Some facts about the country-rock icon whom Trisha calls "The Queen" that people may not have been aware of before, as well as some opinions from her:
-At age 10, Linda played hooky from school one day so she could see Elvis' first movie, LOVE ME TENDER, when it premiered at the Fox Theatre in her hometown of Tucson, Arizona (she later recorded the title song in 1978, shortly after the King's untimely passing).
-On June 21, 1969, Linda made her country music debut when she appeared on the third episode of the Johnny Cash Show, doing "The Only Mama That'll Walk The Line" and duetting with the Man In Black on the Carter Family classic "I Never Will Marry." True to her against-the-grain way of doing things, Linda not only performed barefooted onstage (which in this case was the Ryman, still the home of the Grand Ole Opry at the time), but also wore no panties.
-As everyone knows, the backup band that Linda had in 1971 became the Eagles after working with her. But what you might not be aware of is that one of the gigs that she and the future Eagles did was at the Tomorrowland stage at Disneyland in Anaheim, in the summer of 1971.
-Linda's self-titled 1972 album, the one that featured the Eagles as well as several prominently featured C&W standards, was a substantial hit on the Billboard country album chart, reaching #35.
-Early in 1975, as her popularity was skyrocketing, the Academy of Country Music awarded her Most Promising Female Vocalist of 1974 (this, even though she had not only been nominated for that same award the year before, but also had actually been recording since 1967). Linda's reaction was a mix of happiness and curiosity, as she remarked: "How long can one only be 'promising?'" It is still the only strictly country music industry award she has received for her solo work.
-When nominations were announced for the Grammys for 1975, Linda found herself against future Trio pals Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris for the Best Country Female Vocal performance award. Linda won the award, for "I Can't Help It If I'm Still In Love With You."[b]
[b]-Although Linda will never admit to it, she is a pretty good folk-oriented acoustic guitar player, according to her Adieu False Heart partner Ann Savoy and former Eagle Bernie Leadon. A little bit of this can be seen in this link: http://www.wadhoo.com/imagen/IDMA%20linda%...%20015_0001.jpg
-Singer/songwriter J.D. Souther, with whom Linda was romantically involved with in the early 70s (though she has remained steadily unmarried), has said of Linda: "Linda had great taste in songs, and she was also brilliant. She was always depicted as saying ditsy things at the wrong time, but she was the most well-read person I knew."
-Forget what you might have heard over the last three years about the "riot" she caused at the Aladdin in Las Vegas in July 2004, when her dedication of "Desperado" to FAHRENHEIT 9/11 director Michael Moore caused controversy. She was not kicked out of the Aladdin; no rioting occurred; and only a few people booed her dedication. She refused to cave into the right-wing media backlash that inevitably developed from the Incident. Nor has she ever concealed her disdain for Dubya; she has a long history of liberal political activism.
-She has been fairly critical of the country music industry over the last few years. In a February 2003 interview in the now-defunct Country Music Magazine, she lamented the growing conservative playlist of country radio, saying that it no longer welcomed musical pioneers and visionaries as it used to; nor did it embrace the traditional sounds she loved or the progessive ideas she espoused in her own music. Apart from her considerable respect for Trisha, and her strong defense of the Dixie Chicks, she said, "What they call country music now is really suburban music. I call it mall-crawler music. It doesn't set me on fire." She prefers Americana artists these days. And according to songwriter Jimmy Webb, whose songs she has covered a lot, she is totally unimpressed with most of the males in country music, referring to them as "guys with big hats."
Admittedly, a lot of what Linda has said and done can be kind of infuriating and confusing, even to her most ardent fans; and she has many detractors. But as Trisha (and especially Emmylou) might tell you, she is an extremely thoughtful and articulate person, especially when it comes to music; and you don't stay in the business for forty years by being the opposite.
