My favorites from Bella Linda were two songs she did of J.D. Souther’s when they were in a relationship - **Faithless Love **and Prisoner in Disguise. Definitely career high points for both artists. Their duet on PiD is flawless.
As to why were guys stuck on Linda? Pulleeze - that heart shaped face, big brown eyes peeking up from under her bangs, those sexy peekaboo album covers, even guys who had no interest in her music would have fallen all over themselves to spend some time with her.
Poor Poor Pitiful Me is a gaping omission from the poll, regardless of some posters’ opinions of the relative merits of Zevon’s and Ronstadt’s versions.
Oh yes! I’ve never seen that picture before but I can certainly understand just why many men began to feel they wood like her very much after staring at that picture for a while.
I would use the phrase “sex kitten” … actually … I would include that picture in a dictionary or in Wikipedia under the heading of “sex kitten”.
And she definitely does have a tremendous voice. I’m most definitely beginning to get that wooden feeling now. Whoo Hoo!
Thank you very much for that thrill.
…and “Hasten Down the Wind.” No cover of a Warren Zevon song is better than the original.
Absolutely!
You know … after staring at that picture that WOOKINPANUP posted, I’m def beginning to feel converted to her fan club.
And Poor Poor Pitiful Me is one of her very best songs. A most gaping omission. I would bet dollars to donuts that was an accidental omission by the OP.
Hard to believe I’d pick any cover of a Roy Orbison song over the original but her “Blue Bayou” is damned near perfect.
FWIW (and not to sidetrack the discussion from her singing, which is excellent) I do recall people thinking she was pretty gorgeous at the time. The roller skating poster was very popular.
I can’t be the only one who misread that sentence first time through.
mmm
It iz ze clazziic ekkkksampul of ze Freudian zlip, no?
Warren Zevon is on record as saying he preferred Linda’s version of “Poor Poor Pitiful Me”, including the lyric changes.
However, her version of “Carmelita” sucks. And every time I hear her sing “I pawned my Smith and Wesson” instead of “I pawned my Smith Corona” I want to throw something, because it completely changes the meaning of the song into something… meaningless. The story is about a writer down on his luck, and pawning his typewriter is an admission of ultimate failure. Changing it to ‘Smith and Wesson’ to sound more ‘edgy’ or something makes the song incoherent.
Yes, and why doesn’t that qualify as a “cover”?
I always liked Linda’s albums. Lots of covers? That meant songwriters got lots of royalties. Like the McGarrigles & Lowell George. Emmylou Harris was my favorite in those days, though.
However, I truly loved Linda’s Canciones albums. Some of her other covers may have occasionally lacked subtlety–but her Big Voice & Big Heart suited the Mexican classics perfectly. And I saw the roadshow, with a fine mariachi band, folkloric dancers, colorful sets & costumes…
I was just trying to be funny. But I’m not very good at it and sometimes I have to admit that it’s hard to tell the diff.
OP, here.
To explain a bit of my method of choosing songs for the poll:
[ul]
[li]I decided I’d cap the list at 10 because, well, I just decided I would[/li][li]I limited my selection from Greatest Hits 1 & 2 drawing from the peak of her commercial success[/li][li]I decided to limit discussion to songs for which I thought the original, itself, was iconic, already part of the broader cultural consciousness[/li][/ul]
I didn’t include the Warren Zevon songs because of point #3. The Wiki page for “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” even mentions that Jackson Browne pitched the song to her personally at her home, presumably when the song was still brand new. I wonder if Zevon’s recording had even been released yet.
Following this same reasoning, I actually regret including “Desperado” (I voted for it before deciding I shouldn’t have listed it) because Ronstadt recorded the song having personally worked with Frey and Henley and her version was released just a few months after the Eagles version. I wonder even if she was in the studio already before the Eagles album was released. Honestly, I had simply forgotten that that was the case.
I’d actually have included “Heatwave” before including any of the Zevon but I just don’t think anyone thinks of “Heatwave” as a Linda Ronstadt song even if they enjoy her version.
I didn’t include anything from the Nelson Riddle albums because I don’t think of Standards the same as I think of Covers. The Old Standards she recorded with Riddle were written within a musical culture and era with the expectation that they would be recorded and performed by many different performers each adding their own interpretation. I don’t think I’m alone in making a distinction between Standards and Covers though I do understand how that distinction may seem arbitrary to some people.
So, like it or not, there’s the reasoning of the OP. I did, however, say that I’d like to see people add to the list and I’ve enjoyed reading all the responses. Honestly, I thought there was a chance this Thread would drop like a brick. It’s nice to see all the interest.
I will say that the two big vote getters do surprise me:
“Blue Bayou”, I prefer Ronstadt’s version but I expected to be eviscerated for saying so. Not that I don’t think other people enjoy her version, I just thought many music fans would not accept any perceived slight upon Orbison’s brilliant original.
“You’re No Good”, I love Ronstadt’s version and I know many other people do but, for me, it just doesn’t have the gravitas and the raw energy of Betty Everett’s original. So, I’m surprised at that one as well.
Instead of “wood like” , he obviously meant “would lick”.
Really nice. Thanks for sharing.
Poor Poor Pitiful Me is missing here and ought to be the closest she ever came. But Alas it’s hard to cover and be better. It takes more than she ever had.
I can’t think of anything to check. Ronstadt has a tremendous voice, but sings with less emotion than any singer I have ever heard. I never get the impression she feels anything for the song, and I prefer the originals where, even though the voices are nowhere as good as hers, the singer sings as though the music means something to her/him.
You left off “Tumblin Dice” - which I’d vote for Linda’s version over the Stones
I missed a lot of the lyrics of “Tumblin’ Dice” until I heard Linda’s better-enunciated rendition. The Stones’ version is dirtier, but I sense that Linda liked the song more than Mick Jagger did. She sings it with spirit.
I’m going with “Blue Bayou” though. It’s just as wonderful as the original.
She also had a hit with “Alison” by Elvis Costello. I’m indifferent to either version, to be honest.
Here’s one where I definitely prefer Linda’s version: “Dolphins” by Fred Neil (who also wrote “Everybody’s Talkin’,” the Midnight Cowboy song). I think it was her first solo single, back in 1969.
I love all her covers of Warren Zevon’s songs (and heck, Mohammed’s Radio hasn’t even come up yet), but in some way I think of them as being so different from Warren’s versions that I don’t see them as competing.
I’d also vote for “Tumblin’ Dice.” I love her, so much that I sang “Love is a Rose” in a big yellow floppy hat for my third grade talent show.