Following the dissolution of The Stone Poneys, it was time for Linda Ronstadt to embark on a solo career. She jumped right in, releasing her first two albums within a year of each other.

Both her solo debut, 1969’s Hand Sown…Home Grown, and its follow-up, 1970’s Silk Purse, followed a similar pattern. They were collections of dynamic folk and country covers with a few originals mixed in (though not Ronstadt originals… she almost never wrote her own songs).

What she did have was impeccable taste in material, and that was evident right out of the gate. Among the songwriters she covers on these albums are Bob Dylan, Randy Newman, Carole King, Gene Clark, and Bernie Leadon.

Ronstadt says the record label didn’t know what to do with her as she was “too country for the rock stations and too rock for the country stations.” Record execs were unaware that she was creating a lane for herself that would prove to be wildly popular.

She is also dismissive of the quality of these early albums, suggesting she didn’t yet know how to use her voice. That’s news to me, as I think she sounds great throughout, whether belting out Dylan’s ‘I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight’ or delivering a peppier version of King’s ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow?’

The definite highlight of these albums, though, is a song written by Gary White for Silk Purse. ‘Long Long Time’ would spend 12 weeks on the Hot 100 (peaking at #25) and earn her the first of her 27 Grammy nominations. It’s a heart-wrenching ballad that became one of her signature songs.