Aftee wmdude102086 was kind enough to post his 25 favorites from Trisha over at Country Universe in January, I went ahead and posted my 25 favorites from Linda Ronstadt (naturally enough), so for anyone who wants to peruse:

http://www.countryuniverse.net/2009/02/13/...linda-ronstadt/

I really placed my focus on a lot of the hidden gems on Linda's albums, and not just the hits (great though they may be). This is because I feel that Linda's greatness lies not just in her hit singles, but on the complete albums they come from. She was really the first true great female album artist in any genre, country or otherwise (IMHO).

Eric,

I am sorry I didnt notice this topic sooner........I have been so busy I completly missed it! I wanted to tell you what a excellent job you did on your list and you really highlighted some great songs. I really enjoyed your writing style and you had me hooked the whole way through and really inspired me to look more into her music!
Great Job!

Cory

What I hoped I did there was to show that Linda was not merely a hit-making machine, nor merely somebody who remade a lot of classic R&B, rock, and C&W songs for the 70s generation. To pigeonhole her in that fashion really distorts and flattens her impact in a way that is not only unflattering but also quite inaccurate.

I didn't neglect the hits, obviously; you really can't, anyway. But I wanted to make the point that Linda was perhaps the first female artist in any genre to establish a career based not only on hit singles from albums, but also (and perhaps much more importantly) the complete albums themselves. This is why I put in such rarities as "Willing", "I Will Always Love You", "Colorado", "A River For Him", and others. I also would like to have more of her C&W-oriented material get played on country radio, because even though she is much more Sunset Strip than Music Row in her approach, she at least understands the traditional spirit of the form in ways that I don't think too many of the current crop of female singers do.

Well, first thing, I didn't realize Linda had done a version of "I Will Always Love You," so I'm gonna have to check that out.

I'm what I would call a casual Linda fan. I love quite a few of her songs but don't own any of her CDs other than a couple of greatest hits, plus the three LP collaboration with Nelson Riddle. I loved reading through your list Erik. You make me realize how much I've missed not buying the individual albums.

But I have to say a big kudos to you and Cory for even attempting to list your favorites by a particular artist. The only artist where I can comfortably say I know all their material is Gary Allan, and I couldn't begin to put together such a list and comment so intelligently on it. I mean, I could come up with 20-25 songs of his that I love, but to list them.... no way.... lol.... so both of you have my respect for what you've accomplished. And both of you added interesting and insightful comments about the material and why it made your lists.

Btw, my mom is actually the one who bought the Nelson Riddle LPs. She was from the age of the "girl singer" so she heard that material by whoever did it originally, singing with the big bands. And she thought Linda did a fantastic job. I know it's available on CD now but I still kinda like listening to it on LP.... lol....

Thanks again both of you. Great jobs!!

It's never too late, in my humble opinion, to explore Linda's back catalog, especially the rootsy, country material, since there are places Linda goes in that genre that almost no female artist goes even these days. For example, I'd be pretty hard-pressed to see either Gretchen Wilson or Miranda Lambert get awy with a song like "Willing", with its references to "weed, whites, and wine", perhaps because their record companies might not think the song "politically correct." Linda sets a very high bar when it comes to recording the songs she does, in that she has to relate to them on a personal level before she'll do them. It's perhaps a bit easier for Linda than it is for others because she trusts her own heart and doesn't pander to audiences or commercial dictates, though there's no denying that it has worked for her, both in commerical and artistic terms, in very big ways.