre (1995; 2004; 2006), she was always very appreciative of the warmth she felt from the SoCal fan base, and she never had anything bad to say about L.A. that anybody who had actually been born and raised here (yours truly included) hadn't already said.
Quote by robertaxel:
This is quite true. But in the minds of a lot of Adult Contemporary radio listeners, the duets between her and Aaron Neville seem to be the only things she's remembered for nowadays; so while I would agree with Stereo Review's assertion about Cry Like A Rainstorm, it has also had its side effects (IMHO).
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Post by sliderocker on Mar 26, 2012 2:12:36 GMT -5
I am not sure Linda ever really had much loe for Los Angeles. I thnk she landed there as a necessity for her career and probbaly never would have chosen it otherwise. As a transplanted NYer who landed in LA for career as well I think I can understand that point of view. Eh, you know there are people who say the same thing about New York  but some people carry their personal preferences and prejudices with them and have trouble adapting to new environments. I learned people can adapt to any place on earth if they just give themselves and the location a chance. But, when I think about Linda's career, being in L.A. was where she needed to be. Had she started her career anywhere other than in L.A., I don't know that she would've had the same career. She might've been some long forgotten footnote in music history if she had gone to New York to launch her career. Or Nashville, which is where one would've expected a young girl like Linda who wanted to be a country singer to be if she wanted a country music career. Still, Linda was hardly the first singer or actor to move away from the L.A. area to some place more to her liking. I wouldn't have expected her to move from one big city (L.A.) to another big city (San Francisco), but neither could I picture her living in some really small town in Tennessee or on some 400 square mile tract of land in Montana. Still, as I said, people can adapt quite easily to any location if they give themselves a chance. |
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Post by rick on Mar 26, 2012 3:58:42 GMT -5
I am not sure Linda ever really had much loe for Los Angeles. I thnk she landed there as a necessity for her career and probbaly never would have chosen it otherwise. As a transplanted NYer who landed in LA for career as well I think I can understand that point of view. Rob, to each his own. Am sure you probably have heard the expression, "Wherever you go, there you are." We take ourselves and our problems wherever we go. As for Linda coming to L.A., she was certainly not alone. Joni Mitchell left Canada to settle in L.A. and write about the "ladies of the canyon." The Mamas and The Papas settled in Laurel Canyon and sang "Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Comin' to the Canyon)." And Motown left Detroit and was based in L.A. by the end of 1969, early 1970. L.A. was where the music biz was then. And Linda and J.D. Souther and The Eagles and Jackson Browne, et. al. coalesced in the City of the Angels. Linda is free to move about, whether it is to San Francisco or to Tucson or commute between the two or wherever. I hope she is some place that brings her happiness and peace. |
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Post by eddiejinnj on Mar 26, 2012 6:50:04 GMT -5
well she did find a lot of cool people to hang out with there and the scenery is beautiful. so creatively she could hang with people who influenced and taught each other. eddiejinnj thanks for this series erik
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Post by erik on Mar 26, 2012 8:59:55 GMT -5
Quote by eddieinnj:
And I think that's what she loved about the experience of living and working here: the camaraderie, and the actual work itself, that for her it was her life, as opposed to being merely a job. Obviously, as the 80s were coming to a close, the bloom had worn off of that love, as it probably would have done at some point, and she made the move up north to get away from an L.A. that she no longer recognized. She sang about that loss on "Adios." Still, she never forgot the fan base down here.
Quote by sliderocker re. Nashville:
As much as she grew up on country music, and as much as she liked working with the musicians down there, Linda has also said that she wasn't very keen about the city. She's not a native of the South like Dolly and Emmy; and her ideas about country music were cultivated by her having been born and raised way out West.
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Post by GUEST on Mar 26, 2012 14:53:47 GMT -5
Even Elton John haunted L.A. early in his career and still owns property there. Who could resist the California coast which has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. www.janetcharlton.com/category/elton-john/I think what Linda is mostly remembered for depends on your point of view (and ethnicity). She is still wildly popular in the Mexican-Mexican/American community who know little of her English music heritage. The strictly Country crowd remembers her for her top Country hits and Trio work. She enjoys a mixed bag of fans because of her mixed bag of music that few musicians can boast. This album has to be one of the greatest Adult Contemporary albums of all time. |
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Post by erik on Mar 26, 2012 20:33:11 GMT -5
Quote by GUEST:
While it is true that she enjoys a mixed bag of fans because of her diversity, I don't think it's entirely accurate to delineate who's likely to favor what style along ethnic lines, since that can sometimes lead to conflicts between fans, a couple of which I have seen for myself. In the end, while I think her career can be looked at through the various stages and incarnations, I also believe that the whole will be, as the old saying goes, more than the sum of its parts.
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Post by Dianna on Mar 26, 2012 21:49:52 GMT -5
I got the impression LA was/is too superficial for Linda. I'm not knocking it, can't beat the year round sunshine, born and raised here. But she does have a point then moved to San Fran . She missed her desert roots and thought it a good place to raise chidren but realized it had changed and she could no longer ride her pony to the drugstore/ got too commercial. Then back to Frisco again. Both LA and SF are big cities but I can see how she would prefer the latter
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Post by sliderocker on Mar 27, 2012 1:10:52 GMT -5
As much as she grew up on country music, and as much as she liked working with the musicians down there, Linda has also said that she wasn't very keen about the city. She's not a native of the South like Dolly and Emmy; and her ideas about country music were cultivated by her having been born and raised way out West. Linda's ideas about country music I think are a lot more closer to western music, which was lumped in with country (as in country-western music) and referred to that way until someone (in the 70s, I think) - probably in Nashville, wondered why western should be part of the equation and began shortening it to just plain country music. I think the Nashville establishment wanted people to know the music was coming out of the Nashville area and that western-styled musicians really weren't part of that sound. I also think western music was always a little too close to rock and roll music, another music genre which didn't sit very well with the Nashville establishment. Old prejudices died hard in Nashville, some not at all. Still, I believe Linda could've adapted quite well to living there had she chosen to do so. It's not that bad of a place to live, just as L.A.'s not a bad place or San Francisco's not a bad place to live. Or New York. If you move into the area with an attitude that you're not going to like it there or the people there, why go there in the first place? Why not stay where you are? Linda recording in Nashville on a continous basis might've been another proposition altogether, although if she had, it wouldn't have meant recording in Nashville's all too artificial paint-by-the-numbers system of always using the same musicians and backing vocalists. But, the labels in Nashville, too solidly entrenched with the establishment there, likely wouldn't have promoted her music. They didn't like artists who bucked the system by insisting on using their own musicians and back up singers. They still don't. |
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Post by erik on Mar 27, 2012 8:55:58 GMT -5
Quote by sliderocker:
Of course, there is a certain irony in this nowadays, considering how much of what Linda did vis-a-vis her country-rock recordings of the 70s has been co-opted by that very establishment over the last twenty years.
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Post by sliderocker on Mar 27, 2012 15:12:57 GMT -5
Of course, there is a certain irony in this nowadays, considering how much of what Linda did vis-a-vis her country-rock recordings of the 70s has been co-opted by that very establishment over the last twenty years. That's true but much of what passes for country coming out of Nashville today could've passed for 1960s and 1970s rock. Maybe even what passed for rock in the 80s and 90s. Linda (and quite a few other country-rockers like CCR, CSN and the Eagles among them) have been a major influence on many of the recent past and current group of country acts, so they come to Nashville perhaps wanting to sound like their idols. That's gratifying in a way but rather than travel to the beat of a different drum by using their own musicians and singers to help them make the music, they let the studio musicians make music to perfection. It gets them the hits they seek, I guess, and you can't knock their success. But, they may be this year's flavor of the year but totally forgotten the next year. |
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Post by Dianna on Mar 27, 2012 16:26:59 GMT -5
As much as she grew up on country music, and as much as she liked working with the musicians down there, Linda has also said that she wasn't very keen about the city. She's not a native of the South like Dolly and Emmy; and her ideas about country music were cultivated by her having been born and raised way out West. Linda's ideas about country music I think are a lot more closer to western music, which was lumped in with country (as in country-western music) and referred to that way until someone (in the 70s, I think) - probably in Nashville, wondered why western should be part of the equation and began shortening it to just plain country music. I think the Nashville establishment wanted people to know the music was coming out of the Nashville area and that western-styled musicians really weren't part of that sound. I also think western music was always a little too close to rock and roll music, another music genre which didn't sit very well with the Nashville establishment. Old prejudices died hard in Nashville, some not at all. Still, I believe Linda could've adapted quite well to living there had she chosen to do so. It's not that bad of a place to live, just as L.A.'s not a bad place or San Francisco's not a bad place to live. Or New York. If you move into the area with an attitude that you're not going to like it there or the people there, why go there in the first place? Why not stay where you are? Linda recording in Nashville on a continous basis might've been another proposition altogether, although if she had, it wouldn't have meant recording in Nashville's all too artificial paint-by-the-numbers system of always using the same musicians and backing vocalists. But, the labels in Nashville, too solidly entrenched with the establishment there, likely wouldn't have promoted her music. They didn't like artists who bucked the system by insisting on using their own musicians and back up singers. They still don't. To be honest, I think Linda's influence of country music is more from a mexican ranchera singer's point of view. I can hear it more in her country songs if anything ..country and ranchera is very similiar so she just borrowed back and forth, I think or incorporated it into her country songs. |
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Post by GUEST on Mar 27, 2012 19:44:09 GMT -5
If you listen carefully and know what to listen for one can hear Lola Beltran in most of Linda's music no matter the genre. Since most people don't know who Lola is they don't see the Beltranian influence. You can even see it in Linda's body language and gestures while singing in her videos or onstage. I can't help but compare what she (and Linda) perform (rancheras) to opera. I think this is where Linda's love for opera must have come from. With soaring voices like theirs one could only be truly satisfied singing opera or "ranchoperas." It is also obvious to see why Linda would be so attracted to the American standards whose well written songs allowed her voice to fly on occasion.
Lesser songs may not be as satisfying to Linda but I do have to say that in the case of music from albums like Adieu False Heart and even some on CLAR that sometimes "less is more" for us fans. Her gentle voice can be just as effective and satisfying. I hope she remembers that as her "power" subsides with age.
Some of us still want to hear the beautiful soft voice that remains. It is much better than most of what is currently out there and her arrangements are always superb!
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Post by vikingfan on Mar 28, 2012 14:34:27 GMT -5
When it comes to this album I have to say that the duets with Neville are probably my least favorite songs. Don't get me wrong...the vocals are beautiful. But my favorite songs on the album are all Linda's solo songs. I much prefer the duets they've done on his albums (Song of Bernadette, Please Remember Me) to the duets on CLARHLTW...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2012 16:06:45 GMT -5
I consider 'Trouble Again' the best song Phil Spector never recorded.. I love to play this song to demonstrate Linda's incredible vocal control and power... and yeah, she held that famous 'bliliiiiiiiiiiiiind' note live!
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Post by erik on Mar 28, 2012 16:39:33 GMT -5
Quote by vikingfan:
Part of the reason for this may be that the duets on this particular album were played so much on Adult Contemporary radio that, in the minds of a lot of listeners who weren't paying attention, were the only hits ever had (IMHO).
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Post by Richard W on Mar 28, 2012 19:03:34 GMT -5
"When Something is Wrong with My Baby" is a knockout duet. The other two, while I appreciate their artistry, leave me flat. I'm glad so many other people like them, though.
Linda's voice on this album is pure pop heaven, lush and full-throated, goosed into high gear by the sheer enthusiasm she has for the music.
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Post by philly on Mar 28, 2012 21:21:43 GMT -5
Linda's ideas about country music I think are a lot more closer to western music, which was lumped in with country (as in country-western music) and referred to that way until someone (in the 70s, I think) - probably in Nashville, wondered why western should be part of the equation and began shortening it to just plain country music. I think the Nashville establishment wanted people to know the music was coming out of the Nashville area and that western-styled musicians really weren't part of that sound. I also think western music was always a little too close to rock and roll music, another music genre which didn't sit very well with the Nashville establishment. Old prejudices died hard in Nashville, some not at all. Yes, I remember when it was called Country-Western music, till they dropped the "Western" at some point. Never pondered why though  I guess that was about the time country started to become "cool"... Hey Erik, thanks for all the "Chartstadts". Learned a lot from reading them. It's kinda sad they'll be ending, but hopefully by then we'll all be digging into Linda's memoir Wasn't Linda pondering a move to New York but it was too far from home? She has said she was always homesick. But Bob Kimmel convinced her to come to LA to start her career there. She found the movie/showbiz people there "oily" as I recall. She probably would have stayed in Tucson after her last move there, except for the effect of the dust on her lungs, and the conservative bent of the area. Her memories of San Francisco drew her back (she left her heart there I guess, lol). I suppose earthquakes aren't as annoying as the rednecks in AZ! This is from Bob Kimmels website: The LA Years
Around 1963, Bobby left Tucson to go to Los Angeles to check out the music scene there. It wasn't long before he began calling and urging Linda to come to join him in LA as soon as she finished high school. Bobby said they could put a band together, and all but guaranteed Linda that they would get a recording deal.
Linda agreed, and moved to Los Angeles after graduation. Together they formed The Stone Poney's with LA guitarist Kenny Edwards. After a few months of rehearsal (including in the local laundramat which had great sound), the trio played the famous Monday night open mike at The Troubador in West Los Angeles. That one performance was all it took - once everyone heard Linda's voice. They were signed almost immediately to Capitol Records. From a 1995 MOJO magazine article at the old site: Then again, the hysteria over the Simpson case is exactly the sort of thing which makes Linda Ronstadt glad she doesn't dwell in Los Angeles any longer- glad that she left Hollywood Babylon for the more civilised climes of San Francisco; glad that she's now come back to Tucson, the pleasant desert town where she was born and where most of her family still reside. For a singer who all but embodied the sound of LA lite-rock in the '70s, Ronstadt has put a considerable distance between herself and the citadel of corporate entertainment.
"At some point," she says, "I became aware that LA was just this giant Xerox machine which took Xeroxed copies of different regional cultures and broadcast them to the world - focused through this lens of Los Angeles sensibility, which was very blond and twee and strange. Also I got very bored with the rock and roll world. As soon as I started singing stuff by George Gershwin I thought, This is it, I'm never singing Tumbling Dice again!" |
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Post by erik on Mar 28, 2012 21:57:12 GMT -5
Quote by philly:
Well, the final three parts of the whole thing won't be without some added stuff to them, but as I said, after June 9, 1990, Linda didn't manage to get another hit into the Hot 100. She only had some scattered Adult Contemporary hits; one very minor C&W hit in 1995; and none of her albums after 1990 got any higher than #62 on the Top 200 Album Chart. Radio stations eventually stopped playing her music for the most part by the time 2000 rolled around.
For the record, as much as I have loved her music and liked her as a person by and large, which is just as much as everybody else here, I'm not afraid to make it clear on the few occasions where (and why) I have issues with some of the things she has said or done.
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Post by profstadt on Mar 29, 2012 12:20:24 GMT -5
For the record, as much as I have loved her music and liked her as a person by and large, which is just as much as everybody else here, I'm not afraid to make it clear on the few occasions where (and why) I have issues with some of the things she has said or done. Well said...I suspect you have a lot of company on this point. |
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but some people carry their personal preferences and prejudices with them and have trouble adapting to new environments. I learned people can adapt to any place on earth if they just give themselves and the location a chance. 
I guess that was about the time country started to become "cool"...