|
Post by erik on Aug 27, 2012 20:38:14 GMT -5
Alan was good enough to allow me to download all of Linda's May 19, 1995 concert here in Los Angeles (which I attended in person) onto my flash drive thirteen months ago, so I have a full concert here.
That said, while I think Linda had a lot of good shows in the mid-90s, I still like what she did in the 70s more because of the timeless quality of the songs she did in that period.
|
|
|
Post by the Scribe on Aug 27, 2012 20:51:30 GMT -5
On my first Ronstadt concert Linda was still singing mostly stuff from Hand Sown and Silk Purse with a JJ Cale tune thrown in. Her eponymous album was new at that time. I wouldn't mind a live show from that period (early 70's).
|
|
|
Post by ausfan2 on Sept 4, 2012 1:21:17 GMT -5
This topic has been discussed previously, see: www.ronstadt.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=53ronstadt-linda.com/v-web/bulletin/velco2/viewtopic.php?t=8506&highlight=unreleasedHere is a list of Sidewalk and Capitol Sessions from 1966 to 1972. The list is interesting as it includes details of each session and the resulting songs together with the musicians etc. It includes 44 unissued songs and/or alternate versions of songs that helps to put Linda's early career into perspective. Please note that there may be some songs missing ie: 6 songs from the 1971 Troubador live session have been released to date yet only 3 are listed here. The list does not have not include any the tracks from the Rarities disc of the Box Set, outtakes from the Get Closer and Cry Like a Rainstorm - Howl Like the Wind album sessions or the unreleasesed 1981 Album.
|
|
|
Post by Richard W on Sept 4, 2012 12:59:18 GMT -5
Wow, Aussfan! There's about a whole album's worth of unreleased material right here! Really fascinating reading.
I have to say, I'm unfamiliar with most of the unissued songs, but one that has a very intriguing title is "Take a Whiff."
Anyone familiar with this song?
|
|
|
Post by erik on Sept 4, 2012 13:35:44 GMT -5
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2012 14:03:11 GMT -5
I have to say, I'm unfamiliar with most of the unissued songs, but one that has a very intriguing title is "Take a Whiff." Anyone familiar with this song? It appears to be a traditional folk song.. drug related, as one would surmise from the title... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_a_Whiff_on_MeI remember Mungo Jerry singing this at the old Fillmore East ... I am almost having a flashback as I type this
|
|
|
Post by sliderocker on Sept 4, 2012 14:23:02 GMT -5
Ain't that the truth? LOL! indeed! Though I still wish there was a site with a cleaner distilling and detailing of the information. I'd like to know a whole lot more about the songs and the musicians who played on them. For instance, on the recordings attributed to the Stone Poneys. It's pretty well known Kenny Edwards had left the group and gone to India by the time of the third album, yet he is still listed as a musician for all of the album. Same for Bobby Kimmel, although I recall reading somewhere that Bobby and Kenny were only on the songs they (or Bobby) happened to write. Studio session players were used on all the other released tracks. Likewise, the Stone Poneys are listed on the sessions for "Hand Sown, Home Grown" that was produced by Chip Douglas yet Douglas himself said he used Hollywood session musicians, with not a word about the musicians in Linda's backing band (still referred to as the Stone Poneys) playing on the album. I'd like to know about the unreleased song entries, such as whether the song "Everybody" is the same song as "Everybody Has Their Own Ideas" or whether it's a totally different song. I've got an idea that it could be the latter rather than the former. Likewise, did musical backing tracks for the three songs that made up "Fragments" exist in some unfinished state? It seemed pretty odd that Linda's vocals for the three songs would be recorded with no backing tracks existing. One thing I did take note of is that while there is some unreleased material, there's not a lot of unreleased material and there's very little mention of alternate takes of what has been released. That suggests that it's very unlikely there is enough unreleased material for several albums, though there probably is enough for one or two albums, maybe three. It would be nice if the unreleased material could be released, but I think the unreleased stuff is going to stay that way.
|
|
|
Post by Ive Got To Know on Sept 4, 2012 20:17:36 GMT -5
Aren't there any Byrds fans on this board? They recorded "Take A Whiff" on their Untitled album.
Does that list indicate that "Birds" and "Rescue Me" were not actually live recordings?
|
|
|
Post by sliderocker on Sept 4, 2012 23:15:54 GMT -5
Does that list indicate that "Birds" and "Rescue Me" were not actually live recordings? It does seem to suggest that but I think the person who (someone in Czechslovakia) compiled the list either got it wrong or didn't check it for mistakes. For instance, he lists some of the songs produced by Chip Douglas that were on HSHG (A Number and a Name, The Long Way Around) as being produced by Nick Venet. Venet apparently did produce an early version of "A Number and a Name" but I don't believe it was the HSHG version. He also lists the song "Nobody's Walkin' Down the Line," as being on "Silk Purse," which I assume he means "Nobodys." "Walkin' Down the Line" is a different song altogether. Still, it's a fascinating list for what he did come up with, even with the messes, which is why I wish someone would take the time and care to come up with a cleaner and more detailed sessionography, including the writing credits. I kind of wondered if "Go Back Where You..." could be the song "I Hear You Knockin'," which is the only song I know of that had that particular lyric. IHYK is a song I could've seen Linda doing. Likewise, I've been wondering if "Everybody" could be the old Tommy Roe hit, rather than an alternate take of "Everybody Has Their Own Ideas." I have to wonder how hard would it be for someone to get access to the session logs and any information on any and all of the live recordings. Obviously, Capitol and Asylum were cooperative with the person who compiled this list, but would they plus Verve and Vanguard be so inclined now to give someone access?
|
|
|
Post by Ive Got To Know on Sept 5, 2012 17:33:42 GMT -5
It's all very intriguing. I wonder about "Birds" and "Rescue Me." Like, when were those extra guitar licks which appear on the Retrospective version of "Rescue Me" recorded? Also, I do hope "Walkin' Down The Line" was recorded and will be released someday, because the version she did on Playboy After Dark was terrific . . .
|
|
|
Post by sliderocker on Sept 6, 2012 1:49:14 GMT -5
It's all very intriguing. I wonder about "Birds" and "Rescue Me." Like, when were those extra guitar licks which appear on the Retrospective version of "Rescue Me" recorded? Also, I do hope "Walkin' Down The Line" was recorded and will be released someday, because the version she did on Playboy After Dark was terrific . . . The extra guitar licks on "Rescue Me" were probably there all along but for whatever reason, edited out when originally released. Linda's (or the Stone Poneys's) version of "Some of Shelley's Blues" was released with two slight variations featuring almost the same backing track. The 1968 original version had just basic guitars, bass and drums. The 1974 version on the "Different Drum" album added a steel guitar to the mix and was for years, the only version widely available until Capitol saw fit to reissue the last "Stone Poneys" album, which was really Linda's first solo album. Curiously, Capitol listed a run time for "Some of Shelley's Blues" on DD as 3:00 rather than 2:10 and on "A Retrospective," noted that the song had been released on DD in a longer version. If it was, there must not have been too many copies of the album with the longer version as the original short version seems to be the one on everybody has a copy of. My guess is what you saw and heard on "Playboy After Dark" on WDTL (or was it "Livin' Like a Fool?") may have been a recorded version of the song rather than a live performance, with Linda gauging what the reaction to the song was going to be - with a view to a possible single release. Linda as a hard core country singer just didn't seem to catch on with very many people. But, I don't the problem was with her as it was with Capitol and maybe her management. Capitol didn't give her the big push she needed until HLAW came along and by then it was too late for Capitol. Likewise, I believe it was said her management didn't like her moving towards country and tried to discourage her even though she was perfectly at home in the genre.
|
|
|
Post by Ive Got To Know on Sept 6, 2012 2:47:27 GMT -5
this seems very live to me:
|
|
|
Post by sliderocker on Sept 6, 2012 10:32:49 GMT -5
this seems very live to me: I watched the video a few times (thanx for posting the link) and it's a difficult call to make as to whether it's actually live or a recording, or a mix of the two - Linda singing live to the backing track. And we won't truly know until the recorded version of the song is ever released and the recorded version and the PAD version can be compared.
|
|
|
Post by the Scribe on Sept 7, 2012 0:17:59 GMT -5
I am 99.999 percent sure that is live.
|
|
|
Post by erik on Sept 7, 2012 8:59:02 GMT -5
Yes, it's a "live one".
Quote by sliderocker re. "Walkin' Down The Line":
Or the songs may have fallen through the crack, in their being "too country for rock, and too rock for country", a not uncommon thing back in that time. And after all, Linda's love of C&W, while unquestionably genuine, may have been viewed with some suspicion by some of the Nashville elite (Johnny Cash and a handful of others excepted) because she looked like a hippie.
|
|
|
Post by sliderocker on Sept 7, 2012 11:51:44 GMT -5
Or the songs may have fallen through the crack, in their being "too country for rock, and too rock for country", a not uncommon thing back in that time. And after all, Linda's love of C&W, while unquestionably genuine, may have been viewed with some suspicion by some of the Nashville elite (Johnny Cash and a handful of others excepted) because she looked like a hippie. Undoubtedly so, given that Linda also wasn't politically connected to the Nashville establishment, pledged no allegiance to them and didn't record there on a regular basis. Not to mention her rock roots, which the Nashville establishment hated with a passion and who viewed rock performers going country with an attitude not unlike music critics who scoffed at actors who tried their hand at singing. The Nashville establishment wanted everything country coming straight out of Nashville. If it came from anywhere else, it wasn't country - especially if it came from California! Had Linda recorded in Nashville on a regular basis and allowed Nashville to pick her songs, Nashville probably would've been willing to overlook her hippie-like appearance, although fashion wise, some of her clothing easily outshined the embarrassing beads stars, spangles and bangles stitched-clothing some of the country performers wore to their shows on a regular basis. Country performers who have always gone their own way rather than following the beat of the Nashville drum have always paid for doing so. They could be the most talented country singer there ever was but if they weren't Nashville-based or relied on the Nashville establishment, you had to be too good to ignore as otherwise, Nashville wouldn't do a thing for you.
|
|
|
Post by erik on Sept 7, 2012 14:12:08 GMT -5
It seems that Linda developed far better relations with the Nashville session musicians' "mafia", because these were guys who had already worked with visitors to Music Row like the Byrds, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Elvis. So when it came to Linda, they worked well with her, and were, for lack of a better term, more "hip" than the most of the bigwigs there.
|
|
|
Post by sliderocker on Sept 8, 2012 15:09:41 GMT -5
It seems that Linda developed far better relations with the Nashville session musicians' "mafia", because these were guys who had already worked with visitors to Music Row like the Byrds, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Elvis. So when it came to Linda, they worked well with her, and were, for lack of a better term, more "hip" than the most of the bigwigs there. Many of the Nashville session musicians at the time were musicians who had come together as a band under the name Area Code 615. Some of them had come from Memphis or Muscle Shoals or Atlanta, and were a pretty tight knit group that knew how to get a fairly good mix of country and rock. They rarely produced any clinkers although when there was a few songs that were clinkers, many of them came about as a result of putting more on there than needed to be there or not being mixed right.
|
|
|
Post by erik on Sept 8, 2012 18:29:02 GMT -5
I think also that in those days in Nashville, the session guys sometimes turned out five to six songs, and sometimes even entire full ten-song albums, in a single day's work. Even Dylan turned on the afterburners when he did Nashville Skyline, because he just felt the enthusiasm of these heavyweights. Self-indulgence wasn't their bag. Nor do I think it was Linda's, though even then she seemed to want to be just a touch more methodical in the recording process.
|
|
|
Post by sliderocker on Sept 9, 2012 17:06:13 GMT -5
I think also that in those days in Nashville, the session guys sometimes turned out five to six songs, and sometimes even entire full ten-song albums, in a single day's work. Even Dylan turned on the afterburners when he did Nashville Skyline, because he just felt the enthusiasm of these heavyweights. Self-indulgence wasn't their bag. Nor do I think it was Linda's, though even then she seemed to want to be just a touch more methodical in the recording process. Producing that many songs that quickly could also be viewed by certain music critics as the musicians not caring about how it would sound when it was finished and (in those days) on vinyl. Then again, how would the critics (or the public, for that matter) have known how long the musicians toiled on a song in getting it right? Artists in those days produced music rather quickly as opposed to later on when artists felt they had to take a year or two or longer getting what they felt was the best arrangement. And how many times out of dozens of takes recorded did the artists end up using one of the earliest takes? I don't know if Linda would've been that methodical in those days as with Capitol probably hitting her with chargebacks including interest on the money spent on recording sessions, production costs associated with the album covers and inner sleeves, unsold copies of her albums and singles, she wouldn't have wanted to have spent too much money recording. Still, she did record the alternate take of "He Darked the Sun," and one has to wonder how many takes did she do on that song and other SP songs?
|
|
|
Post by Porkpie on Sept 4, 2013 1:25:28 GMT -5
I've got some of the tracks downloaded from the Boxset but wondering if anyone could tell me which album sessions they're from, namely:
Gainesville Bandit & a heartbreaker Bordertown
Any info appreciated!
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
Post by erik on Sept 4, 2013 9:15:26 GMT -5
I could be in error about this myself, but I think "Bordertown" was meant for inclusion on Living In The U.S.A.
|
|
MJH
A Number and a Name
Posts: 18
|
Post by MJH on Sept 4, 2013 16:27:27 GMT -5
Bandit & a Heartbreaker was also meant for Living In The USA, it was recorded during those '78 sessions.
|
|
|
Post by rick on Sept 5, 2013 1:35:47 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. Richard is correct -- "Gainesville" is from the RELEASED (not unreleased) concept album of "Randy Newman's Faust." It first appeared as a concept album with Linda, Bonnie Raitt (who sings "Feels Like Home" on it) and James Taylor. The show eventually was produced for the stage at the La Jolla (Calif.) Playhouse. As for "Bandit and a Heartbreaker," for some reason, given the way that the album seems to go in reverse chronological order, I had pegged "Bandit" as intended for "Cry Like a Rainstorm." I could see "Border Town" as fitting in on "Living in the U.S.A." My two cents. For what they are worth.
|
|
|
Post by Robert Morse on Sept 5, 2013 11:03:10 GMT -5
I remember Linda singing Bandit on the USA tour....it definitely was much earlier than CLARHLTW
|
|
|
Post by fabtastique on Sept 6, 2013 3:55:09 GMT -5
I thought I had read that Bandit was from CLAR??
|
|
|
Post by eddiejinnj on Sept 6, 2013 7:54:53 GMT -5
yeah, I think rob and I discussed bandit being from the 82-83 tour right before what's new. I saw her in Saratoga Springs and she did a song I didn't know at the time. we agreed it was bandit. it does not sound at all like a cry song or mix to me. eddiejinnj
|
|
|
Post by MokyWI on Sept 6, 2013 11:01:53 GMT -5
When I saw Linda on the Boston Common on July 22, 1983 on the last leg of the Get Closer tour Ronstadt introduced "Bandit and a Heartbreaker" by saying "we're going to do a new tune we have worked up" and it was finally recorded during the recording of CLAR and didn't make the cut, then again maybe she attempted the recording of it durning the USA sessions and the recording we got was left over from those sessions. It would not have anything to do with the Mad Love sessions. Maybe it was a left over from Get Closer and didn't make the cut. She for sure introduced it as a new tune on the last leg of Get Closer Tour at the Boston Common show. My guess is it was attempted during the Get Closer sessions the first time and she was doing it as far back as USA tour. It was not meant for Simple Dreams.
|
|
|
Post by Robert Morse on Sept 6, 2013 12:35:35 GMT -5
When I saw Linda on the Boston Common on July 22, 1983 on the last leg of the Get Closer tour Ronstadt introduced "Bandit and a Heartbreaker" by saying "we're going to do a new tune we have worked up" and it was finally recorded during the recording of CLAR and didn't make the cut, then again maybe she attempted the recording of it durning the USA sessions and the recording we got was left over from those sessions. It would not have anything to do with the Mad Love sessions. Maybe it was a left over from Get Closer and didn't make the cut. She for sure introduced it as a new tune on the last leg of Get Closer Tour at the Boston Common show. My guess is it was attempted during the Get Closer sessions the first time and she was doing it as far back as USA tour. It was not meant for Simple Dreams. It's a mystery Mike. Maybe it was the Get Closer and not USA tour - the old brain is not as sharp as it used to be. Maybe the book will help to clear it all up.
|
|