Linda Ronstadt Album: “Hasten Down the Wind”

Although this may not be most people's favorite Linda Ronstadt album, I have a particular fondness for it, mostly because it was the first entire Linda album I ever listened to from start to finish in one sitting.

Her vocal range is stunning and the song choices on this disc seem hell-bent on stretching that range as much as possible. Linda sings everything from country-rock to pop to soul to reggae with admitedly mixed results. She even tries (not entirely successfully) to cover Buddy Holly ("That'll Be The Day") and Patsy Cline ("Crazy").

The flaws are never in her vocal work, but rather, in her inability to emotionally connect with some of the material. As eclectic as she tries to be, she seems to produce her best work when she is singing something simple and original. The highlight is easily the wonderful "Lose Again" written by Karla Bonoff. Ronstadt injects just the right amount of pathos and heartbreak into the track and gives it a nice simplicity mixed with moments of extreme vocal power. Close seconds are her plaintiff "Try Me Again"(one of my favs to sing in the shower, what a great hook in the bridge!), the powerfully sad "Down So Low" and the touching "Lo Siento Mi Vida".

Then there is a wonderful a capella moment with "Rivers of Babylon" that totally comes from left field, but completely works.

With this album it's easy to sense that Ronstadt is growing restless and tired of singing just rock-pop and is acheing to venture into more complex musical territories. With the advantage of hindsight, it's easy to see this album is really the precursor to her later famous forays into Mexican folk music, classic jaz/pop standards and an overall more eclectic vocal mix.

The cover is also perhaps her most teasingly sexual, an indication that by now she was perhaps starting to become more well known as a sex symbol than a serious artist by the general public.

Despite the reaming it got from critics, Linda Ronstadt's 1976 album HASTEN DOWN THE WIND was her first platinum release. (The R.I.A.A. began certifying platinum status that year). Actually, HASTEN DOWN THE WIND is probably the most interesting of Ronstadt's 1970s rock records. The album captures Ronstadt in transition between the country influence of HEART LIKE A WHEEL and the rock orientated direction that would become dominant on LIVING IN THE U.S.A. To make a good record even better, this is one of her most captivating song sets (not her best, but her most exciting). Through the course of HASTEN DOWN THE WIND we get a glimpse of the different reasons Linda Ronstadt is a musical hero: the contemporary reinventions of classic songs, the exciting interpretations of new material, Ronstadt's first released song is Spanish, and even two of Ronstadt's own compositions.

Linda Ronstadt never fails with a rock 'n' roll interpretation. Actually, "That'll Be The Day" is one of her best; she completely reinvents the song, and it's jet-propelled for it's two and a half minute running time. "Crazy", which even in 1976 was revered as Patsy Cline's classic, is perfectly captured in a stark arrangement, in which Ronstadt represents the emotional details of the lyrics with exceptional skill. "Down So Low", which comes complete with a large chorus and thrilling lead vocals lines, is remarkable.

Linda Ronstadt's gift for perfect emotional portrayl is beautifully exemplified on the three Karla Bonoff songs: "Lose Again", "If He's Ever Near", and "Someone To Lay Down Beside Me". Ronstadt's taken extreme heat for covering these three songs on the same record, but "Lose Again" is an ideal power-ballad-type workout, "If He's Ever Near" sometimes is gorgeous, and "Someone To Lay Down Beside Me" was a hit. "The Tattler" is a terrific song about different troubles in various relationships, to which Ronstadt delivers a magnifiscent performance. The title track is Ronstadt's first cover of a song by Warren Zevon; several would follow including "Carmelita", "Poor Poor Pitiful Me", and "Mohammed's Radio". A stunning piano based track with a featured vocal from Don Henley, "Hasten Down The Wind" is majestic. Ronstadt's two attempts at reggae are noteworthy, if not overwhelmingly successful. "The Rivers Of Babylon" is a beautiful a cappella performance with Kenny Edwards and Andrew Gold. The song precedes "Give One Heart" a deliciously melodic, but lyrically slight song, originally recorded by Orleans. Ronstadt delivers a superb performance.

"Lo Siento Mi Vida" doubles in significance as one of the two Linda Ronstadt compositions on the album, and her first released Spanish track. (Actually, the song's bridge is written and performed in English). The song is pure beauty at its most soothing. A song worth a million listens. Ronstadt scores even higher on "Try Me Again", a torch ballad in the winning Linda Ronstadt tradition. If you loved "Long Long Time" or "Love Has No Pride", be sure to check this song out.

My favorite song on the album is the opening track, "Lose Again". The song opens with one piano note then Ronstadt's beautiful voice launches into the lyrics about a no-win situation. The orchestral backing progresses and in the middle of the song the guitar solo projects the emotional climax. Its one of those song that never loses its emotional resonance, regardless of how many times you listen.

In a world of commericalism, and the recycled factory of formulas, it's easy to see how an adventurous recording like HASTEN DOWN THE WIND made pop's bosses uncomfortable. The fact that this record was not only experimental, but incredibly successful most have added pressure. Certainly the album has more rough edges than HEART LIKE A WHEEL or SIMPLE DREAMS, but HASTEN DOWN THE WIND is equally essential, and maybe even a more important listen.

Although "Hasten Down the Wind" does not typically get mentioned in the same breath as her critical favorites like "Heart Like a Wheel", it remains the album that made me a Ronstadt fan for life. Even 25+ years after its release, it still sounds fresh, gorgeous and emotional in a way few records ever do. If you are ever in a downer mood, and all of us are from time to time, I can think of no group of songs that allows a listener to both hit the depths of a bad mood and recover the way this collection does. Take a listen to Linda's soaring vocals on "Try Me Again" (recently covered in a near mirror arrangement by Trisha Yearwood), her bluesy, angry growl on "Down So Low", her resignation to love's injustices on "Lose Again" (one of 3 great Karla Bonoff emotion-wringers on the album), her heavenly take on Willie Nelson's "Crazy" and the flawless vocals and piano on the haunting, heart-breaking "Someone to Lay Down Beside Me". Not to mention numerous others. It's hard for me to be too objective about this album, so I will finish with the following: Great and emotion-packed vocals, great choice of songs, terrific arrangements and musical performances, excellent production and engineering that still sounds fresh, and simply the best female rocker of her era. Need I say more?

Almost 25 years after this album was first released, I'd nearly forgotten how personally important, dare I say vital, HASTEN DOWN THE WIND was to me when I was in high school. In retrospect, it was the album that made me a Linda Ronstadt fanatic for many years that followed, but my interest in her strangely petered out after her foray into other genres beyond her best-charting albums. It wasn't until recently (when I woke from an oddly lucid dream telling me to listen to HASTEN DOWN THE WIND again) that I was determined to find the CD in the record store and revive my dormant memories. Amazingly, it is the hardest-to-find in the Linda catalog, as many stores don't even carry it in the bins. Well, I finally tracked down a copy, took it for a spin on my CD player, and was immediately captivated once again by the sheer GENIUS, power and artistry of this, one of the great albums of all time.

From the first piano note of "Lose Again" to the haunting and isolated melancholia of "Someone to Lay Down Beside Me," HASTEN DOWN THE WIND is a seamless sonic travelogue of varied styles, from reggae, classic country, old time rock 'n' roll, gospel, Mexican and so much more, without feeling like a deliberate style sampler that it could be. It's almost a prophetic template for Linda's career that followed, which everyone knows, showcased the singer's interest in diverse genres after she turned her back on her own pop-star status.

HASTEN DOWN THE WIND is music school 101 for any and all singers, aspiring or accomplished. Because not one white female sang with as much soul and rocked as solidly (after Janis died that is), as Linda Ronstadt. And what is equally incredible to me yay these many years, are the similarities between Janis and Linda. Both suffered from agonizing teenage years tormented by acne and social rejection amid the dreary heat of their respective southern/southwestern towns. I now wonder if their paths ever crossed at any time during the '60s, when Linda was first making a name for herself during her Stone Pony days? Is so, I'm sure Janis knew instantly who her biggest competition was in terms of sheer vocal power and undeniable soul.

HASTEN DOWN THE WIND, with its extraordinary cover photograph, is an all-time classic, sadly overlooked these days, but rightfully one of the great albums to ever come out of the 70s or any decade for that matter. (And shame on Life magazine for their derogatory and off-base assessment of Linda's career in their recent publication "Rock & Roll at 50.")

Bought 'Hasten Down The Wind' as an LP in college. My roommates dug her

for her sex appeal (me, too). But, that voice just blew you away. Still

does. This album (especially "Give One Heart" {love the reaggae sounding

tag to the cut} and "Try Me Again") had been spun from September through

May, when school was out. Sounded great then on the stereo, then the tape

deck and soon, the CD in the vehicle. Another gem in Ronstadt's wide

repetoire of covering familiar and new songwriter material.