I’ve been piling through this next artist’s back catalogue with wild abandon, which is he best way to pile through a thing. It is OK to pick through a back catalogue as well, but that should be done with discerning care.
Disc 1623 is…Prisoner in Disguise
Artist: Linda Ronstadt
Year of Release: 1975
What’s up with the Cover? Linda sits on the floor of what is either a photo studio or an oubliette. If she is a prisoner here her disguise is a lovely sun dress and heels, which is not usual attire for serving time in an oubliette.
How I Came To Know It: I grew up listening to Linda Ronstadt but never got into her music directly until a few years ago. This album proved hard to find, then out of the blue a used copy showed up at my record store just last week. It pays to always check the stacks, even if you don’t think you’ll find what you’re looking for.
How It Stacks Up: I have seven of Linda Ronstadt’s studio albums, which is a far cry from the 28 she released, but I’ve now got most of the ones I want to own (I’m still missing “Mad Love” but then I’m done). Of the seven I have, I’ll put it in at #5, which just shows how great Linda Ronstadt is.
Rating: 4 stars
As Frank Sinatra teaches us, if you aren’t going to write your own songs, then you’ll need two things for success: a fantastic voice and a keen ear for picking the right songs to match it.
Like Sinatra, Linda Ronstadt has an incredible voice, but she has an advantage Frank could never manage; a versatility that lets her seamlessly adapt it to a half-dozen different styles. Sinatra is always that easy listening jazz crooner. Ronstadt can be a sweet country girl, a counter culture California hippy, or an R&B soul singer, all with equal authenticity.
The record’s opening number feels determined to prove my thesis wrong. Sure “Love is a Rose” was a small hit, and yeah, as a kid I liked it on a.m. radio just fine. But despite the beautiful lilting melody, this song gets tired quickly.
Nope, on “Prisoner in Disguise” give me the deeper cuts. Like her cover of James Taylor’s “Hey Mister, That’s Me Up On the Jukebox.” Sure this is more traditional Ronstadt going soulful country at a time when she was expanding in a half-dozen different musical directions, but sometimes the old sound is what I want, particularly when it is this sublime. When the chorus hits and the pedal steel hits, Linda’s inimitable tone will have you swaying and feeling all the feels.
I also dug her cover of Little Feat’s “Roll Um Easy” which is that “California hippy” rock and roll I mentioned earlier. This is one of my favourite Little Feat songs but just like the original, Ronstadt’s was never a hit. Ridiculous.
Then when you think she can’t shift gears any more she takes a classic like “Many Rivers to Cross” and, just voice and piano, she breaks every pane of stained glass in your heart. You might’ve thought your heart was made of meat and muscle, but this song will quickly clarify it is brittle, vulnerable, and liable to sharp-edged pain when given the right stimulus. This is the right stimulus.
Ronstadt also covers “I Will Always Love You”. I know what you’re thinking. She’s crazy to cover anything ever sung by…Dolly Parton, but this song is just as strong as the original. A little less quaver, and a bit more power down on the chorus, just like Whitney would do…17 years later, mind you.
The album’s other (lesser) hit was Smokey Robinson’s “Tracks of My Tears” which landed top 10 on the Adult Contemporary Chart and blipped a couple of other places. It ain’t quite R&B, but it is the Ronstadt equivalent, and deserves a lot more love than it got. This is not just for Ronstadt’s vocals, but also the great musicianship – something consistent across the record.
I wanted to say “Prisoner in Disguise” suffered from identity crisis with all these different styles battling away, but it feels smooth and natural throughout. A testament to one of music’s greatest voices.
Best tracks: Hey Mister That’s Me Up On the Jukebox, Roll Um Easy, Tracks of My Tears, Many Rivers to Cross, I Will Always Love You
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