Linda Ronstadt trade press 1980 - part 28

[Partridge]

Radio and Records, August 8, 1980








Billboard, August 9, 1980












CashBox, August 9, 1980












Record World, August 9, 1980

[erik]

It's a little bit disappointing, of course, that "I Can't Let Go" got no higher than #31 on the Billboard pop singles chart, but still 1980 would turn out to be a big year for Linda. Mad Love, however controversial it was, was still among the biggest albums of the year, and she got three Top 40 hits from it; and she was, by this time, deep into doing Mabel in Pirates. In other words, she wasn't exactly suffering or starving for attention (not that she ever went out for it intentionally).

As we all know, her decision to do The Pirates of Penzance, which would take up much of her time for the rest of 1980, almost all of 1981, and on into 1982, was based on both the love of the material, and the need to do something beyond arena/stadium concerts that diminished her love of rock and roll.

[PoP80]

 
Interestingly (ironically), "Mad Love" is a song by English singer Mabel from her debut studio album, High Expectations (2019). 

[eddiejinnj]

I thought "I Can't Let Go" was great radio material but I not exactly objective, lol!!! eddiejinnj

[tapill]

Nov 19, 2023 23:56:22 GMT -5 Partridge said:

👀

[erik]

Quote by eddiejinnj:

I thought "I Can't Let Go" was great radio material but I not exactly objective, lol!!! eddiejinnj

To be fair, there was quite a bit of competition for radio airspace, as there always is; but back in those days (or at least according to my memory), you still had largely good competition--which we don't really have now (IMHO). Overall, I think Linda did all right for herself.

[LindaFan5]

I had a lot of friends at the time who were very in to punk and so was I. My love of Linda was not exactly shared by them UNTIL they heard “I Can’t Let Go” on the radio. It was the first time they acknowledged Linda and told me “Oh, now I get it.” I was actually called up on the phone by a very music snobby friend who sang her praises for the first time over that song, and not even begrudgingly. Even now if people I meet are not that familiar with her I play that song. It’s a crowd pleaser and a rock song she totally nailed. She sang it in concert long after she retired Tumbling Dice and other rockers. So it’s obviously a fave for her too. I want everyone to understand her genius. I think now everybody does in fact share in knowing how amazing she is.

[RobGNYC]

Linda on “I Can’t Let Go,” Goldmine Magazine interview February 25, 2014. About as close as Linda ever came to praising herself:

“I loved that song, and I loved singing it, because it was such a big reach. Again, I think I sang it better onstage than my version on ‘Mad Love.’ That’s a really hard vocal; it’s so high. That song is very hard to sing. You’ve got to have a lot of energy in a certain part of your voice, and there’s a lot of muscle. It’s a muscle song, and I grew those muscles after I was out on the road for 10 nights. After we’d been on the road for 10 days, I could really sing that song.”

[PoP80]

In contrast, original version from 1965 has a totally different vibe.

[erik]

Quote by RobGNYC:

Linda on “I Can’t Let Go,” Goldmine Magazine interview February 25, 2014. About as close as Linda ever came to praising herself:

“I loved that song, and I loved singing it, because it was such a big reach. Again, I think I sang it better onstage than my version on ‘Mad Love.” That’s a really hard vocal; it’s so high. That song is very hard to sing. You’ve got to have a lot of energy in a certain part of your voice, and there’s a lot of muscle. It’s a muscle song, and I grew those muscles after I was out on the road for 10 nights. After we’d been on the road for 10 days, I could really sing that song.”

And it's really not whether she should be self-aggrandizing or anything; it just seemed that she sadly never seemed to acknowledge just how good her fans and her peers considered her as a singer (IMHO).

[RobGNYC]

Evie was terrific and, I think, underrated. She also did the first recording of “Angel of the Morning” (after Connie Francis passed on it).

[MokyWI]

Nov 26, 2023 20:36:46 GMT -5 RobGNYC said:

Evie was terrific and, I think, underrated. She also did the first recording of “Angel of the Morning” (after Connie Francis passed on it).

Agree, love Little Evie’s version of “Can’t Let Go” and “Angel Of The Morning”.

[eddiejinnj]

It is an impassioned version but overall she didn't have the vocal muscle Linda had. It is much rawer than Linda's version but some of Linda's 60's song had a rawer edge also. eddiejinnj

[PoP80]

I would also emphasize that Linda never shied away from a vocal challenge. At the same that she stresses the difficulty with the breath control and range the song requires, it was gratifying that she was able to conquer the demons and perform the song to her satisfaction by the end of the tour. 

[RobGNYC]

I saw Linda at the Spectrum in Philadelphia April 1980 on the “Mad Love” tour, which would have been roughly the 13th show. I can confirm that, yes, she “could really sing that song.”

[eddiejinnj]

I still can't believe, at times, that she played and sold out, tmk, the Spectrum. I should have gone to that show instead of Saratoga Springs, NY as I got a speeding ticket 5 mins into my turn at driving up there. eddiejinnj