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Post by the Scribe on May 13, 2021 6:39:31 GMT
 Released: September 19 1978
Label: Asylum
Recorded: May-July 1978
Produced by: Peter Asher
Currently available: Yes, regular CD is still in print
Side 1:
1.Back In The USA (Chuck Berry) (3:02)
2.When I Grow Too Old To Dream (Oscar Hammerstein II/Sigmund Romberg) (3:52)
3.Just One Look (Gregory Carroll/Doris Payne) (3:20)
4.Alison (Elvis Costello) (3:20)
5.White Rhythm & Blues (J.D. Souther) (4:17)
Side 2
6.All That You Dream (Paul Barrere/Bill Payne) (3:43)
7.Ooh Baby Baby (William Robinson/Warren Moore) (3:18)
8.Mohammed's Radio (Warren Zevon) (4:20)
9.Blowing Away (Eric Kaz) (3:15)
10.Love Me Tender (Elvis Presley/Vera Matson) (2:39)
Musicians:
Linda Ronstadt: Vocals
Dan Dugmore: Electric Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar
Waddy Wachtel: Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Background Vocals
David Sanborn: Alto Saxophone
Don Grolnick: Piano, Organ, Electric Piano
Mike Mainieri: Vibraphone
Kenny Edwards: Bass Guitar, Background Vocals
Russel Kunkel: Drums, Congas
Peter Asher: Cowbell, Tambourine, Shaker, Sleigh Bells, Background Vocals
Andrew Gold: Background Vocals
Pat Henderson: Background Vocals
Sherlie Matthews: Background Vocals
David Lasley: Background Vocals
Arnold McCuller: Background Vocals
full album:
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n__tzIS0QurJQnhZl9Gb7YPgUnvJogGOg
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Post by the Scribe on May 15, 2021 0:23:54 GMT
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Post by the Scribe on Jun 5, 2021 9:12:42 GMT
Little Linda Grows Up
Living in the U.S.A. Linda Ronstadt 1978, Asylum Records
www.thecrimson.com/article/1978/10/10/little-linda-grows-up-pbwbhen-she/
By Mark D. Director
October 10, 1978
WHEN SHE WAS 18 back in 1965, a dropout from the University of Arizona, Linda Ronstadt set out on the road for California, looking for the footlights and the glory of the rock world. But the beginning was a lean time; during those free-wheeling days of the mid-sixties with Bob Kimmel and Kenny Edwards as the group Stone Poneys, she was not exactly one of Capitol Records' biggest recording artists.
They managed a lone hit, "Different Drum" in 1967, but the group eventually split, leaving Ronstadt to fulfill the Capitol contract as a solo vocalist. Then the '60s turned to the '70s; and the dark-haired, wide-eyed, carefree spirit of the California music scene hooked up with producer Peter Asher and soon evolved into a sensational new female vocalist. Five platinum albums later, the innocent Arizona teenager has risen in stature to the top of the heap, taking over as rock's leading female vocalist.
She's 32 now but still loves to act like a kid, completing the image with her new Betty Boop hairdoo. Despite knee socks, hot pants and t-shirts, there's a maturity in her magnificent voice, a control that has been carefully developed during her days with Peter Asher. Hasten Down the Wind hinted at that sound, and Simple Dreams polished it even further. Ronstadt's newest release, Living in the U.S.A., showcases her versatnity and maintains the melodic mixture that has proven so successful in the past. The album is not her strongest to date, but it does reflect the enormous talent Linda Ronstadt possesses.
The disc includes the standard rocker, this time a Chuck Berry tune called "Back in the U.S.A." With guitarist Waddy Wachtel supplying the characteristic riffs that made Berry's mid-fifties music so popular, the track has become an AM/FM hit single, a sure-fire get-up-and-boogie rocker. But it lacks the power of "Tumbling Dice" or the throaty intensity of "Heat Wave." The song is thin throughout and doesn't hold its own among the other works on this album.
Drawing from a variety of sources, Ronstadt puts together a strong selection of tunes in the middle of her new album, starting with an Elvis Costello hit, "Alison." With background vocal help from Andrew Gold and David Sanborn's mysterious alto sax weaving through the chorus, the song suits Ronstadt's voice perfectly, alternately showing a soft, shallow tone and then a full, resonant alto swell.
The album's best ballad comes from the music of a Ronstadt favorite, J.D. Souther, whose songs have consistently strengthened her albums. This time she picks a slow love song, backed by a sweet pedal steel. "White Rhythm and Blues" ends side one with a sweet, sentimental tone, Ronstadt's voice enveloping the soft electric piano of Dan Grolnick, whose keyboard skills are heavily used in this album.
THE STANDOUT OF Ronstadt's latest, though is Little Feat pulser, almost reminiscent of "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me." Carried along by Russ Kunkel's sure-handed, driving drum beat and a steady Kenny Edwards bass line, Ronstadt displays the power of her sharp, brassy voice in a heavily throaty verse that rises to an upbeat, bold chorus. The bright, '70s rocker contrasts strongly to "Oooh Baby Baby," a mellow Smokey Robinson tune in which Ronstadt uses two male backup vocalists who add a sweet falsetto giving the song a Motown-like sound. The song works quite well; Ronstadt's voice makes her version of the song just different enough from the original.
Warren Zevon's "Mohammed's Radio," the song Ronstadt told concert audiences this summer was her favorite on the album, works in as another in the long tradition of slow Ronstadt ballads that have been so well received in the past. The song is deliberate and forceful, pushing along Zevon's angry lyrics.
But there are disappointments on the album, especially a remake of the Elvis Presley classic "Love Me Tender." Ronstadt's stab at the tune is too polished, too slick to work well. She obliterated Presley's rough edges and raw power. "Blowing Away," a lethargic, mournful ballad in which producer-manager Asher sings background, dies before it starts, lacking the poignancy that makes Ronstadt's slowest songs click. A 1934 Oscar Hammerstein song, "When I Grow Too Old to Dream," despite a pretty electric piano line, also falls short. Ronstadt plays with a cutesy, childlike voice which makes the song sound almost like a nursery rhyme set to music.
Perhaps Ronstadt's strength, because of the power her voice can deliver, lies in the driving rockers. She is sweet in her quietest moments, but even her best slow ballads, like "Desperado" and "Blue Bayou" derive their beauty from the brassy crescendoes which bolster the tunes. On Living in the U.S.A., a song like "Just One Look," one of the weaker compositions before Ronstadt's touches, comes off fairly well because it gives Ronstadt a chance to belt out the lyrics. And that energetic vocal thrust, hardly what you'd expect from a shy, playful, innocent-looking singer who stands on stage clutching the microphone, rarely strutting about, even on the boldest tunes, gives Linda Ronstadt the power to captivate an audience. In it's February 1977 cover story on Ronstadt, Time called that vocal power "torchy rock." Well, you can choose your own descriptive term; whatever you want to call it, it's the essence of Ronstadt's appeal and the reason why she'll remain atop the rock world for years to come.
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Post by the Scribe on Aug 6, 2022 20:48:23 GMT
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Post by the Scribe on Sept 15, 2022 16:37:58 GMT
 Kosh, Linda, Jim Shea in photo shoot for Living In The USA Venice Beach, California |
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Post by the Scribe on Nov 22, 2023 11:30:55 GMT
September 1978: Linda Ronstadt Releases LIVING IN THE USA
Monday, September 19, 2022
70sRock
Linda Ronstadt
LINDA IN THE USA
By the year 1978, Linda Ronstadt was nothing less than a music superstar. The singer's 1977 release, Simple Dreams, was a massive success, big enough to knock Fleetwood Mac's monster record Rumours from the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 in December of that year, holding the top position for the rest of '77. The LP spawned a string of hit singles, including "Blue Bayou," "It's So Easy," and Ronstadt's take on the Rolling Stones' classic, "Tumblin' Dice."
When it came time for Ronstadt to record a followup to Simple Dreams, it didn't seem that she could get much bigger. Her then-boyfriend, politician Jerry Brown, had been elected Governor of California, throwing the singer into the tabloid whirlwind of rock 'n' roll and politics. Heading into Hollywood's famous Sound Factory studios with a cast of ace studio musicians including guitarist Waddy Wachtel and saxophonist David Sanborn, Ronstadt and producer Peter Asher pulled together a clutch of inspired cover songs to populate her ninth studio album.
www.ronstadt-linda.com/newsweek79.htm
It was August 1978 when Ronstadt released the album's first single, a cover of Chuck Berry classic "Back in the U.S.A." She was moved to record the tune after hearing it on a mixtape made by Glenn Frey of the Eagles while cruising around in his car and reminiscing about how far they'd come in the world of music.
"We used to sit around the Troubadour bar and go: 'Oh it's so horrible and I can't get a record deal.' We were so broke and so miserable and we'd feel so sorry for ourselves and we were so precious about it," Ronstadt remembered in the book To the Limit: the untold story of the Eagles by Marc Eliot. "Then all of a sudden I looked at him and I went: 'Boy, life's really tough. We're going off to ski [at Aspen] with all this money in our pockets, we're going to have a good time, and we've got great music on the tape player.' Just then "Back in the U.S.A." came on and I went: 'Boy that would be a great song to sing. I think I'll do that one.'"
Ronstadt's version of "Back in the U.S.A." went to peak at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of October 14, 1978. The album's second single, a version of Smokey Robinson classic "Ooh Baby Baby," reached #7 on the same chart in January 1979.
Linda Ronstadt released Living in the USA on September 19, 1978. Music retailers were just as excited about the prospect of a new album from the singer as her fans, with the LP being the first to go double-platinum just on pre-orders alone.
The album marked Ronstadt's first take on a song written by Elvis Costello, "Alison": I've never communicated with him directly, but I heard that someone asked him what he thought and he said he'd never heard it, but that he'd be glad to get the money," Ronstadt revealed to Playboy in 1980. "So I sent him a message: 'Send me some more songs, just keep thinking about the money.' And he sent me the song 'Talking in the Dark,' which has not been released here, and I love it. I also recorded 'Party Girl' and 'Girl Talk.'"
www.ronstadt-linda.com/playboy80.htm
Featuring songs by Little Feat ("All That You Dream"), Warren Zevon ("Mohammed's Radio"), and ending on Elvis Presley standard, "Love Me Tender," Living in the USA was another smash hit for Linda Ronstadt. The album climbed the charts to take the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 for the week of November 4, 1978.
FUN FACT: The Living in the USA album cover featuring Ronstadt in a pair of roller skates is often cited as a strong factor in the roller-skating craze that swept America in the late 1970s.
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