In High school my best buddy
John could never understand how I - a rocker preferred Barbra
Streisand over Linda Ronstadt. Our typical teenaged angst
played out via rapturous arguing sessions on who was technically
the better singer. For me Streisand the quintessential seventies
diva won hands down when it came to crescendo's and unlike
Ronstadt didn't have a penchant for covering fifties doo-wop
songs. Neither wrote their own tunes with the exception of
a rare co-write credit here or there and both owned the seventies
in their respected genre's and so they had that in common
but comparing Streisand to Ronstadt brought apples vs. oranges
to mind. Both were known as pop singers but if I may split
hairs both were really coming from different angles. Like
most teenaged boys though I always noticed Ronstadt - what
sexually curious kid in the seventies didn't? Who could forget
the album cover for "Hasten
Down the Wind"
from 1976 featuring Ronstadt on the beach wearing a drenched
see through dress? "I photographed OK from one angle,"
she once said, "Those photographs are culled from thousands."
Ronstadt who's now 56 is the first to downplay the sexual
content of her seventies marketing but interestingly she's
also first in line to rag on her own pop music more than even
I did in the seventies. "I turned away from a lot of
those songs because I outgrew them" she told Rolling
Stone magazine recently "And they don't speak for me
anymore" She's referring to her exodus from pop that
started with stints with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra in 1983
and moved on to traditional Mexican songs introduced to her
by her father. Ronstadt has made a habit of reinventing herself
even further with a Children's' recording in her repertoire
as well as her Country Trio albums with Dolly Parton and Emmylou
Harris. Let's not forget her Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta
The Pirates of Penzance on Broadway in 1981. In the end Ronstadt
say's if she had to do it all over again she'd start as an
opera singer.
I have to admit I still think Streisand has a technically
better voice but she's a one trick pony next to Ronstadt.
Though Ronstadt finds most of the music on this "Very
Best of" album painful "I didn't do my best singing
until I was 50" she muses still this collection confirms
her deserving place in Rock'n roll history as one of the great
interpreters. Yes all the sing -a- long fifty/sixties covers
are here Martha and the Vandellas bouncy "Heat Wave,"
Buddy Holly's "It's So Easy" as well as Chuck Berry
spirited "Back in The U.S.A." Her late eighties
return to pop music is also visited on this set with her big
duet hits featuring Aaron Neville (Don't Know Why and All
My Life) and James Ingram (Somewhere Out There). As talented
as Linda Ronstadt is it's important to note that most of her
side crew were world class musicians including Andrew Gold
who's soaring guitar is featured on Phil Everly's "When
Will I Be Loved." He also played drums on "You're
no Good." Peter Asher her former manager/producer easily
took her career to the next level as he did with James
Taylor. Plus
Ronstadt knew how to pick great tunes from friends like Neil
Young, the McGarrigle sisters, Karla Bonoff, Jackson Brown,
Warren Zevon and the list is never ending. Spanning from 1967
to 1993 this collection falls a little short with only one
CD still it covers most of the important moments in a history
that Ronstadt herself may want to forget but the rest of us
are happy to revisit. by
John Beaudin
