Linda Ronstadt and Fleetwood Mac
 

The other day I was listening to "The Very Best Of Linda Ronstadt" (a great album by the way). It occured to me that Linda was part of that whole LA music scene in the 70's that included the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Warren Zevon and others. Then I got to thinking, Ronstadt recorded songs written by the Eagles (she worked with them early on, "Witchy Woman" is supposedly about Ronstadt), Warren Zevon, Jackson Browne and others. But she never covered any Fleetwood Mac songs, in fact aside from Lindsey appearing on her "Get Closer" album, she has never had anything to do with Fleetwood Mac. I wonder why? I wonder if Stevie and Linda ever met, they both used the same studio musicians (Waddy is all over Linda's 70's albums). Anyone know why Linda wouldn't have tackled a Mac song?

Wow. I didn't realize that Witchy Woman was about Ronstadt. That's something. You'd logically think it was Stevie. So many references...
or so I just supposed (I know it kind of seems like the whole "everything
is about Stevie or Don or whatever" but it really seemed to make sense)
.... Is it certain?

Linda did backing vocals on a couple songs on John Stewart's Dream Babies Go Hollywood, the album that directly followed Bombs Away Dream Babies which Lindsey and Stevie both had big parts in helping make. Linda does some very Stevie-like vocals on Odin (Spirit Of The Water).

Matt

Well I don't think Don or Glenn have completely comfirmed that it's about Ronstadt, but the song pre-dates Stevie so it's not about her at all. Plus the line "raven hair and ruby lips" that fits Linda moreso than Stevie.

I just remembered that Linda Ronstadt also covered Tom Petty's "The Waiting". Again, she seems to be in the same circles but never covered a Mac song.

That was the way it was ten years ago; for a woman to make it in the music world, she had to cede her femininity & be tough, to live under "the shadow of Tina Turner, feeling we had to do hot blues licks," as she puts it. But Linda predicted that it would change, & it has. She points to Stevie Nicks & Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac & the Wilson sisters of Heart & proudly says that they were able to become rockers without losing their femininity in the least.

-- "Linda Ronstadt," Superwomen of Rock by Susan Katz (1978)


I know of at least one occasion when they met -- the Mulholland Tomorrow concert Don Henley organized in September 1985. Ronstadt & Stevie were both on the small bill.

Considering a line in the song Witchy Woman specifically states "raven hair", which means black so I automatically never thought it was Stevie, Linda, yes.

"Witchy Woman" was on the debut Eagles album in 1972.

Do you remember what Stevie Nicks was doing in 1972?

Waiting tables?
:lol:

Didn't John have a "thing" for Linda Ronstadt at one point?

Gail

I recall something about John having a crush on Linda and hoping to meet her at the Grammy's (77-78?)...but she didn't attend.

I love Linda Ronstadt, She can sing the s**t out of anything! She's on my list of top female vocalists of all time and so I would have LOVED to hear her doing some work with Fleetwood Mac, maybe a guest on a live show or something that we could now see on youtube, but sadly not...

Yeah, she really kick started so much of that 70s LA country/rock scene by having the founding members of the Eagles as her backing band (before they became the Eagles) and covering songs by artsis like Lowell George etc and making them far more popular and exposing them to a larger audience... she;s just great!

Also, with her and Stevie both being from Arizona I'm sure they might have a few things in common to discuss when they met, which they MUST have done a good few times over the years!

Didn't most guys have a thing for Ronstadt in the late 60's/early 70's?

http://www.marksonderproductions.com...daRonstadt.jpg

She and Stevie actually had quite a bit in common, including the Hiroshima hairstyle.

I think they look so alike!

She probably never touched any Fleetwood Mac stuff because of Stevie. There are a lot of similarities between the two and I don't think there is any animosity between them, but because of their similarities, for her to do a Mac song, it would seem as if she was invading Stevie's space. And I don't think Stevie would feel this way, but a lot of people would feel "Fleetwood Mac is Stevie's thing! Stand back Linda!!!" You know what I mean? Now why the two never did anything together? Who knows.

Sorry, guys, I am not a rabid Eagles fan. I don't know as much about when their albums came out like I do Fleetwood Mac or Stevie Nicks. I know songs, that's all. I didn't realize the song was from '72. And just because it could say raven hair... writers change things around all the time .... thought it could've been a veiled thing.... it does make sense though.

So this is interesting. Learn something new all the time.

Eh? :eek:

Only similarities between Linda Ronstadt and Stevie Nicks:

1. They have brown eyes.
2. They are short.

That's it.

I don't think Linda covered Fleetwood Mac material because she really didn't sing "girl songs." Her main schtick back in the day was to take men's rock and roll songs and reinterpreting them as a woman. Secondly, I don't think she covered FM for the same reason that virtually nobody else covers FM- that the personalities within FM are bigger than the songs themselves.

**Lindsey**

;)

Ronstadt's career (at least her 70's commercial heyday) is basically one big shtick. Basically every single she released was a cover of a song that was already pretty well known. She had a decent voice, but it was the built-in appeal of the songs themselves and the fact her sexuality was presented/promoted front & center that brought her success. Her contemporaries of that era lean less toward the Stevie Nicks variety and more towards Leif Garrett.

And, full disclosure- her recording of "Different Drum" (with the Stone Poney's, written by Michael Nesmith) is a favorite of mine.

Stevie and Linda R were friendly back in the day. Maybe they still are, who knows, both Arizona girls, originally. Linda kept in contact for decades with Phoebe Snow (sadly, Snow lost her child not long ago, who suffered brain-damage at birth due to medical malpractice, Phoebe was told the child wouldn't live to be 5 years of age, and the child survived much longer, dying at age 31.) Linda reached out to Phoebe after the daughter, Valerie, died, and told Phoebe she needed to get out and sing again.
Ms. Snow herself had a brain aneurism (which contributed to Valerie's death) just this month. A Phoebe Snow tour that had been slated to start in March, is on hold now, obviously.
Back to Stevie--- There was a published account of Stevie and Linda in the audience together attending a Louise Goffin concert, circa 1980, and one said to the other 'do you think we'll still be able to get work as backup singers?' -because they were blown away by Goffin and were sure she had a long career in front of her.
I also recall Linda on LA radio in the early 80's making a supportive comment about Stevie's concert (must have been for 'Bella Donna') and mentioning how she was glad that Waddy (who had toured with Linda for years) was working with Stevie. Linda, at the time, sounded like she was very fond of both Stevie and Waddy.

No offense to you personally, L***, but comparing Linda Ronstadt to Leif Garrett is a ridiculous stretch and you possess far too much intelligence and knowledge to even believe that statement, yourself :)
But it was clever enough, and seeing how Linda herself detests the 'rock years' of her career, she might even agree with you!

Decent?? Understatement.

"There's really only three female singers in the world: Streisand, Ronstadt and Connie Smith. The rest of us are just pretending." ~ Dolly Parton

I read somewhere that her album, Simple Dreams, released in 1977 was the first album to bump Fleetwood Mac's Rumours off the #1 spot it held for so long.
I think in the 70's Ronstadt was bigger than Stevie Nicks...just a bigger international household name. I think Rolling Stone even named her the "Queen of Rock N Roll' back in the later 70's.

ON EDIT:
How she ever got the "rock n roll" label I'll never know, as I find her music super mellow yellow. I like many of her covers though, she's got a strong voice, a true vocalist.

Witchy Woman isn't about Linda or Stevie. Since about 2004, Don Henley has been telling the same story at his solo shows when introducting Witchy Woman. He says the song was inspired by a girl named Patty that he knew in LA....she was into herbal remedies and had a lot of plants in her apartment, according to Don. In some versions of the story he talks about how she offered to help "fix his back" (Henley has back problems from singing and drumming at the same time) and like any young man in the early 70s he willing went home with her and got his "fix".

L&M
www.eaglesfans.com

So I'm a four letter word now? :p

To be fair, as you yourself noted, I was specifically referring to her 1970's era ("rock years"). There are parallels between Ronstadt and other 70's singers whose entire career consisted of covering established songs & playing up their sex appeal. Garrett is certainly an extreme, fleeting example, but they have more in common than you might think. I think comparing the career arc (creatively/commercially/known associates/image/etc etc) of Linda Ronstadt to Stevie Nicks is a tremendous disservice to Nicks.

My favorite song by Linda. Long Long Time. These versions are good but subdued, compared to the recorded version.

I've always liked this quote because of the reference to Connie Smith ..most people on here have probably never heard of her but the girl could sing.A one in ten million voice .She really deserves to be in the same Pantheon as her peers Dolly ,Loretta and Tammy.I guess the reason she is not is that she just didn't have the single minded drive that these 3 legends had.

Really Luke, that is just bull****. You werent old enough to actually experience Linda's 70's heydey. Yes, she sang covers, but she had more than a decent voice, and it was her willingness to cover well known but not commercially successful songwriters that made her unique.
The comparison to Leif Garrett?? Laughable!!

Ad hominem- works every time! :shrug:

Please tell me who (other than Warren Zevon) you could possibly be referring to. Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Lieber & Stoller, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Willie Nelson, Smokey Robinson... pretty sure we had heard of 'em.

I don't know. Is Shaun Cassidy less laughable? I mean, Garrett in 2010 is a walking tragic punchline, but if you look at the material they covered and how they were marketed (via pinup posters and doing interviews/press with youth-oriented magazines), it sure seems they followed the same business plan (at least in the 70's)

The McGarrigle sisters?:shrug:

Yes. Wasn't released as a single, though.

Interesting, a bit, to debate Ronstadt- she was not really a 'singles' artist at all, she was a major album artist. She had a string of Top 5 albums that leave nearly all female vocalists of that era in the dust. Yes, there was a formula regarding her single releases that at the time was criticized, but it worked getting her singles onto radio, and the singles were really tools to sell the albums. She had a number of hit singles, but selling albums was the point, not selling singles.
She covered a lot of contemporary writers noted already, as well as James Taylor, a stellar 'I Will Always Love You', and was the voice that brought attention to John David Souther's 'wow' songwriting ability. 'Heart Like A Wheel' as an album had a huge impact at the time, and 'You're No Good' sold the album.
As early as 'Prisoner In Disguise' an attempt was made to not have her first single be another 'oldie'- Neil Young's "Love Is A Rose" was the a-side of the single, and it was well-liked, but the b-side 'Heat Wave' is what took off. 'Rose' actually was a great choice, but radio seemed to want another oldie, and so it continued. 'Lose Again' and 'Someone To Lay Down Beside Me' were excellent songs and just moderate hits as singles, while 'That'll Be The Day' was the Top 20 single. All were from 'Hasten Down The Wind' which was a huge album, the albums were 'the thing'.
'Simple Dreams' and 'Living In The USA' were also Top 5 albums, and, again, I think the point of the singles was to get something new onto radio, to promote there was a new Ronstadt album, just to make about 7 times the money from an album selling than from a single selling. She was also a huge stadium act from 1975 to 1980, and the voice was chilling, and a thrill, to behold live. Not tons of presence necessarily, as a performer, but her vocal ability was really something. Check youtube for the some of the notes she hits in late 70s concerts, an entire late 70s overseas show (Denmark?) shows her in peak form.
Linda also was the first major artist to cover Elvis Costello, and though her 4 or 5 Costello songs were received with mixed reviews, Costello cashed the checks and his fame grew. My favorite was 'Party Girl' which somehow one or two critics dismissed, but it was amazing live, and on record. Back to Neil Young, I can think of no other singer who covered his work so well. From 'I Believe In You' to 'Look Out for My Love', Linda's Neil Young covers were excellent. She had a good ear for a song and especially a songwriter, and the voice was considered the best voice in pop-rock at the time. The singles that Luke does have a point about, also bug her. She said recently that her son said to her 'Mom you were an oldies singer' when he looked at a cd that had been sent to her (another compilation release) and she seems to resent the formula of singing an old hit to sell an album, and I think also has a problem with the sexy image used to sell the albums, probably most notably, Hasten Down The Wind--- but the contents of the albums were a must hear for any teenager I knew in the 70s. She was 'the' rock chick, before Stevie, and for a handful of years, along with Stevie. But Linda didn't love the genre, and Stevie did, and did it so well.
For Stevie to be compared to Ronstadt- if indeed, anybody here was doing that, is no insult at all. Linda R was great.
We can all be happy Stevie never felt the need to leave rock and dismiss it as being such a distasteful experience as Linda has done. "I never considered myself a rock and roll singer" she said not long ago, and she doesn't care if she ever records another album, wants NO part of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in the last interview I read, said she hopes to become a board member of the Arizona Symphony.
Wonder what Stevie will sing on The Grammy's!!

Absolutely. Connie has an amazing voice. Not to get off the topic of Linda, but... One of the reasons for Connie's lack of "stardom" is because she left the business in the early '70's to raise a family and for a while she only did gospel music. She's a regular now on her husband's tv show - Marty Stuart. I've met her a few times and she's super sweet.

Although I don't hold Ronstadt in the same regard artistically as her peers- who actually write their own material, I think she has had one of the most interesting careers in the history of music- all the while remaining extremely private and out of the public spotlight. So while she may not be capable/willing to write songs, she certainly has the pipes and the versatility to do just about everything- folk, rock, jazz, country, pop, Broadway, Mariachi, standards, Cajun, etc. She is a musical journey(wo)man who has not backed away from taking chances and is a true believer in making music for the sake of artistic expression- not merely just to make a lot of money or achieving fame. I suppose she would still be immensely popular if she just continued on in the vein of covering old pop songs or recording a bajillion albums worth of power ballads with Aaron Neville. But all of her musical experimentation came at a price- she just became too eclectic and she seemed to alienate a little bit more of her fanbase with each new direction. So although she has recorded/released many more albums than Stevie, the results have met with mixed success. But at least Ronstadt has evolved and moved on with her career, whereas Stevie seems stuck in a certain era; Linda is the Blanche to Stevie's Baby Jane Hudson.

Actually "Rumours" was #1 for two weeks when "Hotel California" reclaimed the #1 spot for five weeks. "Rumours" then took over the top spot for the next eight weeks when "Barry Manilow Live" knocked it out for a week. Then "Rumours" came back for 19 weeks when "Simple Dreams" knocked it out for five weeks. "Rumours" came back for two more weeks at #1 until the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack ended it's run.

Great post Nikolaj! Luke, I was thinking of writers like Karla Bonoff, J.D. Souther & Elvis Costello.

I should note that her album, Canciones de Mi Padre, is probably her finest moment.

I always thought the similarities were eerie too - the eeriest one is if you have the original Greatest hits album and you look at the back of the record sleeve - Linda looks exactly like Stevie doing Sara.

Wow Nikolaj you brought back so many memories mentioning all those albums--I'm going to have to pull out my Linda CDs. I used to LOVE Linda.

I saw her live (back in the day) at Radio City Music Hall and I remember sitting in the audience and listening to her voice and thinking what a pretty voice she had (and wishing I could sing like her!).

~Maria

Not really relevant to the discussion, but THIS may be in my top five YouTube clips ever. It's a total train wreck.