csberry

Alright! Fine! Technically, the Rolling Stone Top 500 Album list has The Very Best of Linda Ronstadt at 324. But I'm calling "BULLSHIT!" and "Shenanigans!" The Very Best of Linda Ronstadt was released one year before the list was published by Rolling Stone and has only sold about 400,000 copies since then. Meanwhile, Linda Ronstadt Greatest Hits was released during the holiday season of 1976 and is her best selling album - accumulating over 20 million copies sold. I have a hard time believing that the people filling out the ballots meant to include the recently (at the time) Rhino-released compilation instead of the landmark collection that my parents and nearly all of my friends' parents had on vinyl. So...on with the review.

I love this album. I really do. It was a constant presence in my parents stereo during the second half of the 70's and until they made the full conversion to country music with the emergence of Alabama (the band) in the early 80's. This album covers the same pop/country/rock territory wandered by The Eagles and Graham Parsons. With the genre-crossing country acts out now, I often wonder how many of them are What is particularly striking is that many of these songs are covers...and not obscure covers, either. Linda had a voice and was able to execute these songs in a manner that made them all her own. The judges on American Idol talk to the contestants constantly about making songs their own. Those folks could learn a lot by listening to this album.

Linda sings with such earnestness and emotion. Several of these songs express a longing that makes me ache when I listen - especially "Long Long Time." And Linda sounds so peppy on the uptempo songs - such "Silver Thread & Golden Needles" and "When Will I Be Loved."

Songs I knew I liked: All of them

Songs I didn't know but now like: See above

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: None