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).
It’s time for another of my favorite Meet Me in Montauk features: a deep dive! The latest honoree is Ms. Linda Ronstadt.
So far I’ve given the Deep Dive treatment to Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Madonna, Bob Marley, Lana Del Rey, The Rolling Stones, Jim Croce, Jason Isbell, and Dire Straits. That means I’ve listened to and written about every one of their studio albums.
I’ve also done a Shallow Dive of Barbra Streisand, in which I tackled ten of her most popular and/or acclaimed albums (she has 37, which made a full Deep Dive impractical).
Continuing my look at the albums of 1977…
I’ve been considering a Linda Ronstadt deep dive for awhile now, and I’m finally ready to commit. Something about her eighth studio album, Simple Dreams, charmed me enough to send me back through the rest of her catalog. Stay tuned for the details in future weeks.
In the meantime, I’ll sing the praises of this album, the best-seller of Ronstadt’s career and, at the time, the second best-selling album by any woman (after Carole King’s Tapestry). It even knocked Rumours from the #1 spot after 29 straight weeks.
Nirvana made it into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility, but it took quite a bit longer for another legend in the 2014 class.
Linda Ronstadt, the “Queen of Rock,” successful performer of rock, pop, country, Latin and who knows what other genres, had to wait 19 years after her first year of eligibility before finally entering the Hall. She got in the first time she was a finalist, years after contemporaries such as James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne and The Eagles made it in.
Meet Me In Montauk 