Linda Ronstadt - 1977 press - part 6

[Partridge]

Billboard, September 3, 1977





Billboard, September 3, 1977





Billboard, September 3, 1977





Billboard, September 3, 1977





Record World Magazine, September 3, 1977





Record World Magazine, September 3, 1977





Billboard Magazine, September 10, 1977





Billboard Magazine, September 10, 1977





Billboard Magazine, September 10, 1977






Record World Magazine, September 10, 1977

[RobGNYC]

So unfair to Linda how Billboard "Inside Track" (September 3, 1977) covered the August 24 concert. To acknowledge "conflicting reports" including her illness does not excuse saying that she "stormed off the stage." Blame those mysterious "backstage sources." For Linda's explanation to John Rockwell, see ronstadt-linda.com/artnt77.htm

[LindaFan5]

That Rockwell article is the best ever written about the source of her appeal at the absolute apex of her fame. Her sexiness was effortless, organic, honest and non threatening. I loved her but so did my grandma. It doesn’t get better than that for an artist. 1975 to 1979 were so huge for her, but onvious overwhelming. With her down to a not healthy 107 pounds, pushing herself too hard and feeling disjointed it’s no wonder she has so little to say about the era now. It must have been a crazy blur. When she describes her massive concert audiences as “they were yelling at me” it’s a little sad. I saw those shows and people did shout and here’s this wonderful woman in such a bizarre position.. In retrospect that could not have been as fun as it looked Boy was she smart to pivot the way she did.

[erik]

Quote by LindaFan5:

When she describes her massive concert audiences as “they were yelling at me” it’s a little sad. I saw those shows and people did shout and here’s this wonderful woman in such a bizarre position.. In retrospect that could not have been as fun as it looked Boy was she smart to pivot the way she did.

There's a bit to unpack here, in my humble opinion. If she describes her massive concert appearances the way she does, it seems to me like she is conflating a few loudmouth clowns in the audience with her entire concert-going fan base; and if that's what she is doing, she is really getting things distorted. Is it rude for audience members, for instance, to shout for "Heat Wave" when Linda really wants to do "Heart Like A Wheel" at a given moment? Absolutely! I don't dispute that for a millisecond. Even so, however, to conflate one or two incidents of this type with your entire fan base is neither accurate, nor fair.

As for musically pivoting, I think that had much more to being frustrated with having to play in fifty to seventy thousand-seat stadiums or twenty thousand-seat NBA or NHL arenas to become a multi-millionaires. She is right to say that those places aren't conducive for good music, either for her or her fans. However, I don't think even she believed that she was necessarily the commercially "smart" thing by doing pre-World War II big-band pop standards or Mexican rancheras. Obviously what her label, and to a certain extend the fans and the critics, might have wanted was The Sure Thing. But as the late, great film director Stanley Kubrick once said, "Nothing is as dangerous as a 'sure thing'".

[Partridge]

I found this report about the short concert from the August 25, 1977 White Plains Journal News