Linda Ronstadt Album: “Don't Cry Now”

A transitional album for Linda Ronstadt in sound only, "Don't Cry Now" has more of a country-rock sound than later albums. Her first recording for Asylum, "Don't Cry Now" gets the deluxe reissue that it always deserved. The recording doesn't sound compressed or like it has been brickwalled pumping out volume at the expense of the dynamic range of the original recording.

Shawn Brittan does a marvelous job remastering this classic album. The album is a limited, numbered edition and is presented in a replica of its original gatefold sleeve (as with The Allman Brothers "Idlewind South" Mofi reissue). Like Steve Hoffman's excellent remaster of her Greatest Hits collection, "Don't Cry Now" has all of the advantages of CD without the disadvantages of most modern remasters.

Although this contains more rock and less country than her previous albums, it has more of a country feel to it than much of the music coming out of Nashville in recent years. This was Linda's fourth solo album - she had also recorded some with the Stone Poneys - but although it was her best selling album up to that point in her career, it did not make her a big star - that happened as a result of the album after this, Heart like a wheel. This album is fairly mellow, being mainly a mix of ballads and mid-tempo songs with only a couple of up-tempo songs (Silver threads and golden needles, The fast one).

The songs include three originals (I can almost see it, Don't cry now, The fast one) written by John David Souther, a songwriter that provided Linda with songs during the seventies. Love has no pride (co-written by Eric Kaz, another songwriter whose songs Linda made good use of) has also been covered by Bonnie Raitt.

The album includes plenty of great covers including Desperado (Eagles), Sail away (Randy Newman), Colorado (Flying Burrito Brothers), Everybody loves a winner (William Bell) and I believe in you (Neil Young).

This album includes Linda's second recording of Silver threads and golden needles, a country standard first recorded by Wanda Jackson, which became a top twenty American hit for the Springfields in the early sixties. Linda originally recorded the song on Hand sown home grown, which I've already reviewed.

This album, on vinyl, was my introduction to Linda's music and it remains one of my favorites. Linda has recorded many different types of album and you need eclectic tastes (like Linda and I do) to enjoy them all. To enjoy this one, you need to like mellow country rock music, such as you can hear on the early Eagles albums.

Still a relatively young artist, she had not hit her stride yet. After listening to many of the albums from her repertoire, I have to say that this is her best one so far. The album is one of her most emotional and solemn, even more than her classic "Hasten Down the Wind'. It opens with the brilliant Harmonica driven "I Can Almost See it" and you can almost feel her heartbreak. "Love Has No Pride" is a torch singer's pride, she rips this one to shreds with her honesty and leaves no prisoners. She provides a good version of "Silver Threads and Golden Needles' but alittle too bluegrass driven, Janis Joplin's version is a little more superior. "Desperado" is the best song on this record and possibly the best in her whole catalog. The title track is just beautiful, she sings it so nicely with her friend Wendy on the harmonization. "Sail Away" is a definite miss, the chorus behind her is uplifting but this one drags. "Colorado" is a almost visual masterpiece and she almost melts your heart with her vocals. "The Fast One" is one of the two uptempos on this album and the best out of both of them. This one is cool. "Everybody Loves A Winner" is another winner. It's heartbreak in the lyrics but you can sense some optimism. She's a great interpreter. If you're looking for uplifting Linda, check "Get Closer" but if you want ball and chain carrying, heartrending Linda. Definately buy this one and "Hasten Down the Wind". Bow down to one of the greatest vocalists of our time.

One of LINDA RONSTADT's most endearing projects ever! This is the album that LINDA RONSTADT found her all time enduring voice on(it was THERE from "Different Drum" on!), and that Americans became solidly and universally intrigued with her! There are FOUR notable singles here that subsequently guided, inspired and catapulted all future(well into the 1990's) Country/Pop artists into the stratosphere of national and international recordings arts fame. Those quintessential tracks are her universally acclaimed DEFINITIVE version of SILVER THREADS AND GOLDEN NEEDLES(her PERSONAL Rock redefining update & future C&W/Classic Rock Radio staple), superior to her previous 1969 version, and immense improvement over Ronstadt hero Dusty Springfield's early 60's version!)- RONSTADT's INCOMPARABLE power ballad version(Eagles version paled, failed & avoided on radio at the time!)of her 1970's FM Rock Radio staple, DESPERADO - her intensely played and celebrated charting single, LOVE HAS NO PRIDE, which overshadowed all other versions - "SAIL AWAY", her classic Randy Newman cover which also recieved coast to coast American FM Radio airplay during the mother LP's run...and last, but not least, her memorable mid-70's FM radio staple, "COLORADO" which drove RONSTADT even deeper into the hearts of American music fans - yes(!) we felt her "pain" and identified quite well with this GODDESS of torch songs, whether male or female! DON'T CRY NOW is an ESSENTIAL American Recording - it remains the "cliff hanger" to HEART LIKE A WHEEL, and dominates all pop-rock-country music libraries of its era and beyond.

Recorded at a pivotal time in Los Angeles country-tinged rock, "Don't Cry Now" moves Ronstadt a few steps away from her previous, and more rustic, albums, and closer to the pop-edged sheen of her later mainstream work. Although the production is muddy in places, the musicianship throughout is stellar. Standout tracks include the definitive cover version of "Desperado" and the bar-band staple, "Silver Threads and Golden Needles." Her covers of Neil Young's " I Believe in You" and Randy Newman's "Sail Away" are not quite as incisive as one would hope, but her take on Booker T. Jones' "Everybody Loves a Winner" is achingly true. Other quality tracks are "Love Has No Pride" and "Don't Cry Now," both of which play to her strengths of power and subtlety. "Heart Like a Wheel" and "Hasten Down the Wind" both waited around the bend for this artist, but "Don't Cry Now" marks an important transitional point in her career.