# Let's talk about the great and awesome Linda Ronstadt
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** music
**Created:** [July 10, 2024, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000 "2024-07-10T14:27:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/1 "2024-07-10T14:27:09Z")
It’s been 50 years and I have never gotten over my fascination and admiration of Linda Ronstadt.
A cover of Martha and the Vandellas _Heat Wave_ in Sept 1975 introduced her to my 1970’s generation. _Heart Like a Wheel_ was Linda’s first number 1 album that year.
Footage of her rocking out in [packed arenas is on YouTube.](https://youtu.be/3fceTi-LklI?si=jSrRW8oEMG6pltK7)
Linda never seemed comfortable as a Rocker Chick. She moved on to star on stage in _Pirates of Penzance_. Joan Jett had the career that Linda rejected.
_Heart Like a Wheel_ and _Prisoner in Disguise_ are widely misunderstood IMHO. _Heat Wave_ and _Your No Good_ launched Linda to rocker status. But the other songs like James Taylor’s _Hey Mister that’s Me on the Jukebox_ and _Love is a Rose_ are slow ballads. I especially love Linda’s cover of _I Will Always Love You_ by Dolly Parton.
_Prisoner in Disguise_ is my favorite song from that album.
I don’t listen to the following two albums from 1976 and 77 very often. _Hasten Down the Wind_ and _Simple Dreams_ are performed well. But the songs don’t grab my attention. _Blue Bayou_ is the best song on those two albums.
Linda’s Best album cover, by far! OMG even after 50 years. I’ve never gotten over Linda.
Lets Discuss her albums and songs. What do you listen to regularly?
[ ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71H-DM+lp5L._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg)
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/2 "2024-07-10T14:39:01Z")
One of my first celebrity crushes (I was eight or nine years old). My parents played the album _Heart Like a Wheel_ a lot, and it’s still one of my favorites — every song is a gem.
(Yes, I know they’re all covers, and yes, I’ve heard the originals, and I like them, too — well, I can’t stand the MacGarrigal sisters’ voices, but they sure can compose a tune.)
ETA _Hasten Down the Wind_ was the other LP my parents had. Listen for Don Henley’s backup vocals in the title track.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/3 "2024-07-10T14:47:01Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> A cover of Martha and the Vandellas _Heat Wave_ in Sept 1975 introduced her to my 1970’s generation. _Heart Like a Wheel_ was Linda’s first number 1 album that year.
I think you might be misremembering a little.
_Heart Like a Wheel_, released in 1974, was Ronstadt’s breakthrough album. But the singles off of that album were “You’re No Good” and “When Will I Be Loved”.
“Heat Wave” was on Ronstadt’s next album _Prisoner in Disguise_, which was released in 1975.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/4 "2024-07-10T14:49:52Z")
I did get mixed up. Thanks for the correction.
I have a playlist with Heart Like a Wheel and Prisoner in Disguise on my phone. I lose track of which songs are on the specific albums.
Hard to imagine Linda was with the Stone Poneys way back in 1967. _Different Drum_ was her hit. She left the band and floundered for a few years. Came back strong in 1974.
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/5 "2024-07-10T14:52:22Z")
I’m listening to the whole _Heart Like a Wheel_ album right now — thanks for the impetus, aceplace!
It helps that she had excellent studio musicians. If I recall correctly, Peter Asher — Paul McCartney’s almost-brother-in-law — produced the album.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/6 "2024-07-10T14:59:41Z")
Andrew Gold played Guitar and several other instruments on Linda’s early albums.
[Listen closely to You’re No Good.](https://youtu.be/5Pf52d57ZTI?si=OA1ULjZZfjJ53JmP) That strong Beatles sound is Andrew Gold. His musical style is heavily influenced by them.
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/7 "2024-07-10T15:01:22Z")
I feel sorry for her now. Just think, she could be a reigning Queen her soft rock genre if she could still belt one out.
I’m not sure what her medical problem is, but it ended her career.
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/8 "2024-07-10T15:06:57Z")
I finally to see Linda in concert circa 1985 (with my mother), in an anti-nuclear-weapons benefit show (so 80s!) with James Taylor and Jackson Browne.
Oh, and my aunt and mother saw her with Kevin Klein do “Pirates of Penzance” at Shakespeare in the Park (free performances in New York’s Central Park). I think I remember waiting in line with them to get tickets (basically picnicking in the park).
Hard to say which is my favorite track from _Heart Like a Wheel_. Today it’s J. D. Souther’s “Faithless Love.” Tomorrow it might be Little Feat’s “Willin’,” or James Taylor’s “You Can Close Your Eyes,” or Emma Franklin (Aretha’s sister’s) “You’re No Good.”
My kid’s neighbor’s mom has a similar heritage to Linda’s — US mother, “racially nuanced” Mexican father, relatives living in desert southwest, but doesn’t really retain much of her part-Mexican identity or culture (but may “rediscover” it someday). We chuckle about the parallels.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/9 "2024-07-10T15:06:59Z")
Linda announced it’s Parkinsons.
Horrible disease. Alan Jackson has a form of it and on his final tour. Neil Diamond has it too and stopped touring.
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### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/10 "2024-07-10T15:08:47Z")
Yeah, another lifelong crush. She could and did sing anything.
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/11 "2024-07-10T15:09:29Z")
My first concert experience was Linda Ronstadt in the late 1970s. Capital Center near D.C. It was great. I always enjoyed her music. Her cover of _Tracks of My Tears_ is a classic.
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/12 "2024-07-10T15:15:04Z")
Yes! And the second half of the guitar solo on “Willin’” is fifteen seconds of perfection. If I remember right from my childhood, it’s played (on the pedal steel guitar) by someone named “Sneaky Pete” Karnow.\*
I once analyzed the harmony intervals in her version of “Faithless Love” (sung with a male voice, starting with the bridge and to the end), because I could tell they were unusual. Tastefully poignant.
\*I was close. It’s “Kleinow.” He was a Flying Burrito Brother! Makes sense — they more or less INVENTED that whole country-rock-California sound, back in ‘68-‘69 (they appear briefly in the _Gimme Shelter_ film).
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### Author:  [@GailForce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GailForce)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/13 "2024-07-10T15:24:13Z")
Greatest singer in the universe. I’d pay good money to listen to her snore.
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/14 "2024-07-10T15:24:55Z")
> [@GailForce](#):
>
> I’d pay good money to listen to her snore.
Ha! Love it. Concur.
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### Author:  [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/15 "2024-07-10T15:28:46Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#):
>
> Oh, and my aunt and mother saw her with Kevin Klein do “Pirates of Penzance” at Shakespeare in the Park (free performances in New York’s Central Park)
I love the film of that!
I was also pleased that _The Last of Us_ caused a spike in streaming for “Long Long Time”, which is a song that needed more love.
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### Author:  [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/16 "2024-07-10T15:40:59Z")
Yup another guy here with her as a first celeb crush. It was her Muppet Show version of “Blue Bayou” that first got me.
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### Author:  [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/17 "2024-07-10T15:44:42Z")
I can’t claim to have ever listened to any of her music “regularly.” I’ll say I have nothing but respect, though. One of the sweetest voices I’ve ever heard.
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/18 "2024-07-10T15:46:05Z")
Dayum.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBmIKfm5iz4)
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### Author:  [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/19 "2024-07-10T15:47:10Z")
“In 2013, after years of struggling with her vocals, Ronstadt was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. However, she later learned that she actually had a Parkinson’s-like disorder called progressive supranuclear palsy.”
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### Author:  [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2024, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-the-great-and-awesome-linda-ronstadt/1004000/20 "2024-07-10T15:50:06Z")
Ah, my favorite female vocalist of all time. Linda was always up for trying new genres. I really like her album of 30s - 40s wartime (that’s WWII) tunes “Round Midnight.”
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