10.15.2010

MISS LINDA RONSTADT: MOST SUCCESSFUL WOMAN SINGER OF THE 70'S


Last night I was watching Taylor Hackford's Hail Hail Rock n Roll and Linda Ronstadt came out and sang "Back in the USA" with Chuck Berry. It was at that moment that I realized just how much I miss her music.


Miss Ronstadt has the most unique voice and covered everything from country to opera. My mother really loved her Nelson Riddle tribute album.


I don't think Linda was a country singer though many refer to her as belonging to that genre. This woman has such a haunting voice that conveys joy and heartbreak in equal portions. Linda really moved me when I was brokenhearted and moved me to dance when I was in a joy filled room. Not many vocalists have that emotional range. Her voice has the same impact on me to this day. Linda could sing any genre and OWN it! I really loved doing this post and I hope you like it too!


Linda did try to keep her personal life private but dating then California governor Jerry Brown, and being engaged to George Lucas didn't help keep her out of the tabloids. She adopted two children and then focused her life on raising them. I really miss her so much.

Someone to Lay Down Beside Me


From Linda's Official Website: No other vocalist has had a more diversified career than Linda Ronstadt. She began her career in the mid-1960s with the folk-rock group the Stone Poneys. After the break-up of the Stone Poneys, Linda entered the country music field. In 1969, with the release of Hand Sown... 

Home Grown, Linda became the first female singer to release an alt-country album. Linda achieved her greatest commercial success in the mid-1970s when she became the first female rock superstar and the top-selling female vocalist for that decade. 

During this period, she became widely known as The Queen of Rock and The Queen of Country Rock. Achieving superstardom during the '70s, Linda went on to sell an even greater number of albums in the '80s than she did in the '70s. Her long string of platinum albums continued throughout the '80s with several varied projects. 

These included three albums of standards with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, an album of mariachi standards, and a trio project with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. She ended the decade with a return to popular music featuring her duets with Aaron Neville. 
 

Linda and Aaron Neville "All My Life" (My wedding song) WIKI Ronstadt has collaborated with artists from a diverse spectrum of genres – including Billy Eckstine, Frank Zappa, Rosemary Clooney, Flaco Jiménez, Philip Glass, The Chieftains, Gram Parsons – perhaps more than any popular music vocalist in modern U.S. history; she has lent her voice to over 120 albums around the world.

As Christopher Loudon of Jazz Times noted in 2004, Ronstadt is "Blessed with arguably the most sterling set of pipes of her generation . . . rarest of rarities - a chameleon who can blend into any background yet remain boldly distinctive . . . It's an exceptional gift; one shared by few others." In total, she has released over 30 solo albums, more than 15 compilations or greatest hits albums.

Ronstadt has charted thirty-eight Billboard Hot 100 singles, twenty-one of which have reached the top 40, ten of which have reached the top 10, three peaking at No. 2, the No. 1 hit, "You're No Good". In the UK, her single "Blue Bayou" reached the UK Top 40 and the duet with Aaron Neville, "Don't Know Much", peaked at #2 in December 1989.

In addition, she has charted thirty-six albums, ten Top 10 albums, and three No. 1 albums on the Billboard Pop Album Charts. Her list of Grammy awards and nominations are listed on Wiki

10 comments:

eye gee said...

"I loved her appearance in Bill Murray's airport lounge, SNL circa 1978. Belushi was her bodyguard."

George Kerby said...

"... and such a voice. She's one of the few who could make a cover that was BETTER than the original ..."

Scott Blaylock said...

"wow look at her there... she was WAY cute compared to the fem-bots the disney machine is dumping off the assembly line... (plus she can REALLY sing~)"

Evan Shepherd said...

Que Linda !!

Jim Buckley said...

and her back up band was........

Scott Blaylock said...

eagles

Dennis Allen said...

Stone Ponys

John Brumley said...

"Three of the guys in the Stone Ponys went on to become founding members of The Eagles."

JOHN CAMPBELL said...

"Yeah, the Chessmate was a very cool place, with some VERY cool music. I went there a lot when I first came to Detroit in the late 60s. The Chuck Berry appearance I mentioned was really cool. Chuck had just gotten off one of his "sabbaticals" and was touring as a side man for Sam Lay and wasn't even mentioned until the second set--when he tore it up! The Stone Ponys were cool enough for the day--Linda looked fantastic at the time and did sound great, too. Oh yeah...
As far as whitin' out some monkeys is concerned, point taken--what was I thinkin'!?!"

Dexter Simmons said...

And Linda was a man-eater! She ran around with some big names and never tied the knot. After all, she was never good at compromise. She did it her way vocally and romantically. We all had a wicked crush on her in the 70's and 80's! Even President Obama admitted that in his presentation to her this summer of the National Award for the Arts.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

addtoany