Linda Ronstadt - The Best of Linda Ronstadt: The Capitol Years

Wonderful early recordings!

Without going on and on with my thoughts......let me just say, if you like LR at all, you will likely love this cd. I, like many other teen-aged boys in the 1970's liked LR as she was a "cool" young woman and a first-rate singer to boot! Today, let me say, I strongly dislike and disagree with some of her silly comments on politics, Christians, etc. But that makes her like many artists in the music, film, television and other media, who feel compelled to offer up their unsolicited pearls of wisdom. Suffice to say, I don't get my political advice from musicians, actors and the like.

Onto the music.....this cd is wonderful. Even as a fan of hers in the 1970's, I didn't care for her early Capitol recordings; I was a kid and musically naive and like most, preferred hit songs. However, looking back at her first recordings (including with the Stone Poneys, not included in this set), she made some real gems. I am one who feels she lost a little something as her star status became solidified; I think Peter Asher is much to blame for that; his production did become too safe, too routine as well as too low in volume!! I'll focus on her first two albums with this review.

Her first two solo albums, "Hand Sown, Home Grown" and "Silk Purse" feature some terrific songs, enthusiastic playing and singing, no question about it. It may be that an artist simply can't duplicate a sound, a feel, an emotion in their voice that they had when they were young. The young Linda here is irresistible on such tracks as the pure, innocent "Baby You've Been On My Mind", the rockin' "The Only Mama That'll Walk The Line", the heartfelt "Number and a Name", the sultry "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight".
"HS, HG" was produced by Chip Douglas, from The Turtles, who interestingly, also produced the two Monkees albums where the "pre-Fab Four" wrote and played on most of their recordings and are surely the two more interesting Monkee's albums to listen to - "Headquarters" and "PAC & J Ltd." Douglas contributes the composition "It's About Time" on this set and it's a nice tune indeed.

LR's second solo album, "Silk Purse" in one I always considered a failure but oh, how wrong I was as a youngster! This album is now one of my favorite of hers, all-time and I like "HS, HG" a lot too! "Lovesick Blues" is a wonderful, rockin' version of the old Hank Williams song. It's a real vocal exercise for Linda and she pulls it off in spades. The next tune, "Are My Thoughts With You" is a very nice, atmospheric heartbreak song, very effective. "Nobody's" is another sad one but coming after an interesting version of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" which is given more of a rock n roll treatment, with "jingly-jangle" guitars, it comes off nicely. "Louise" is a very sad story of a young woman's death. The sound of this track is different and makes me think it was not recorded or mastered correctly as with the other tracks. Her classic "Long Long Time" is next and nothing more needs to be said. Just listen to it; it's impressive. "Mental Revenge" is a fun, up-tempo number with a nice raw feel. It leads nicely into "I'm Leaving It All Up To You", which to me, sounds very good. "He Darked The Sun" is written by Bernie Leadon, who was a member of LR's band back then, who went on with Henley, Fry, Meisner, etc. to form the Eagles. A very melancholy song which nonetheless, is very effective. "Life is Like A Montain Railway" ends the album as a traditional bluegrass style song, with gospel references aplenty.

LR's third album. self titled has an overall sadder feel, but there are some very fine performances on it as well, including some live recordings when the members of the Eagles were accompanying her.

"Heart Like A Wheel" is the final album included here and it doesn't need me to add anything to it. A very good album, period. But alas, in the polish, some of the raw emtion from her earlier recordings are lost in my humble opinion.

But alas, as I've hinted to before, I think LR lost a little something as she became a bigger and bigger star. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy "Simple Dreams", "Living in The USA" (too many remakes of famous songs though), "Mad Love", "Get Closer", "We Ran", etc. but her very early recordings were (and are) special. I have zero interest in her Big Band, Spanish language, smaltzy adult contempo type recordings, none at all. Her best albums from the 1990's are in my opinion, "Feels Like Home" and "We Ran" - both are quite good.

BTW - you can find a very young LR performing some of these early recordings on YouTube. Enjoy! November 21, 2007

Classic Ronstadt

All the early material, plus a few bonus tracks all in one package - can't be bad!

This collection clearly highlights how Linda Ronstadt developed and blossomed as a singer in her early career.

Even if you already own one or two of these albums it's worth buying this compilation CD just to get the "bonus" tracks. September 21, 2007

Brilliant! But what's with the title?

I certainly cannot add anything to what other reviewers have written about Linda Ronstadt in reviews of this CD, but what's strange to me is the very title: "The Best Of..". This makes it sound like another greatest hits CD, and I wouldn't even have bothered to look up the song list had I not been particularly bored on a certain day and had happened upon this CD in a list of search results. "The Best of..." in a CD title usually doesn't mean four complete albums plus bonus stuff on a single two-disc CD release.

But now that I have it...what a treasure! I love early Linda Ronstadt. The early albums aren't quite as slick and produced as her later huge commercial releases like Prisoner in Disguise and Hasten Down the Wind (classics in my book too). There's a rawness and energy here that just screams "I'm gonna be a superstar someday" and sure enough that's exactly what happened.

If there were a Nobel Prize for CD authorship, someone involved with this one sould get it, but the title really doesn't tell you or sell you on what's on the CD. September 14, 2007

A Musiical Treasure

Versatile and impressive are just two adjectives that appropriately describe the music of Linda Ronstadt. This package, The Best Of Linda Ronstadt: The Capital Years, is simply outstanding. I discovered her music as I was growing up in the mid 70's. This probably explains why I had never heard several of the songs on this C.D. I cannot think of another artist in modern music who can compete with Ronstadt in singing a "hard-core" country song and also equally and impressively singing "Big Band" or "Mexican styled" music. A sad reality is that today's music executives would not permit Linda Ronstadt be who she really is - a versatile and impressive artist. Simply put, if you are a Linda Ronstadt fan, you will enjoy this collection of her early music! April 10, 2007

How Can One So Young Be So Musically Mature?

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine acquired this new collection, and mentioned it to me. Although I have long been an admirer of the magnificent vocals of Ms. Ronstadt, when I looked the item up, I realized that, although I have a good deal of her late material, and her two early "greatest hits" CD's, I was missing the complete albums of these very essential works on CD. When I realized how much of this material I was lacking, I felt slightly embarrassed, and I ordered the CD immediately.

If anything, I am now even more impressed with Ms. Ronstadt than I was before, and that's quite a statement. Having been familiar for a long time with her rock and roll material, as well as her excellent Spanish language albums and her perfectly arranged pop pieces, I had forgotten (even though I was quite aware) of how much excellent, pure country material she had recorded at the dawn of her career.

And, I had somehow forgotten the fact that, like many of my favorite artists, her earthy, early recordings were some of the strongest and most artistically pure records she ever made. I had also failed to remember that her voice was perhaps at its loveliest at this stage of her career. In fact, in listening to this material again, I am amazed at how much she vocally reminds me here of two of my favorite folk artists, Joan Baez and Judy Collins, although, true artist that she is, her voice is refreshing enough and strong enough to stand up to such demanding comparisons.

And the songs! If classic country is your bag, Linda covers a wealth of material that, for her age at the time, is amazing. Her covers of Lovesick Blues, Crazy Arms, I Still Miss Someone, The Only Mama That Will Walk the Line and I'll Be Your Baby Tonight all show a level of maturity and a depth of emotion that some singers never attain, at any stage of their careers.

With a track listing that includes four complete early albums, plus bonus tracks, this is a special collection that any fan of good music will want to snap up. If you are only familiar with Linda's late recordings, especially her forays into pop with Nelson Riddle, or her Spanish language folk albums of traditional Mexican canciones, open up to her early roots and see the true depth of her artistry.

Highly recommended.
February 25, 2007

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