What's New (Linda Ronstadt album)
Encyclopedia
What's New is a Grammy-nominated, Triple Platinum-certified, 1983 Jazz album by American singer/songwriter/producer Linda Ronstadt
consisting of nine songs of Jazz music. It represents the first in a trilogy of 1980s albums Ronstadt recorded with the bandleader/arranger Nelson Riddle
. This disc has never been out of print.
, Ella Fitzgerald
, Peggy Lee
, Tony Bennett
and their contemporaries was relegated in the 1960s and 1970s to Las Vegas club acts and elevator music. Ronstadt recently remarked that she did her part in rescuing these songs in which she calls "little jewels of artistic expression" from "spending the rest of their lives riding up and down on the elevators."
album chart. It held the #3 position for five consecutive weeks while Michael Jackson
's Thriller
and Lionel Richie
's Can't Slow Down locked in the #1 and #2 album positions. It was RIAA certified Triple Platinum for sales of over 3 million copies in the United States alone. The album also earned Ronstadt a Grammy
nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female alongside Donna Summer
, Bonnie Tyler
, Irene Cara
and Sheena Easton
, all of whom performed live on the 1984 Grammy telecast.
As Stephen Holden of the New York Times noted the significance of the album to popular culture when he wrote that What's New "isn't the first album by a rock singer to pay tribute to the golden age of the pop, but is ... the best and most serious attempt to rehabilitate an idea of pop that Beatlemania
and the mass marketing of rock LP's for teen-agers undid in the mid-60's. In the decade prior to Beatlemania
, most of the great band singers and crooners of the 40's and 50's codified a half-century of American pop standards on dozens of albums, many of them now long out-of-print."
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...
consisting of nine songs of Jazz music. It represents the first in a trilogy of 1980s albums Ronstadt recorded with the bandleader/arranger Nelson Riddle
Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...
. This disc has never been out of print.
Production
The album spawned a major change in popular culture because Ronstadt was then considered the leading female vocalist of the 'Rock' era. Both her record company and manager, Peter Asher, were very reluctant in producing this album with Ronstadt, but eventually her determination won them out and the albums exposed a whole new generation to the sounds of the pre-swing and swing eras. In 1983, Traditional Pop Standards music was pushed aside and the one-time popular music sung by Frank SinatraFrank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
, Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
and their contemporaries was relegated in the 1960s and 1970s to Las Vegas club acts and elevator music. Ronstadt recently remarked that she did her part in rescuing these songs in which she calls "little jewels of artistic expression" from "spending the rest of their lives riding up and down on the elevators."
Reception
What's New was released in September 1983 and spent 81 weeks on the main BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
album chart. It held the #3 position for five consecutive weeks while Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
's Thriller
Thriller (album)
Thriller is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on November 30, 1982, by Epic Records as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall...
and Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...
's Can't Slow Down locked in the #1 and #2 album positions. It was RIAA certified Triple Platinum for sales of over 3 million copies in the United States alone. The album also earned Ronstadt a Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female alongside Donna Summer
Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...
, Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler is a Welsh singer, most notable for her hits in the 1970s and 1980s including "It's a Heartache", "Holding Out for a Hero" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart".-Early life:...
, Irene Cara
Irene Cara
Irene Cara is an American singer and actress. Cara won an Academy Award in 1984 in the category of Best Original Song for co-writing "Flashdance... What a Feeling." She is also known for her recording of the song "Fame", and she also starred in the 1980 film Fame.She married Hollywood stuntman...
and Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton is a Scottish recording artist. Easton became famous for being the focus of an episode in the British television programme The Big Time, which recorded her attempts to gain a record contract and her eventual signing with EMI Records.Easton rose to fame in the early 1980s with the pop...
, all of whom performed live on the 1984 Grammy telecast.
As Stephen Holden of the New York Times noted the significance of the album to popular culture when he wrote that What's New "isn't the first album by a rock singer to pay tribute to the golden age of the pop, but is ... the best and most serious attempt to rehabilitate an idea of pop that Beatlemania
Beatlemania
Beatlemania is a term that originated during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy directed toward The Beatles during the early years of their success...
and the mass marketing of rock LP's for teen-agers undid in the mid-60's. In the decade prior to Beatlemania
Beatlemania
Beatlemania is a term that originated during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy directed toward The Beatles during the early years of their success...
, most of the great band singers and crooners of the 40's and 50's codified a half-century of American pop standards on dozens of albums, many of them now long out-of-print."
Track listing
- "What's New?What's New?"What's New?" is a 1939 popular song composed by Bob Haggart, with lyrics by Johnny Burke.It was originally an instrumental tune titled "I'm Free" by Haggart in 1938, when Haggart was a member of Bob Crosby and His Orchestra. The tune was written with a trumpet solo, meant to showcase the talents...
" (Johnny BurkeJohnny Burke (lyricist)Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...
, Bob HaggartBob HaggartRobert Sherwood Haggart was a dixieland jazz double bass player, composer and arranger...
) - 3:55 - "I've Got a Crush on YouI've Got a Crush on You"I've Got a Crush on You" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin.It is unique among Gershwin compositions in that it was used for two different Broadway productions, Treasure Girl , and Strike Up the Band ....
" (George GershwinGeorge GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, Ira GershwinIra GershwinIra Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
) - 3:28 - "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to DryGuess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry"Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" is a 1945 song, with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was introduced on stage by film star Jane Withers in the 1944 flop, Glad to See You, which closed in Philadelphia and never made it to Broadway...
" (Sammy CahnSammy CahnSammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
, Jule StyneJule StyneJule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...
) - 4:13 - "Crazy He Calls Me" (Carl SigmanCarl SigmanCarl Sigman was an American songwriter.-Biography:Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York, Sigman graduated from law school and passed his Bar exams to practice in the state of New York...
, Sidney Keith Russell) - 3:33 - "Someone to Watch Over MeSomeone to Watch over Me (song)"Someone to Watch Over Me" is a song composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin from the musical Oh, Kay! , where it was introduced by Gertrude Lawrence...
" (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) - 4:09 - "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with YouI Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You"I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You" is a 1932 song composed by Victor Young, with lyrics written by Ned Washington and Bing Crosby, recorded on October 14, 1932 by Bing Crosby in New York. Bing Crosby was accompanied by the ARC Brunswick Studio Orchestra with Lennie Hayton on piano. Two...
" (Bing CrosbyBing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Ned WashingtonNed WashingtonNed Washington was an American lyricist.-Biography:Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962...
, Victor YoungVictor YoungVictor Young was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. He was born in Chicago.-Biography:...
) - 4:06 - "What'll I DoWhat'll I Do"What'll I Do" is the name of a song written by Irving Berlin in 1923. It was introduced by singers Grace Moore and John Steel late in the run of Berlin's third Music Box Revue and also was included in the following year's edition...
" (Irving BerlinIrving BerlinIrving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
) - 4:06 - "Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be?)Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be?)"Lover Man " is a 1941 popular song written by Jimmy Davis, Roger Ramirez, and James Sherman. It is particularly associated with Billie Holiday, for whom it was written, and her version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1989. Holiday's version reached #5 on the R&B chart and #16 on pop...
" (Jimmy Davis, Jimmy Sherman, Roger "Ram" Ramirez) - 4:18 - "GoodbyeGoodbye (Gordon Jenkins song)Goodbye is a song written by American composer and arranger Gordon Jenkins, published in 1935. It became well known as the closing theme song of the Benny Goodman orchestra....
" (Gordon JenkinsGordon JenkinsGordon Hill Jenkins was an American arranger, composer and pianist who was an influential figure in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s, renowned for his lush string arrangements...
) - 4:47
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 - Ray BrownRay Brown (musician)Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist.-Biography:Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one...
– bass - Dennis Budimir – guitar
- Tommy TedescoTommy TedescoThomas J. Tedesco was an American master session musician and renowned jazz and bebop guitarist.Tedesco's credits include the iconic brand-burning accompaniment theme from television's Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, Vic Mizzy's iconic theme from Green Acres, M*A*S*H, Batman, and Elvis Presley's '68...
– guitar - Don GrolnickDon GrolnickDon Grolnick was an American jazz and pop pianist and composer, most noteworthy for his work with artists such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Roberta Flack, Carly Simon, Bette Midler, Billy Cobham, David Sanborn, Marcus Miller, Bob Mintzer, Dave Holland and Steely Dan...
– piano - John GuerinJohn GuerinJohn Payne Guerin worked as a drummer, percussionist, and recording artist worldwide.Guerin was born in Hawaii and raised in San Diego. As a young drummer he began performing with Buddy DeFranco in 1960...
– drums - Jim Hughart – bass
- Plas JohnsonPlas JohnsonPlas John Johnson Jr. is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most familiar as the lead on Henry Mancini’s "The Pink Panther Theme"....
– saxophone - Bob Cooper – saxophone
- Oscar BrashearOscar BrashearOscar Brashear is an American jazz trumpeter and session musician.After studying at DuSable High School he worked briefly with Woody Herman before going on to join Count Basie '68-9, returning to freelance in Chicago with Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons, Dexter Gordon and James Moody...
– trumpet - Tony TerranTony TerranAnthony Terran or Tony Terran is an American trumpet player and session musician.Regarded as one of the most versatile trumpet players in the music business, Terran had an impact on the Los Angeles music scene for more than four decades as a specialist of many musical styles...
– trumpet - Chauncey Welsch – trombone
Production notes:
- Peter AsherPeter AsherPeter Asher is an English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He first came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a successful career as a record producer.-Early life:He was born at the Central Middlesex Hospital, a child actor and...
– producer - Nelson RiddleNelson RiddleNelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...
– arranger, conductor, orchestra - Nathan Ross – concert master
- Leonard Atkinss – concert master
- George MassenburgGeorge MassenburgGeorge Y. Massenburg is a recording engineer and inventor. Working principally in Baltimore, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Macon, Georgia, Massenburg is widely known for his 1972 paper on the parametric equalizer.-Background:...
– engineer, mixing - Doug Sax – mastering