ecn71270's Full Review: Hand Sown... Home Grown/Silk Purse by Linda Ronsta...
In a decades-long career that has embodied such diverse styles as opera, classical art songs, the Great American Songbook, and Mexican rancheras, it can sometimes be forgotten (as it evidently has with the powers-that-be who run the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) that Linda Ronstadt was and is still considered very much a pioneer of the country-rock movement that coalesced in Southern California near the end of the 1960s. It was certainly a risky move in its time, since country music was stereotyped by young folks as reactionary, racist, right-wing, and redneck. What Linda and others in her circle, including the late Gram Parsons, wanted to do was to bring the traditional spirit of country music out and combine it with a rock and roll ethos, while detaching it from its less politically savory background.
And now, Australian import label Raven has made the bold decision to re-release Linda's first two solo albums (originally on Capitol/EMI), 1969's Hand Sown, Home Grown, and 1970's Silk Purse, that helped to shape the country-rock movement, along with a long-lost, single-only release that has taken nearly thirty-nine years to see the light of day on any Linda Ronstadt recording.
The tracks:
BABY YOU'VE BEEN ON MY MIND SILVER THREADS AND GOLDEN NEEDLES BET NO ONE EVER HURT THIS BAD A NUMBER AND A NAME THE ONLY MAMA THAT'LL WALK THE LINE THE LONG WAY AROUND BREAK MY MIND I'LL BE YOUR BABY TONIGHT IT'S ABOUT TIME WE NEED A WHOLE LOT MORE JESUS THE DOLPHINS
LOVESICK BLUES ARE MY THOUGHTS WITH YOU? WILL YOU LOVE ME TOMORROW? NOBOBDYS LOUISE LONG LONG TIME MENTAL REVENGE I'M LEAVIN' IT ALL UP TO YOU HE DARKED THE SUN LIFE IS LIKE A MOUNTAIN RAILWAY
SHE'S A VERY LOVELY WOMAN Tracks 1-11 are from Hand Sown, Home Grown Tracks 12-21 are from Silk Purse Track 22 was recorded at Muscle Shoals, Alabama in July 1970
Hand Sown, Home Grown, released in the spring of 1969, is, for all intents and purposes, the first true female alternative-country album, by virtue of Linda having recorded with the cream of the crop of the Los Angeles country-rock session mafia of that era, including legendary guitarist Clarence White, steel guitar master Red Rhodes and pianist Earl "Poole" Ball (who co-wrote "Only Mama" with Ivy J. Bryant). With former Monkees producer Chip Douglas at the controls, this was a fairly ragged affair that tanked commercially (like so many early country-rock albums of that time, it fell between the cracks). But even at this early stage, Linda shows a lot of the traits that would eventually catch on, as evidenced on standards like "Silver Threads And Golden Needles"; "Only Mama"; and the oft-covered "Break My Mind." On those last two songs, Linda displays a kind of growl in her voice that would even make tough country women of today like Gretchen Wilson and Miranda Lambert think twice.
Silk Purse, released in the spring of 1970, is Linda's one and (most likely) only attempt at making an album within the confines of Nashville. This time, she had the Nashville session crew Area Code 615, including steel guitarist Weldon Myrick and drummer Kenneth Buttrey, backing her up, and Elliot Mazer, who had been recommended to Linda by no less than Janis Joplin, in the production booth. Linda has all but disowned the album, which she says was a failure largely because of her inability to convey the California approach to country music to the Nashville musicians; and indeed, the quality of this album is very uneven, a fact perhaps exacerbated by the album's notorious cover photo of Linda in a barnyard with pigs. Still, as with almost everything Linda has ever done, there are some solid moments here too, notably her version of the Hank Williams classic "Lovesick Blues"; the Dillard and Clark lament "He Darked The Sun"; and, last but not least, the wrenching ballad "Long Long Time", which hit #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1970 and gave Linda her first Grammy nomination, for Best Contemporary Female Vocal Performance.
It is the bonus track here, however, that really stands out: "She's A Very Lovely Woman", written by Emmit Rhodes of the 1960s pop group Merry Go Round. With John Boylan producing, Linda recorded this song primarily with the studio crew at Muscle Shoals, Alabama in July 1970, though she also had future Eagle Glenn Frey and John Beland (of her then-current backing band Swampwater) helping out on guitars. With its shimmering electric guitars, tasteful orchestration, and being in a minor key, it is as pure a pop-rock song as Linda had done up to that time. and a shock to the system given the heavy country emphasis of the two albums that came immediately before it. As a singles-only release (backed with "The Long Way Around", from Hand Sown), it could only muster a #70 showing on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1971 (though it charted at #17 on the Adult Contemporary Chart). But it is precisely for those reasons that fans have been hungering for it to be put on an album/CD, and now it has finally happened.
The significant amount of songs on this collection that are either overtly country or country-influenced may seem to be a turnoff for some, though they're balanced off by the acoustic familiarity of "Long Long Time" and the pop-rock of "She's A Very Lovely Woman." For anyone hungering after a synthesis of country and rock from its very beginnings, however, this is an essential collection to have, especially to remind everyone of the musical pioneer Linda has always been regarded as by four succeeding generations of alt-country and roots-rock women, from her good pal Emmylou Harris all the way up to Sheryl Crow, Lucinda Williams, and Tift Merritt.
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