Linda Ronstadt: A Life In Music

By Peter Lewry

Often dismissed by rock historians as a product of the antiseptic Californian country-music scene, an artist who relied on watered-down covers of classic rock n’ roll and pop standards, this description of Linda Ronstadt couldn’t be further from the truth. Throughout a recording career that has covered more than forty years she has recorded in a remarkable variety of styles from pure country to pop, light opera to big band standards and new wave to mariachi, often taking risks beyond the reach of many critically acclaimed artists. It would be hard, if not impossible, to find another vocalist who has had a more diversified career. In their press release for the album Winterlight her record company managed to convey exactly what it was that made Linda Ronstadt such a special artist. — “Versatile doesn’t begin to describe Linda Ronstadt’s astounding career – a wildly eclectic, devoutly adventurous journey through a myriad of styles and genres. Who else has worked with Philip Glass and Dolly Parton? Aaron Neville and Nelson Riddle? Ronstadt’s unforgettably gorgeous voice, at once technically dazzling and resonating with deep emotion, has woven a magical path from rock to mariachi, from country to opera, gathering critical and commercial success at every stop along the way." Linda Ronstadt - A Life In Music is an unauthorised biography that traces Linda Ronstadt's career from her days as a member of The Stone Poneys, her early solo albums, the critically acclaimed albums from the seventies, her work with Nelson Riddle , the foreign language recordings and her collaborations with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. The book gives an in-depth analysis of every studio album and is supported by a background to her life and the influences, musical and social, that shaped her career. Appendices in the book include a comprehensive discography, chart statistics, details of Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) and British Phonographic Industry (BPI) awards along with a list of Grammy Award nominations and wins. The book includes a foreword written by Andrew Gold.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AUK Authors
• Release date: Nov 23, 2010
• ISBN: 9781849892476

Book preview

Music...

Chapter 1

Welcome To The LA Rock Scene

...I don’t really play country music, I play very definitely California music.

(Linda Ronstadt talking about Silk Purse - 1975)

Los Angeles, in the early sixties, was the emerging dominant centre for music and had become a mecca for aspiring singer-songwriters and musicians. They would congregate in small groups at informal colonies around the Echo Park, Laurel Canyon and Venice areas of LA and formulate their musical ideas. By the summer of 1968 Laurel Canyon had become a rock sanctuary and, as Barny Hoskyns describes in his book Waiting For The Sun, By the beginning of 1970, Laurel Canyon in particular had become a kind of Olympus for the rock community. Jackson Browne, Bonnie Rait, Neil Young, Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Joni Mitchell were just a few of the people who could be seen around town. Sunset Strip and the surrounding areas were regular haunts and clubs like the Whiskey-A-Go-Go, The Trip, Ash Grove and the Troubadour were the places to be seen, and discovered. The latter club would play a major role in Linda’s career as we shall discover.

It had also become a magical place that youngsters flocked to. Looking back on her days in Los Angeles, she would say, The whole scene was still sweet and innocent at this point. It was all about sitting around in little embroidered dresses and listening to Elizabethan folk ballads, and that’s how I thought it would always be.

It was to this mecca that the eighteen-year-old Linda Ronstadt headed seeking fame and fortune.

She would admit later that it was an impetuous decision and one that she arrived at out of sheer ignorance. The life of an aspiring singer can be difficult and she never guessed that a wannabe performer might struggle for years and even then might not succeed in what was a highly competitive market. Looking back at how rough those first few years were she commented, I’d never have come. I’d have stayed in Tucson in terror and been a housewife with four kids.

However, she did stay and found a residence in Ocean Park. At the beginning she found the whole experience exciting, learning about philosophy, music and drugs. Although she wasn’t a fan of drugs, as she told MOJO in 1995, I took them from time to time, you kinda did! They made people deaf, they made people dead, and they made people real obnoxious. Looking back though, her memories of the LA rock scene were not always pleasant. At the time she never thought about being a woman and, although the term sexual harrasment hadn’t become such a common term, there were things going on that were far from acceptable and in some cases completely outrageous. There was also too much judgemental attitude as she recalled, You didn’t dare open your mouth in case you had the wrong opinion.

Almost immediately she made contact with her old friend Bobby Kimmel, who had moved to LA a year earlier. They discussed the pros and cons of forming a band and contacted another local musician, Kenny Edwards, who played lead guitar.

Edwards was born in Santa Monica and fell in love with music when he first encountered rock ‘n’ roll in 1956. I wanted to learn to play the piano like Jerry Lee Lewis but the school didn’t offer piano so I took up the cello instead, he remembered. In his early days he was exposed to the folk music of Pete Seger and Jimmy Reed’s blues and decided to learn to play guitar, I spent the years after high school learning traditional American music from blues to bluegrass and old-timey. Talking about his meeting with Kimmel he recalled, I met Bobby Kimmel at a little coffee house called the Balladeer. Kimmel and I started jamming a bit and he suggested we start up a band and said he had a friend back in Tucson who was a great singer.

The trio called themselves the Stone Poneys, after bluesman Charlie Patton’s song ‘Stone Poney Blues.’ It was hard to categorise their style of music although it was closer to folk than any other form. The obvious comparison was made with Peter, Paul and Mary who had already made their debut at Greenwich Village’s Bitter End coffee house and went on to record classics such as Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’, ‘If I Had A Hammer’, ‘Leaving On A Jet Plane’ and ‘Puff, The Magic Dragon.’

The Stone Poneys had no real musical direction and tried to combine folk and rock n’ roll, not always with great success. Linda and I wanted to bring a traditional and country flavour into the commercial folk scene that was fading at the time. We also, like everyone else, loved the Beatles, remembered Edwards. In the seventies Linda would look back on this period and describe their early attempts as crude. She went on to outline some of the problems, We tried to combine the roots with rock and roll and we were miserable.

Talking about working with Linda and their musical direction, Edwards recalled, Linda was pretty easy to work with, she was committed to doing good shows and improving the music we were trying to create. This led to disagreements with Bob Kimmell, who was the band’s leader and older and more organised than Linda and I, but had different tastes and saw the band differently.

However, Billboard, after reviewing a 1968 Stone Poneys concert, could see a future for this talented singer. Watch out for Linda Ronstadt! they exclaimed, predicting that she would become one of the nation’s top female vocalists.

***

In 1966 they cut a one-off single for the small Sidewalk label, ‘So Fine’ b/w ‘Everybody Has Their Own Ideas,’ which sank without trace and has subsequently become one of the rarest Ronstadt releases. Although Kenny Edwards could not recall the session he did remember the song, I know we had learned ‘So Fine’ from the Chambers Brothers who we opened for often at the Ice House in Redondo Beach.

They worked hard to gain some recognition and played clubs like the Insomniac and local beer joints although it was a gig at the famed Troubadour that was the turning point in their career. The Troubadour was the ‘in’ place to play and many aspiring musicians would appear at the club in the hope that a record company executive in the audience would take notice and sign them up. A two-week stint at the club landed them a recording contract with Capitol Records.

Capitol weren’t the only label to be impressed by the group. A few months earlier two ‘managers’ had heard them singing and arranged a meeting with representatives from Mercury Records. To Linda, Bobby and Kenny it appeared that their dreams had finally come true. Unfortunately there was a catch, the label were keen to sign them up but only if they were prepared to change their name to the Signets and perform ‘surf’ songs! It is hard to imagine the outcome if they had followed this route. Would Linda have become the next Annette Funicello and appeared in a new series of beach movies and, as The Signets, would they have covered the many surfing classics originally written and recorded by The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean? Somehow the idea is laughable and thankfully they declined the offer. The connection with ‘Surf’ music did not end there as Nik Venet, who would go on to produce The Stone Poneys, had overseen the recording of the Beach Boys’ first two albums Surfin’ Safari in 1962 and Surfin’ USA, released the following year.

It was Herb Cohen, Frank Zappa’s manager, who approached them with the possibility of a record deal. He was in the audience at one of their Troubadour shows and invited Linda to join him for a drink. He was more interested in her as a solo performer and had no hesitation in telling Kimmel that while he could get Linda on record he wasn’t so sure about the other guys. Linda had a sense of loyalty to the ‘other guys’ and she had no desire to be a solo performer and told him so. The group decided to stick together and landed further gigs at the Troubadour and various other clubs around town.

Cohen, maybe feeling sorry for the group, introduced them to Nik Venet who in turn approached the band and subsequently negotiated a deal with Capitol Records. Once again the familiar problem arose, they were more interested in Linda than the rest of the group. It was down to Venet, who ultimately had his own agenda, who managed to convince Capitol to sign them as a group.

In interviews Linda would often recall those early gigs. The Troubadour was like a cafe society, it was where everyone met, where everyone got to hear everyone else’s act. It was the place where she made many of her musical contacts and met people who were sympathetic to the musical styles she was hoping to pursue. It was during one of Linda’s stints at the Troubadour that Jackson Browne landed a support slot.

The Troubadour wasn’t the only club they played. Situated at 147 Bleecker Street in New York’s Greenwich Village, the Bitter End has become legendary. The club originally opened its doors in 1962 under the ownership of Fred Weintraub and in 1974 Paul Colby, who had previously been the manager and also booking agent, took over as owner. The diverse array of talent that has played there includes Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Paxton, Pete Seeger, Joni Mitchell and Peter, Paul and Mary. It was here, in late-1967, that the Stone Poneys made an appearance. Footage exists from the show, with Linda performing their current hit ‘Different Drum’ and it was broadcast on the music channel VH-1 in 1992.

Touring in those days was far removed from the hi-tech tours of today and life on the road was not always glamourous as Edwards remembered. Our first real tour started in the midwest and ended up in New York where we played at the Café au GoGo opening for the Butterfield Blues Band. We were just an acoustic trio and I remember the air conditioning was so loud it pretty much drowned out our little guitars. We were booked for the entire week as was the custom then, and were paid $300 for the whole band for the entire engagement. Even in the 60’s that wasn’t enough to keep us alive in New York. I slept on Billy Mundi’s floor in a nearby apartment, later on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s floor and had to borrow a few dollars from Frank Zappa to get to Philadelphia for our next gig. This was the heyday of the Village and I saw everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Peter Townsend to Dylan walking the streets down there. We justifiably felt way out of our league. With a limited repertoire they turned to other artists for material to perform on these early gigs, We used to cover Chambers Brothers songs, they were friends of ours, we played Zombie songs and Jackson Browne songs and had a fairly large list of early rock and soul tunes we used for our college beer bar gigs, recalled Edwards.

Information concerning the recording of their three albums, all produced by Nik Venet, is scarce although it is likely that, being Capitol recording artists, most of the sessions were held at the Capitol Tower on the corner of Hollywood and Vine. The famed studio had been home to many artists and among those who have recorded at the Tower were Nat King Cole, the Beach Boys and Frank Sinatra who recorded many of his albums with Nelson Riddle including Songs For Swingin’ Lovers and Only The Lonely, an album that would play an important part in Linda’s career in the eighties. It is possible that United Western and Sunset Sound studios may have been utilised as well. Besides Edwards and Kimmel on guitars, other session players featured on the albums included Billy Mundi on drums, James E. Bond Jr on bass, John T. Forsha, Dennis Matthew Budimir, Cyrus Faryar and Pete Childs on acoustic guitars. The sleeve-notes of their first album credit Linda as playing finger cymbals and credit her for the pain and suffering!

Kenny Edwards remembered many of those early sessions, When we went into the studio we were totally green at recording and playing with other musicians. I remember two great drummers hired to play with us, Billy Mundi, who played with the Mothers of Invention, and Jim Gordon who is well known for his latter work with Steely Dan, among others. There was not much involvement after the tracks were laid down as he recalled, I think we recorded the first record in two days, we were never invited to the mixes.

***

Their first album was released in March 1967 and to help promote the album Capitol lifted two tracks for single release, ‘All The Beautiful Things’ coupled with ‘Sweet Summer Blue And Gold,’ although it sank without trace.

Stone Poneys (Capitol (S)T 2666)

‘Sweet Summer Blue And Gold’

‘If I Were You’

‘Just A Little Bit Of Rain’

‘Bicycle Song (Soon Now)’

‘Orion’

‘Wild About My Lovin’’

‘Back Home’

‘Meredith (On My Mind)’

‘Train And The River’

‘All The Beautiful Things’

‘2:10 Train’

Jerry Hopkins summed up the trio in his sleeve notes. The Stone Poneys is a gentle trio, and it really isn’t confusing at all. What The Stone Poneys do, in a clear, crisp style, is offer a lovely bouquet of musical flowers and wheat, the beauty and staff of life. The first Poney is Linda Ronstadt, described by a friend as a ‘Peter Pan still looking for Shadow.’ She is from Tucson, Arizona, where she grew long black hair and big brown eyes. The second Poney is Bob Kimmel. He is from Tucson, too, is the leader in the group, plays rhythm guitar, tried to lord it over the others because he is a little older. He is the one with the beard. The third and final Poney is Ken Edwards. He is not from Tucson (he is a Californian), has a mop of curly hair, plays lead guitar, is sort of quiet and moody. He is the tall one. The Stone Poneys is a nice group. Just like the good old days. They are not to be confused with anything (or anyone) else. Period. Tell your best friends.

It was evident that Venet was still working on Linda as a solo act and the fact that he persuaded her to record three solos on the album is evidence that there was a motive behind all his work in gaining the group a contract with Capitol. The three tracks, ‘Orion’, ‘Just A Little Bit Of Rain’ and ‘2:10 Train,’ stand out from the rest of the album which overall has a folk feel reminiscent of Peter, Paul and Mary. Her solo performances were certainly a strong indication of how powerful and passionate her voice could be if she was steered in the right direction.

Unfortunately the album did not create much interest outside of the LA area and it was becoming obvious that what the group needed was publicity. Venet hired Rodney Bingenheimer, who had spent time hanging around with The Byrds and had earned the name ‘The Mayor of Sunset Strip’, to work on promoting the band. It is unclear how much effort he put into the job although the minor success of their next album would certainly give him credit for spreading the word.

Just three months after releasing their debut album Capitol issued their second offering, a similar selection of tracks showcasing Linda’s voice.

Evergreen, Volume 2 (Capitol (S)T 2763)

‘December Dream’

‘Song About The Rain’

‘Autumn Afternoon’

‘I’d Like To Know’

‘Evergreen Part One’

‘Evergreen Part Two’

‘Different Drum’

‘Driftin’’

‘One For One’

‘Back On The Street Again’

‘Toys In Time’

‘New Hard Times’

Although it only reached #100 it became Linda’s first chart album and spent fifteen weeks in the Top 200 between late 1967 and early 1968.

Linda picked most of the songs that the Stone Poneys recorded with the material, once again, falling more into the folk category than country. Her voice cannot be faulted on any of the tracks although on many of the selections the input from arranger Sidney Sharp seems over-orchestrated.

Of the twenty-three tracks on the first two albums, thirteen were written by Edwards and Kimmel with the remaining tracks penned by a variety of singer/songwriters. They turned to Steve Gillette for ‘Song About The Rain’ and ‘Back On The Street Again’, while Fred Neil, Tom Campbell, Pam Pollard and Mayne Smith all had their songs covered. Although both Kimmel and Edwards were credited for writing songs this was not the case as Edwards recalled, Kimmel was the only one of us who had written any songs. Apparently Edwards was credited for co-writing them for complex business reasons.

There were some great songs and vocal performances on the albums with ‘If I Were You’ and ‘Meredith (On My Mind)’, both written by Edwards and Kimmel, along with Steve Gillette’s ‘Song About The Rain’ and ‘Back On The Street Again’ showcasing the vocal abilities of the group and Linda in particular.

***

Despite two albums and a successful round of gigs, the band would have become just another ‘LA band’ if it hadn’t been for one track, ‘Different Drum’, written by Mike Nesmith, a former member of The Monkees. Recorded previously by the Greenbriar Boys, it would become their first chart hit. Nesmith went on to form the First National Band in 1969, fusing country music and rock music in a style akin to Gram Parsons and The Byrds, and recorded a trilogy of albums, Magnetic South, Loose Salute and Nevada Fighter.

Released in late-1967 ‘Different Drum’ backed with the non-album track ‘I’ve Got To Know’ climbed to a respectable #13 in the US charts. This was the second single lifted from Evergreen. The first which combined ‘One For One’ with the album’s title track had failed to create much interest with the record buying public.

‘Different Drum’ was kind of a freak, Linda told Broadside, It was one song on the album that I didn’t think sounded like any of the rest of the album, and it happened to hit. She considered it only one facet of what they could do as a group and that they would probably move into more delicate songs.

Riding on the success of ‘Different Drum’ the Stone Poneys toured with the Doors in 1968 as a warm-up act, something which Linda remembered as a pretty grim experience. The Lizard King, Jim Morrison, didn’t endear himself to the group as she told MOJO in 1995, We thought they were a good band, but we didn’t like the singer. He always wore these same snakeskin pants that really smelled because he never washed. He would get drunk and, although they would hang out with him, it soon became impossible. Linda remembers one time when he turned up with a redheaded girl who looked just like someone had been dancing on her jaw. When she asked what happened the redhead replied, no pun intended, I ran into a Door!

By this time Edwards had left the band and moved to India and it was just Linda and Kimmel who played on the tour. Soon after Kimmel also left and it was down to Linda to finish work on their next album. Fortunately Edwards returned in time to be involved on a good proportion of the recording.

However, the cracks were beginning to show and it was clear that the life of the Stone Poneys was coming to an end. With their second album credited to Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys, it was becoming more obvious to everyone that Capitol Records were more interested in Linda as a solo artist. It had been rumoured that Capitol intended to make her a solo act almost from the day the ink was dry on the contract. Edwards recalled this period, I could see that coming and was interested in moving on in any case, having a musical vision of my own that would later be more represented by Bryndle, a band I helped found in 1969.

There was no doubt, even at this early stage, that she outshone the rest of the group. Following the split she insisted to Country Music People that Kenny and Bobby weren’t fired and that they were originally signed knowing that there was a possibility that she would be forced into becoming a solo artist.

It was while this turmoil within the group was going on that an album of previously unreleased out-takes and solo Ronstadt performances was issued in April 1968.

Stone Poneys And Friends (Capitol (S)T 2863)

‘Fragments: Golden Song’

‘Merry-Go-Round’

‘Love Is A Child’

‘By The Fruits Of Their Labor’

‘Hobo’

‘Star And A Stone’

‘Let’s Get Together’

‘Up To My Neck In High Muddy Water’

‘Aren’t You The Girl?’

‘Wings’

‘Some Of Shelly’s Blues’

‘Stoney End’

Both ‘By The Fruits Of Their Labor’ and ‘Star And A Stone’ were written by Edwards and Kimmel and sound like outtakes from their earlier albums, while most of the other material appears to be solo performances by Linda. The album featured three tracks from Tim Buckley, ‘Hobo’, ‘Aren’t You The Girl’ and ‘Wings’, all excellent performances. ‘Hobo’ was actually written and recorded by Buckley with the title ‘Morning Glory’.

Linda turned to Mike Nesmith again for ‘Some Of Shelley’s Blues’ and Laura Nyro for the album’s closing track ‘Stoney End.’ The album was probably the best of the three and showcased Linda’s voice and gave a foretaste of what was to come, especially on the uptempo country-tinged numbers.

Two more singles, with the lead-sides lifted from the latest album, were issued during 1968, with neither achieving any chart success. ‘Up To My Neck In High Muddy Water’ was paired with yet another non-album track, ‘Carnival Bear’ while the other was the Nesmith composition ‘Some Of Shelley’s Blues’

She has often talked about how unhappy she was during this period of her career although much of it can be put down to her fear of trying