Linda Ronstadt vs. Stevie Nicks

[SillyDreamer]

Originally Posted by The Tower

I bought that album Mad Love when it was first released. Not very good. Way too much yelling for me.

I love Linda- although her penchant for singing every style of music under the sun leaves one to sift through her catalog for gems. Her early period is uneven and her vocal technique was still developing. I'm not really a huge fan of her 70's popular peak- with a few glimmers of greatness here and there. Too many stinky J.D. Souther songs and nostalgia covers. I love all three of her Nelson Riddle albums.

Linda's best period is probably her late 80's through the 90's efforts. Feels Like Home is probably her best album ever- I think every song on that one is a keeper. Her cover of Petty's "The Waiting" is Trio is awesome. The Western Wall Sessions with Emmylou Harris is fantastic. We Ran isn't too bad. Waddy is all over that record- production, songwriter, the works.

I don't think Linda and Stevie are really comparable. They just happen to be from the same era and have used many of the same session musicians. Other than that, their catalog and their musical composition are pretty much different animals.

It's so interesting to see how Linda's (well, really everyone's) work strikes people in different ways. I LOOOOOVE Mad Love, but could really take or leave We Ran. Western Wall is interesting, and I love both artists dearly, but it always struck me as inconsistent and a missed opportunity--"For a Dancer," for example, is the definition of a phoned in performance in my opinion. Which is upsetting because Emmylou and Linda are normally experts at making someone else's work their own. Of course, WW has it's highlights for me as well; "All I Left Behind" is about as beautiful a song as Emmylou Harris has ever written.

But back to Linda... here's my collection: Cry Like a Rainstorm (love it, save one or two songs), Feels Like Home (same thing), Get Closer (JUST bought and haven't gotten to yet), Greatest Hits 1 (excellent, of course), Heart Like a Wheel (just about a perfect album), Mad Love (it's not for everybody but I adore it), The Very Best Of, We Ran (eh), Western Wall (see above), and Winter Light (took me a long time to get into, but now it's a favorite).

I also thought it was interesting that nobody has mentioned one very special artist that both women worked with-one Lindsey Buckingham.

[JWS]

Originally Posted by SillyDreamer

I also thought it was interesting that nobody has mentioned one very special artist that both women worked with-one Lindsey Buckingham.

I didn't know Linda Ronstadt ever worked with LB. When was this? Was he just a studio musician on one of her albumns?

[cliffdweller]

Originally Posted by amber

No, doll. Like I said, I'm a fan without having heard the bulk of her material.
I don't know if I should get that; it might be the most beautiful album in the world, causing my head to explode in a mountain of tears.

Oh it will, but not because of Linda's songs. Emmylou Harris has some real gems on that album, most notably sad is "All I Left Behind" and then the Roseanne Cash song, "Western Wall." AILB makes me tear up every time I hear it, kinda like "Red Dirt Girl" off of the Emmylou album of the same name.

[cliffdweller]

Originally Posted by The Tower

I'm not really a huge fan of her 70's popular peak

Oooh, I am. She covered a lot of great songwriters' stuff during that time, like Neil Young, Warren Zevon, and Jackson Browne. Her version of "Birds" by Neil is just absolute greatness. It's a tearjerker that's for sure, so Amber watch out!

[dissention]

Originally Posted by cliffdweller

AILB makes me tear up every time I hear it, kinda like "Red Dirt Girl" off of the Emmylou album of the same name.

But there won't be a mention in the news of the world
About the life and the death of a red dirt girl
Name's Lillian
Who never got any farther across the line than Meridian

Now the stars still fall on Alabama
Tonight she finally laid
That hammer down
Without a sound
In the red dirt ground

I. Get. Chills.

[cliffdweller]

Originally Posted by dissention

But there won't be a mention in the news of the world
About the life and the death of a red dirt girl
Name's Lillian
Who never got any farther across the line than Meridian

Now the stars still fall on Alabama
Tonight she finally laid
That hammer down
Without a sound
In the red dirt ground

I. Get. Chills.

YOU just gave me chills!! I find a lump in my throat every time I listen to that song. I CANNOT listen to it without crying. Seriously.

Let's face it, Red Dirt Girl is a masterpiece. Michaelangelo is another beautiful song on that album--those lyrics are absolute poetry. What a songwriter she is, what an AMAZING songwriter.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by cliffdweller

YOU just gave me chills!! I find a lump in my throat every time I listen to that song. I CANNOT listen to it without crying. Seriously.

Let's face it, Red Dirt Girl is a masterpiece. Michaelangelo is another beautiful song on that album--those lyrics are absolute poetry. What a songwriter she is, what an AMAZING songwriter.

That ENTIRE album is a masterpiece. Emmylou at her absolute greatest. What bowls me over every time I hear it is the fact that she wrote every song but one. And then she wrote every song on "Stumble Into Grace," if I'm not mistaken. The woman hadn't written any of her own songs before that except for one album. She had all of that songwriting talent and didn't start showing it off until thirty years into her career? Shocking. I can't praise her enough, she's so good that words fail. I mean, just reading the lyrics to Michelangelo is amazing.

Last night I dreamed about you
I dreamed that you were older
You were looking like Picasso
With a scar across your shoulder
You were kneeling by the river
You were digging up the bodies
Buried long ago
Michelangelo

Last night I dreamed about you
I dreamed you were a pilgrim
On a highway out alone to find
The mother of your children
Who were still unborn and waiting
In the wings of some desire
Abandoned long ago
Michelangelo

Were you there at Armageddon
Was Paris really burning
Could I have been the one to pull you
From the point of no returning
And did I hear you calling out my name
Or was it forgotten long ago
Michelangelo

Last night I dreamed about you
I dreamed that you were riding
On a blood red painted pony
Up where the heavens were dividing
And the angels turned to ashes
You came tumbling with them to earth
So Far below
Michelangelo

Last night I dreamed about you
I dreamed that you were dying
In a field of thorn and roses
With a hawk about you crying
For the warrior slain in battle
From an arrow driven deep inside you
Long ago
Michelangelo

Did you suffer at the end
Would there be no one to remember
Did you banish all the old ghosts
With the terms of your surrender
And could you hear me calling out your name
Well I guess that I will never know
Michelangelo

Last night I dreamed about you
I dreamed that you were weeping
And your tears poured down like diamonds
For a love beyond all keeping
And you caught them one by one
In a million silk bandanas that I gave you long ago
Michelangelo

[DrK]

Having seen both Linda and Stevie in concert, it's comparing apples and oranges in terms of personality, music, etc. During her early years, Linda was usually very mechanical, just sang her songs -- hardly spoke to the audience. (I saw her before she became a superstar and played clubs, when she was a superstar, all the way to a 2004 fundraiser. She's gotten better about interacting with the audience over the years.) Stevie has always interacted with her audience.

Back in 1976 or 1977, when I saw Linda in concert, we had front row seats -- ironically, I had the same front row seats when I saw Stevie back in 1998. However, seated in the audience in the third row was Stevie Nicks.

[Tango]

Originally Posted by JWS

I didn't know Linda Ronstadt ever worked with LB. When was this? Was he just a studio musician on one of her albumns?

http://www.mmguide.musicmatch.com/al...ALBUMID=451865

Linda's "Get Closer" album. The site says Lindsey played the accordian.

Lindsey was friends with Waddy Wachtel and probably others on the album. It's a virtual who's who in terms of musicians.

Peter Asher Guitar, Vocals, Producer, Percussion
Linda Ronstadt Main Performer, Vocals (Background), Vocals
Bruce Wildstein Assistant Engineer
Andrew Gold Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Harmony Vocals, Percussion, Vocals, Piano, Keyboards, Guitar (Electric)
Kenny Edwards Vocals, Bass, Bass (Acoustic)
Kosh Art Direction, Design
Dan Dugmore ?, Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
Edie Lehmann Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Aaron Rapoport Photography
David Grisman Mandolin
Doug Sax Mastering
Bob Glaub Bass
Dolly Parton Vocals
Lindsey Buckingham Accordion
Dennis Karmazyn Cello
J.D. Souther Vocals
Ron Larson Art Direction, Design
Jim Taylor Vocals (Background)
Rick Shlosser Drums
Richard Wachtel Guitar, Vocals
Val Garay Engineer, Mixing
Patti Austin Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Barbara Rooney Assistant Engineer
Rick Marotta Drums
Don Grolnick Organ, Synthesizer
Debbie Pearl Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Stuart Taylor Engineer
Niko Bolas Assistant Engineer
Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
Emmylou Harris Vocals
George Massenburg Engineer, Mixing
Waddy Wachtel Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric)
Brian Ahern Producer
Russ Kunkel Drums
Rosemary Butler Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Gloria Boyce Coordination
Bill Payne Conductor, Keyboards, Piano, String Arrangements, Wurlitzer, Organ, Fender Rhodes
Jim Horn Sax (Baritone), Saxophone
Jerry Peterson Saxophone
James Taylor Guitar

[amber]

Originally Posted by cliffdweller

Oooh, I am. She covered a lot of great songwriters' stuff during that time, like Neil Young, Warren Zevon, and Jackson Browne. Her version of "Birds" by Neil is just absolute greatness. It's a tearjerker that's for sure, so Amber watch out!

Yeah.
I have to take Emmylou in very small doses, b/c I don't like to cry all the time.

[JWS]

Originally Posted by Tango

http://www.mmguide.musicmatch.com/al...ALBUMID=451865

Linda's "Get Closer" album. The site says Lindsey played the accordian.

Lindsey was friends with Waddy Wachtel and probably others on the album. It's a virtual who's who in terms of musicians.

Peter Asher Guitar, Vocals, Producer, Percussion
Linda Ronstadt Main Performer, Vocals (Background), Vocals
Bruce Wildstein Assistant Engineer
Andrew Gold Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Harmony Vocals, Percussion, Vocals, Piano, Keyboards, Guitar (Electric)
Kenny Edwards Vocals, Bass, Bass (Acoustic)
Kosh Art Direction, Design
Dan Dugmore ?, Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
Edie Lehmann Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Aaron Rapoport Photography
David Grisman Mandolin
Doug Sax Mastering
Bob Glaub Bass
Dolly Parton Vocals
Lindsey Buckingham Accordion
Dennis Karmazyn Cello
J.D. Souther Vocals
Ron Larson Art Direction, Design
Jim Taylor Vocals (Background)
Rick Shlosser Drums
Richard Wachtel Guitar, Vocals
Val Garay Engineer, Mixing
Patti Austin Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Barbara Rooney Assistant Engineer
Rick Marotta Drums
Don Grolnick Organ, Synthesizer
Debbie Pearl Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Stuart Taylor Engineer
Niko Bolas Assistant Engineer
Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
Emmylou Harris Vocals
George Massenburg Engineer, Mixing
Waddy Wachtel Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric)
Brian Ahern Producer
Russ Kunkel Drums
Rosemary Butler Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Gloria Boyce Coordination
Bill Payne Conductor, Keyboards, Piano, String Arrangements, Wurlitzer, Organ, Fender Rhodes
Jim Horn Sax (Baritone), Saxophone
Jerry Peterson Saxophone
James Taylor Guitar

I note also James Taylor and Dolly Parton. This was 1982...I don't know if Dolly was a big name yet outside of country circles.

[DavidMn]

Originally Posted by JWS

I note also James Taylor and Dolly Parton. This was 1982...I don't know if Dolly was a big name yet outside of country circles.

I think she was. I believe 9 to 5 came out in 1979 or so.

[cliffdweller]

Originally Posted by dissention

That ENTIRE album is a masterpiece. Emmylou at her absolute greatest. What bowls me over every time I hear it is the fact that she wrote every song but one. And then she wrote every song on "Stumble Into Grace," if I'm not mistaken. The woman hadn't written any of her own songs before that except for one album. She had all of that songwriting talent and didn't start showing it off until thirty years into her career? Shocking.

EXACTLY what I was thinking. I couldn't believe she busted out with Red Dirt Girl after so many years of scant songwriting. She must've been VERY inspired. Thanks for posting the Michaelangelo lyrics!!

[JazmenFlowers]

Originally Posted by dissention

Michelangelo

this is a fabulous song...very, very moving

you know something cool about all this ____ vs. Stevie is that it's making me pull out songs from Slick, Harry, Ronstadt and Harris I haven't listened to in years...it's fun

[amber]

Omigod, that's an outrageous swirl/twirl in your sig!