Canyon Reassurance: “When Will I Be Loved” by Linda Ronstadt

In the mid-seventies there were many newly moneyed people who didn’t believe Don McLean’s proclamation that rock and roll had died but still wanted the umbilical cord back to where things had begun. Linda Ronstadt had recorded the album Heart Like A Wheel as a contractual obligation to Capitol Records but its success exceeded anybody’s expectations. The record’s economical thirty-two minutes or so established Ronstadt as a fine interpreter of the songs of others; the song selection is very astute, running from Hank Williams and Paul Anka to Lowell George and Anna McGarrigle.

The first single from the album, a patiently ominous reading of “You’re No Good” which was probably inspired equally by the Dee Dee Warwick and Betty Everett readings, went to number one, and this reinterpretation of a 1960 Phil Everly-composed song nearly repeated the trick. The Everlys’ original is actually quite an angry record, but Ronstadt instead opts for exuberant politesse. Backed by the best musicians Los Angeles could afford at the time, and produced by Peter Asher, this confirms Ronstadt as someone who could approach an absurdly diverse range of songs – from Gilbert and Sullivan to Philip Glass, from Carla Bley to Elvis Costello – with great technique and unshakable confidence.

Date Record Made Number Two: 21 June 1975
Number Of Weeks At Number Two: 2
Record At Number One: “Love Will Keep Us Together” by The Captain and Tennille
UK Chart Position: None

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