Saturday Morning Music Two-fer: Linda Ronstadt



This is Linda Rondstadt singing the Karla Bonoff song Someone to Lay Down Beside Me. This is from a performance at The Fox Theater in Atlanta GA in 1977.

The wonderful piano player is the late Don Grolnick. The other band members are Waddy Wachtel on lead guitar, Kenny Edwards on bass, and Ricky Marotta on drums.

Linda Ronstadt was one of my very favorite singers when I was in college. She didn't write her songs but she sang so beautifully and the choices she made for what she put on her albums were so great to sing along to. Some of them were rowdy and fun while others were poignant and yearning, the soundtrack of heartbreak. Ronstadt doesn't sing any more - she has Parkinson's and is no longer able to sing. The world has lost one of its most lovely voices.

Here's another of my favorite songs - Heart Like a Wheel, written by sisters Kate and Anna McGarrigle. None of the live performances I found came close to the studio version, so it's not much fun to watch. Just close your eyes and listen.






Comments

Bill Bynum said…
Two enjoyable clips. Excellent backup band on Someone to Lay Down Beside Me. Dan Grolnick, as you say, is a good pianist, and Waddy Wachtel has a nice guitar solo. Nice backup on Heart Like a Wheel, too. Linda Ronstadt has a beautiful, clear voice. My favorite female vocalists from my college days were June Christy and Anita O'Day, both of whom sang for the Stan Kenton band. Jazz vocalists don't often give you a lot to sing along with, though.
Thanks, Bill! And yeah, it's hard to sing along with Jazz.