Post by erik on Jun 3, 2012 12:21:53 GMT -5
The first half of the 1980s was one of radical musical excursions for Linda, ones that really didn't see her do too much in the country format. She began 1980, of course, with what is arguably still her most controversial album, the new wave Mad Love. Strangely, however, the album's very first single, "How Do I Make You?", did have as its B-side a slice of rustic Americana from Linda, albeit one likely intended for her Simple Dreams project in '77:
RAMBLER GAMBLER
03/01/80--#81 (Linda's sixteenth Top 100 C&W single)
03/08/80--#68
03/15/80--#57
03/22/80--#49
03/29/80--#43
04/05/80--#42
04/12/80--#60
04/19/80--#75
Like "I Never Will Marry" and "Old Paint" from Simple Dreams, "Rambler Gambler" was a much-covered traditional folk standard, having seen covers by, among others, Joan Baez and Ian and Sylvia. And like the other two, Linda's arrangement had her on acoustic guitar and Mike Auldridge on Dobro. The fact that it narrowly missed getting into the Top 40, and has not ever been featured on any of Linda's own compilation albums, is something of a minor disappointment because it does show Linda being very comfortable with very simple, heartfelt, and stripped-down arrangements.
However, Linda didn't quite avoid the country genre altogether in 1980, even as she took the rigorous dive into comic operetta with "The Pirates Of Penzance" that summer. She was featured on the million-selling soundtrack to the film URBAN COWBOY, duetting with her former lover and still very good friend J.D. Souther on "Hearts Against The Wind", a Louvin Brothers-influenced song that featured Ricky Skaggs on mandolin. Although obscured by the country/pop crossover hits by Mickey Gilley, Johnny Lee, Kenny Rogers, and Anne Murray that the album spawned, once again, "Hearts" remains a minor gem in Linda's songbook.
After two and a half years of being involved with "Pirates", both on the Broadway stage and on film soundstages in England, Linda returned in the late summer of 1982 with Get Closer, which, in terms of the volume of copies she had sold before, was something of a flop, but which eventually sold 900,000 copies, getting to #31 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart, and, more surprisingly, #19 on the Country Album Chart.
A lot of this had to do with the fact that two more songs left off of her late 70s projects found their way onto the album: "My Blue Tears", from the aborted 1978 Trio V. 1 sessions with Dolly and Emmy; and a duet with J.D. Souther recorded in 1977 that was a reworking of a 1962 hit for George Jones (alias "The Possum").
SOMETIMES YOU JUST CAN'T WIN
10/16/82--#71 (Linda's seventeenth Top 100 C&W single)
10/23/82--#61
10/30/82--#55
11/06/82--#47
11/13/82--#39 (Linda's tenth Top 40 C&W single)
11/20/82--#34
11/27/82--#29
12/04/82--#27
12/11/82--#34
12/18/82--#44
12/25/82--#82
01/01/83--#90
Released as the B-side of "Get Closer", which charted at #29 on the Hot 100, "Sometimes" wasn't able to get the kind of airplay it deserved in large part because of the fact that the country music industry in the early 80s was mired in a new breed of Nashville countrypolitan crossover sounds; Emmylou was one of the few 1970s holdovers still able to hold court, in part because Linda remained a staunch supporter.
Linda made one more dent into the Country Top 100 early in 1983, also from Get Closer with a Joe South-penned song that had been a Top 20 pop hit for Billy Joe Royal in 1965, and which would top out at #37 on the Hot 100 for Linda.
I KNEW YOU WHEN
01/29/83--#88 (Linda's eighteenth Top 100 C&W single)
02/05/83--#84
02/12/83--#92
After this, however, Linda concentrated for the next three years on American pop standards with Nelson Riddle, which were considered extremely risky in commercial terms (Sinatra-era classics in the age of MTV and Michael Jackson?!) but which sold every bit as well as any of her other albums. In-between, there had also been rumors that Linda would go back into country, with some help from J.D., but those plans didn't materialize.
In 1986, however, Linda, Dolly, and Emmy finally found and took the time to make their dream project come together. The end result will be explored in the next segment.
RAMBLER GAMBLER
03/01/80--#81 (Linda's sixteenth Top 100 C&W single)
03/08/80--#68
03/15/80--#57
03/22/80--#49
03/29/80--#43
04/05/80--#42
04/12/80--#60
04/19/80--#75
Like "I Never Will Marry" and "Old Paint" from Simple Dreams, "Rambler Gambler" was a much-covered traditional folk standard, having seen covers by, among others, Joan Baez and Ian and Sylvia. And like the other two, Linda's arrangement had her on acoustic guitar and Mike Auldridge on Dobro. The fact that it narrowly missed getting into the Top 40, and has not ever been featured on any of Linda's own compilation albums, is something of a minor disappointment because it does show Linda being very comfortable with very simple, heartfelt, and stripped-down arrangements.
However, Linda didn't quite avoid the country genre altogether in 1980, even as she took the rigorous dive into comic operetta with "The Pirates Of Penzance" that summer. She was featured on the million-selling soundtrack to the film URBAN COWBOY, duetting with her former lover and still very good friend J.D. Souther on "Hearts Against The Wind", a Louvin Brothers-influenced song that featured Ricky Skaggs on mandolin. Although obscured by the country/pop crossover hits by Mickey Gilley, Johnny Lee, Kenny Rogers, and Anne Murray that the album spawned, once again, "Hearts" remains a minor gem in Linda's songbook.
After two and a half years of being involved with "Pirates", both on the Broadway stage and on film soundstages in England, Linda returned in the late summer of 1982 with Get Closer, which, in terms of the volume of copies she had sold before, was something of a flop, but which eventually sold 900,000 copies, getting to #31 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart, and, more surprisingly, #19 on the Country Album Chart.
A lot of this had to do with the fact that two more songs left off of her late 70s projects found their way onto the album: "My Blue Tears", from the aborted 1978 Trio V. 1 sessions with Dolly and Emmy; and a duet with J.D. Souther recorded in 1977 that was a reworking of a 1962 hit for George Jones (alias "The Possum").
SOMETIMES YOU JUST CAN'T WIN
10/16/82--#71 (Linda's seventeenth Top 100 C&W single)
10/23/82--#61
10/30/82--#55
11/06/82--#47
11/13/82--#39 (Linda's tenth Top 40 C&W single)
11/20/82--#34
11/27/82--#29
12/04/82--#27
12/11/82--#34
12/18/82--#44
12/25/82--#82
01/01/83--#90
Released as the B-side of "Get Closer", which charted at #29 on the Hot 100, "Sometimes" wasn't able to get the kind of airplay it deserved in large part because of the fact that the country music industry in the early 80s was mired in a new breed of Nashville countrypolitan crossover sounds; Emmylou was one of the few 1970s holdovers still able to hold court, in part because Linda remained a staunch supporter.
Linda made one more dent into the Country Top 100 early in 1983, also from Get Closer with a Joe South-penned song that had been a Top 20 pop hit for Billy Joe Royal in 1965, and which would top out at #37 on the Hot 100 for Linda.
I KNEW YOU WHEN
01/29/83--#88 (Linda's eighteenth Top 100 C&W single)
02/05/83--#84
02/12/83--#92
After this, however, Linda concentrated for the next three years on American pop standards with Nelson Riddle, which were considered extremely risky in commercial terms (Sinatra-era classics in the age of MTV and Michael Jackson?!) but which sold every bit as well as any of her other albums. In-between, there had also been rumors that Linda would go back into country, with some help from J.D., but those plans didn't materialize.
In 1986, however, Linda, Dolly, and Emmy finally found and took the time to make their dream project come together. The end result will be explored in the next segment.