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Linda Ronstadt – Prisoner in Disguise

Linda Ronstadt divided opinion back in those days when your musical tastes seemed to be fair game for everyone’s scrutiny. Not that I paid much attention to what my peers thought of my musical tastes. I was well away from the mainstream for the most part. Mentioning Fairport Convention as being my favourite band would nearly always result in ‘Who?’ – or if they really wanted to turn the knife ; ‘Why?’. Even now all these years later it can be difficult to explain your tastes in music unless you can produce a Lionel Richie, Elton John or Diana Ross from your back catalogue. Just a few weeks ago I was chatting music with a youngish friend, one old enough to have known better though. He mentioned he had seen Take That at Wembley Stadium, so I told him I had seen concerts there, the first being Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in 1974.

He looked totally bemused.

‘Yes. CSNY’

Total blank expression.

I just said that they had been massive in the day, back in Victorian times.

I digress. Linda Ronstadt met with some resistance among the clever ones who thought they drove the musical thinking of their peers.

‘Just a Rock Chick, too pretty to take seriously’.

‘Doesn’t write her songs’.

‘Good background music’.

Amongst other objections.

Now the first one was taken seriously by some. My brother for one. In those days of sharing bedrooms, I kept the ‘Prisoner in Disguise’ vinyl, but the cover was pinned next to his bed. He never played the record. OK, she was undoubtably a contender for the most beautiful woman on the planet but please what about the music?

‘Prisoner in Disguise’ is my favourite Linda Ronstadt album. Every one of the ‘covers’ on here can lay claim to being better than the original. Her voice is so multi layered on this, betraying emotion so deep you feel she owns these songs, you can be persuaded that she did in fact write them. The song selection is perfection. It is of the time. That L.A., Eagles, Southern California vibe particularly contributed to by J D Souther is stamped right through this with a tight, multi-talented band of Who’s Who of L.A. musicians. Because she was so admired by these contemporaries, and loved, the whole album is one of harmony and joy, it feels like they got great pleasure from the collaboration. Check out the gorgeous tender backing vocals of J D Souther on the ‘Prisoner in Disguise’ track. She chooses some beautiful songs on here.

Neil Young’s ‘Love is a Rose’ was a track unrecorded by him at the time. She joyously romps through this short track to set up the album perfectly. Although a song that Young probably composed before breakfast one morning it still hits that opening spot so well.

She continues this theme of setting you up for the meat of the record by elevating James Taylor’s ‘Hey Mister, That’s me up on the Jukebox’ to a much higher level than the original.

Tempting us on with another up-tempo number with Lowell George’s ‘Roll um Easy’ she had us on a cliff edge of expectation. George must have been happy with this superb performance of his song as he plays on it himself.

Now we are really cooking with gas as they used to say back then. Smokey Robinson’s ‘Tracks of my Tears’ comes next, as the mood changes. What a cover version this is. Those tears are real – Linda is spilling them on to the vinyl. I love the original of this song, but this version is something else entirely. It is so moving in the hands of a female voice but what a voice. Sweeping in and out of the various emotions of the lyric, Ronstadt gives one of her finest performances. So convincing is it that you are struggling to see how she recorded this, having to control the emotions. Totally credible and compelling. She wrote this surely from experience – but no, it is a cover.

The album is called ‘Prisoner in Disguise’ and the title track coming next is arguably the standout one on the album. Gorgeous, beautiful, stunning – where is my thesaurus when I need it. Ronstadt has romantic history with J.D. Souther and that is so believable on their exquisite harmonies. They complement to perfection but also are so crisp that you can concentrate on one or the other to feel the emotion of the individual. One of my favourite tracks of all time and a go-to performance if you need to convince anyone that she has few peers in song interpretation. J D Souther had such sensitivity as to how he should harmonize with her and lyrically he clearly writes with a love of not just her voice but her person.

The Holland – Dozier – Holland track ‘Heatwave’ gives her chance to regroup before laying more emotion on the vinyl. Not a filler as such but gives us chance to dry the eyes.

Off we go again. ‘Many Rivers to Cross’ by Jimmy Cliff is a superb song by him. However, although he might have written it, he did not get into the real emotion and meaning of his song as Ronstadt does on her version. Listen out for the melodic organ and piano work of Andrew Gold that underpins the vocal superbly. She sweeps and soars on this track, keeping pace with the interplay of the musicians with consummate skill. Many years later I was in Eastern Provence and an open-air concert by Jimmy Cliff was advertised around the small town of Apt. Sadly, we could not be around for the show, but I would have loved to have seen him do this song. I am sure he was delighted with this interpretation.

The next track – ‘The Sweetest Gift’ is significant. Emmylou Harris had become a dear lifelong friend after the tragedy of Gram Parson’s death and the help Linda gave to her. This collaboration was one of their earliest and would lead to some of the finest harmonies to come out of this genre. Later on the album Linda covers Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ and the three of them would go on to be a trio with some stunning results. The joy of friendship developed here for them, they would weave in and out of each other’s careers until Linda became unable to continue.  Both these tracks are just dazzling in the vocal range and close harmony that is achieved. Emmylou harmonizes with skill and beauty and on Parton’s song Ronstadt blends her vocals perfectly with an impressive backing trio.

I concede one filler in ‘Tell me that I’m Falling Down’. That is somehow not quite right on here, personally I sense it is not a song that she seems convinced about. Just my opinion but she doesn’t shine on what is not the strongest of songs.

The finish is just right – ‘Silver Blue’. This is the end, both of the record, but also where she says goodbye to all the admirers until next time. Another exquisite J.D. Souther song and surely written with her in mind. Wonder if she was ever lonely?

So, to address the charge that she only covers others. Guilty as charged of course but I take the view that if she can elevate a song to where I assume the writer wanted it to be then what a gift and what a joy to listen to. Generally speaking, I don’t tend to find cover versions usually surpass the original – check out Patty Griffin ‘Stolen Car’ though, – I digress, so that is what is so impressive about this album. Wonderful proof of how special an artist she was, tinged with sadness that it had to come to an end. So, the ‘who do I listen to question’ – well, I say proudly – the peerless Linda Ronstadt. And I reply – who do YOU listen to that can compare to this voice, this soulful interpretive singer?

No, I didn’t think so.

More of my Vinyl Collection including Jackson Browne is here