Linda Ronstadt (album)
Encyclopedia
Linda Ronstadt is the third solo album by Linda Ronstadt
, released in 1971 on the Capitol Records
label. The album peaked at #163 on Billboard's album chart and is considered to be a front-runner in the country rock
music genre.
to assemble a touring band; Frey did so with members of Don Henley
’s band Shiloh, who were signed to Amos Records at the same time as Frey’s previous band, Longbranch Pennywhistle
. The touring band, augmented by pedal steel guitar
ist Sneaky Pete Kleinow
and producer John Boylan on guitar, accompanied Ronstadt on six of the album’s ten tracks, including three that were recorded live at The Troubadour
nightclub in West Hollywood
, California
. The other members of the original Eagles lineup, Bernie Leadon
and Randy Meisner
, appeared on other tracks as session musicians, with Meisner accompanying Ronstadt on backing vocals with the live band on “Birds” and “Rescue Me”. Frey, Henley, Leadon and Meisner formed the Eagles, with Ronstadt’s blessing, after the album’s release. Other notable session musicians on the album include fiddler Gib Guilbeau
, pedal steel guitar
ist Buddy Emmons
, and Herb Pedersen
on guitar, banjo and backing vocals.
Side 2
Production notes:
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
, released in 1971 on the Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
label. The album peaked at #163 on Billboard's album chart and is considered to be a front-runner in the country rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
music genre.
History
Prior to recording of the album, Ronstadt hired Glenn FreyGlenn Frey
Glenn Lewis Frey is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Frey formed the Eagles after he met drummer Don Henley in 1970 and the two eventually joined Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her summer tour. The Eagles formed in 1971 and...
to assemble a touring band; Frey did so with members of Don Henley
Don Henley
Donald Hugh "Don" Henley is an American singer, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful solo career. Henley was the drummer and lead vocalist for the Eagles from 1971–1980, when the band broke up...
’s band Shiloh, who were signed to Amos Records at the same time as Frey’s previous band, Longbranch Pennywhistle
Longbranch Pennywhistle
Longbranch Pennywhistle was a country rock/folk music group consisting of Glenn Frey and John David Souther.They played as a duo in the late sixties at Doug Weston's Troubadour Nightclub in West Hollywood, Calif. They released a self-titled album in 1969 under the Amos Records label. However, the...
. The touring band, augmented by pedal steel guitar
Pedal steel guitar
The pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"...
ist Sneaky Pete Kleinow
Sneaky Pete Kleinow
Peter E. "Sneaky Pete" Kleinow was an American country-rock musician, songwriter, and a motion picture special effects artist...
and producer John Boylan on guitar, accompanied Ronstadt on six of the album’s ten tracks, including three that were recorded live at The Troubadour
The Troubadour
The Troubadour is a nightclub located in West Hollywood, California, USA, at 9081 Santa Monica Boulevard just east of Doheny Drive and the border of Beverly Hills.The club was founded in 1957 by Doug Weston...
nightclub in West Hollywood
West Hollywood, California
West Hollywood, a city of Los Angeles County, California, was incorporated on November 29, 1984, with a population of 34,399 at the 2010 census. 41% of the city's population is made up of gay men according to a 2002 demographic analysis by Sara Kocher Consulting for the City of West Hollywood...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The other members of the original Eagles lineup, Bernie Leadon
Bernie Leadon
Bernard Mathew "Bernie" Leadon, III is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Prior to the Eagles, he was a member of two pioneering and highly influential country rock bands, Dillard & Clark and the Flying Burrito Brothers...
and Randy Meisner
Randy Meisner
Randy Herman Meisner is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of Poco and the Eagles...
, appeared on other tracks as session musicians, with Meisner accompanying Ronstadt on backing vocals with the live band on “Birds” and “Rescue Me”. Frey, Henley, Leadon and Meisner formed the Eagles, with Ronstadt’s blessing, after the album’s release. Other notable session musicians on the album include fiddler Gib Guilbeau
Gib Guilbeau
Floyd August "Gib" Guilbeau is an American country-rock musician and songwriter. As a member of Nashville West, Swampwater, and the Flying Burrito Brothers, Guilbeau helped pioneer the fusion of rock and country music in the 1960s....
, pedal steel guitar
Pedal steel guitar
The pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"...
ist Buddy Emmons
Buddy Emmons
Buddy Emmons , is an American guitarist.Emmons has been called "The World's Foremost Steel Guitarist" and his talent is greatly admired by fellow steel guitarists...
, and Herb Pedersen
Herb Pedersen
Herb Pedersen is an American musician, guitarist, banjo player, and singer-songwriter who has played a variety of musical styles over the past forty years including country, bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, folk, folk rock, country rock, and has worked with numerous musicians in many different...
on guitar, banjo and backing vocals.
Track listing
Side 1- "Rock Me On The Water" (Jackson BrowneJackson BrowneJackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
) - 3:40 - "Crazy ArmsCrazy Arms"Crazy Arms" is an American country song recorded by Ray Price. The song, released in May 1956, went on to become a hit that year and a honky-tonk standard. It was Price's first number one hit. The song was written by Ralph Mooney and Charles Seals...
" (Ralph Mooney, Chuck Seals) - 3:33 - "I Won't Be Hangin' Round" (Eric KazEric KazEric Kaz, born in Brooklyn, New York in 1947, is a singer-songwriter active mainly in the late 1960s and the 1970s.-Biography:He first appeared on the popular music scene in the mid-60s playing piano in a band called Children of Paradise with Happy and Artie Traum...
) - 3:03 - "I Still Miss SomeoneI Still Miss Someone"I Still Miss Someone" is the title of a song written and originally recorded by American country music singer Johnny Cash. He first recorded it in 1958 as the b-side to "Don't Take Your Guns to Town".-History:...
" (Johnny CashJohnny CashJohn R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
, Roy Cash Jr.) - 2:42 - "In My Reply" (Livingston TaylorLivingston TaylorLivingston Taylor is an American singer-songwriter, born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He attended the Westtown School in Pennsylvania...
) - 3:32
Side 2
- "I Fall to PiecesI Fall to Pieces"I Fall to Pieces" is a single released by Patsy Cline in 1961, and was featured on her 1961 studio album, Patsy Cline Showcase. "I Fall to Pieces" was Cline's first #1 hit on the Country charts, and her second hit single to cross over onto the Pop charts...
" (Hank CochranHank CochranGarland Perry "Hank" Cochran was an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting during the 1960s, Cochran was a prolific songwriter in the genre, including major hits by Patsy Cline, Ray Price, Eddy Arnold and others...
, Harlan HowardHarlan HowardHarlan Perry Howard was a prolific American songwriter, principally in country music. In a career spanning six decades, Howard wrote a large number of popular and enduring songs, recorded by a variety of different artists...
) - 3:11, live performance - "Ramblin' 'Round" (LeadbellyLeadbellyHuddie William Ledbetter was an iconic American folk and blues musician, notable for his strong vocals, his virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced....
, Woody GuthrieWoody GuthrieWoodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
, John A. Lomax) - 3:22 - "Birds" (Neil YoungNeil YoungNeil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
) - 3:01, live performance - "I Ain't Always Been Faithful" (Eric AndersenEric AndersenEric Andersen is an American singer-songwriter.-Biography:In the early 1960s, Eric Andersen was part of the Greenwich Village folk scene in New York...
) - 2:51 - "Rescue MeRescue Me (Fontella Bass song)"Rescue Me" is a song written by Fontella Bass, Raynard Miner and Carl William Smith. In 1965, it was released as a single by Fontella Bass. It would prove the biggest hit of Bass' career, reaching #1 on the R&B charts for four weeks and placing at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100...
" (Raynard Miner) - 2:47, live performance
Personnel
- Linda RonstadtLinda RonstadtLinda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
– vocals, tambourine - Tippy Armstrong – guitar
- Barry BeckettBarry BeckettBarry Edward Beckett was a keyboardist who worked as a session musician with several notable artists on their studio albums...
– keyboards - Michael Botts – drums
- Michael Bowden – bass
- Richard Bowden – guitar
- John Boylan – guitar
- Merry ClaytonMerry ClaytonMerry Clayton is an American soul and gospel singer , and an actress...
– background vocals - Dianne Davidson – background vocals
- Buddy EmmonsBuddy EmmonsBuddy Emmons , is an American guitarist.Emmons has been called "The World's Foremost Steel Guitarist" and his talent is greatly admired by fellow steel guitarists...
– pedal steel guitar - Jimmie Fadden – harmonica
- Glenn FreyGlenn FreyGlenn Lewis Frey is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Frey formed the Eagles after he met drummer Don Henley in 1970 and the two eventually joined Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her summer tour. The Eagles formed in 1971 and...
– guitar, background vocals - Gib GuilbeauGib GuilbeauFloyd August "Gib" Guilbeau is an American country-rock musician and songwriter. As a member of Nashville West, Swampwater, and the Flying Burrito Brothers, Guilbeau helped pioneer the fusion of rock and country music in the 1960s....
– fiddle, background vocals - Roger HawkinsRoger HawkinsRoger G Hawkins , is an American drummer best known for playing as part of the studio backing band known as The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section of Alabama...
– drums - Don HenleyDon HenleyDonald Hugh "Don" Henley is an American singer, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful solo career. Henley was the drummer and lead vocalist for the Eagles from 1971–1980, when the band broke up...
– drums, background vocals - David HoodDavid HoodDavid Hood , is a bassist from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He also plays the trombone and is a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame....
– bass - Sneaky Pete KleinowSneaky Pete KleinowPeter E. "Sneaky Pete" Kleinow was an American country-rock musician, songwriter, and a motion picture special effects artist...
– pedal steel guitar - Bernie LeadonBernie LeadonBernard Mathew "Bernie" Leadon, III is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Prior to the Eagles, he was a member of two pioneering and highly influential country rock bands, Dillard & Clark and the Flying Burrito Brothers...
– guitar, background vocals - Moon MartinMoon MartinJohn David "Moon" Martin is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist.-Career:Martin gained recognition in the 1970s as a pop artist and composer...
– guitar, background vocals - Randy MeisnerRandy MeisnerRandy Herman Meisner is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of Poco and the Eagles...
– bass, background vocals - Weldon Myrick – steel guitar
- Herb PedersenHerb PedersenHerb Pedersen is an American musician, guitarist, banjo player, and singer-songwriter who has played a variety of musical styles over the past forty years including country, bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, folk, folk rock, country rock, and has worked with numerous musicians in many different...
– banjo, guitar ,background vocals - Wesley Pritchett – bass
- Lyle Ritz – bass
- J.D. Souther – harmony vocals
- Dean Webb – mandolin
Production notes:
- John Boylan – producer
- Don Blake – engineer
- Larry Hamby – engineer
- Rudy Hill – engineer
- Wally Heider – engineer
- Mike Shields – engineer
- Ray Thompson – engineer
- Dean Torrence – design
- John Hoernle – art direction
- Ed Caraeff – photography