And now for something completely different:

The Australian import label Raven has just recently gone through the trouble of re-releasing Linda Ronstadt's first two solo albums in shockingly good sound: 1969's Hand Sown, Home Grown, arguably the very first alternative country album by a female artist; and 1970's Silk Purse, the one with its provocative backwoods cover.



Both these albums are fairly rough, given how early they came in Linda's career, but they illustrate the ways Linda worked to try and bring the traditional spirit of country music to rock audiences without the genre's reactionary stereotypes. Hand Sown, recorded with the cream of the crop of the Los Angeles C&W/rock session mafia, has some of Linda's most ferocious early vocal performances in "The Only Mama That'll Walk The Line" and the oft-covered "Break My Mind"; while Silk Purse, recorded in Music City with the Area Code 615 session crew, boasts her second big hit, the wrenching ballad "Long Long Time", which got up to #25 in October 1970 and almost netted Linda her first Grammy (for Best Contemporary Female Vocal).

But the real bonus is the final track, a song that was initially released only as a single, and had never been on any album of hers--"She's A Very Lovely Woman", recorded in Muscle Shoals in the summer of 1970. Its obscurity with audiences is due to the fact that it stalled at #70 on the singles chart in February 1971, but it is highly prized among Ronstadt fans (Memo to Trisha [LOL]), and is a pure pop-rock offering with its shimmering electric guitars and tasteful orchestration.

This compilation is well worth getting for Linda's groundbreaking approach to country-rock, and for that long lost single.

Trisha, I am a real big fan of yours and when I was looking' at your tour dates, I was kind of wondering', do you normally have any VIP passes at any of your concerts? Just curious girl. ha ha. Well, how have you been? Doing' alright I HOPE. Listen, I have been doing' real well down here myself. I am also wondering' if you or Garth are having' some Possible Tour Dates in or anywhere near Oklahoma, are there any possible chances of you guys doing' that at all? I also love to sing and in the summer time, I absolutely LOVE to go to the LAKE, and it's funny because this summer, my parents and I went to Thunderbird Lake in Norman, Stroud Lake which is of course simply in Stroud and I haven't been down there ever since I was an infant and I also have relatives that live down there, so that was a real special time that I got to spend with them because I missed them so much. ha ha. Finally, we went to Arcaidia Lake which is close to where we live because It's located right here in Oklahoma. That's why I was asking' about those Tour Dates too. ha ha. Tell Garth about this and please tell him that I'm asking' him " When are you gonna be coming' out with Tour Dates for Oklahoma?" Please tell him to e-mail me with the answer As Soon As Possible. If he e-mails me with the answer "Probably Not at All." I'm gonna burst into tears because with the H1N1 outbreak going' on, my parents are not allowing me to go anywhere out of this state AT ALL! I am so nervous about it right now that it ain't even funny! I LOVE you guys and I wanna make sure that I can be coming' to your concerts without any problems with my parents at all. That other song off of your album, the one that I OWN which is actually in my mom's CAR right now " We Tried" THAT ONE REALLY ROCKS! I have a country music band right now, we're THE LOST EAGLES and our influences are also a country music band, they are THE LOST TRAILERS and the average music band after thier concert all they do is just sign autographs and go back to thier hotel and the next day they'll just pack on up and leave, but these people, I'm telling' you. If you ask them to come to your town or state THEY WILL DO IT. I have been blessed and the reason why is because I asked them to come to my state and they did,and you know what, they even stayed in the exact same hotel as I did. The Lost Trailers are: Lead singer Ryder Lee, Guitarist Stokes Nielson, Keyboard Player Andrew Nielson, Bass Player Manny Medina, and Drummer Jeff Potter. After the concert, my friend Lacie and I RAN into the KEYBOARD PLAYER, ANDREW NIELSON after that, the two of us had a pretty long conversation over there and do you know what he said, first he asked me "hey, are you Rachel, the one who gave us the flower?" I'm like," Yep, that's me. ha ha." This is what he said to me that was so sweet, he's like," Well you know what Rachel, your our flower, your The Lost Trailers flower, WE LOVE YOU." I looked at him and that's when I was thinking' "Awww, I can't believe this." I mean I understand one of your relatives coming' up and telling' you how much they love you, but to have an artist come up to you and say those things to you is absolutely amazing. After he said that to me, he actually came over beside me and HUGGED me too. I was so touched by that that I really didn't want them to LEAVE the next day. That's exactly how much I LOVE YOU and GARTH TOO! ha ha. I LOVE YOU GUYS! I also have cousins from Florida, which is also where my Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Mark, and Uncle Joey grew up at too. When I heard Garth telling' about his song "When You Come Back To Me Again, once I heard the story behind that song, I went outside that day and I was swinging', well right when I heard that song, I ALMOST BURST INTO TEARS BECAUSE I WAS SO SAD! Garth, I know how you feel because believe it or not, my Grandpa Passed away June 2nd 2006, and the worst part, I WAS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT TOO!
c ya- LOVE, Rachel