If you are of a certain age, there is music that has just always been there. Songs on the radio, on TV, live performances, they are just there, a part of the tapestry of common experience. 50 years ago, Linda Ronstadt was one of those artists.
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Not to take away anything from any of the current divas who have dabbled in multiple genres, but Linda was there first. She started out in pop and folk, sang bluegrass, punk tunes written by Elvis Costello, sang Jazz standards with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, has a record of Broadway tunes, a killer record she did with Dolly Parton & Emmylou Harris, and she sings in multiple languages — need I go on?
Fifty years ago, in 1975, Linda released her sixth solo album, “Prisoner in Disguise,” and, like its predecessor, “Heart Like a Wheel,” it was met with a warm reception and a number of radio-friendly tunes. But like a lot of the music Linda has done over the decades, it wasn’t built to be “commercial." It was made to be a vehicle for the range of emotion and musical prowess she brought to the songs she chose for the record, and the way she chose to present them.
If you were around 50 years ago, you know things were a lot different, particularly for women, and particularly in the recording arts. A lot of people dismissed Linda as "just a rock chick," "too pretty to take seriously," "doesn’t write her songs," "good background music," and many more dismissive sexist comments I will spare you. And if that were not enough, the music industry, the airwaves, and the entertainment scene at large were dominated by men — she had to fight that much harder, be that much more talented, work that much more to break through. She did it, and she kept doing it for decades.
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For “Prisoner In Disguise” Linda chose a mix of tunes, ranging from a bluegrass tinged version of Neil Young’s “Love is a Rose” to covers of Motown hits like “Heatwave” (that song was everywhere!) and “Tracks of My Tears” to Lowell George’s “Roll um Easy” and a tune you might have heard written by Dolly Parton “I Will Always Love you” (yeah THAT one, and it’s great).
Besides great writers, Linda rounded up some of her most talented musical friends, and their playing and singing create an outstanding showcase for these tunes. Notable names include Emmylou Harris, Andrew Gold, Peter Asher, J.D. Souther, Lowell George, David Lindley, David Grisman, and many more. It’s quite a grand gathering of talent, and it adds to the strength and longevity of the tunes. In another sense, it’s good that so many strong players are here for this set because Linda, still, had the lingering image of a fragile, heartbroken songbird with a busted wing (chalk a lot of this up to the aforementioned bias against women in music). “Prisoner in Disguise” does a lot to quash this image; it’s a strong, really well-built record, with no fragility detected.
That’s not to say there aren’t some sad and sweet moments, for sure, there are. The title track is a real heartbreaker, as is Jimmy Cliffs’ “Many Rivers to Cross." “The Sweetest Gift,” sung with Emmylou Harris, is indeed a sweet gift; it demands you just stop and listen to it and let it tell you a story of sadness and sorrow. Which brings me to probably the only qualm I have with this set of 11 songs: it comes pretty close to filling up my twang tank. But that’s OK, it just means you have to be “in the mood” for songs that tell stories, sung without undue posturing, without someone screaming “baby baby baby” repeatedly, and be ready to actually feel something from what you are listening to. Some music you get up and dance to, some you clean the house by, these songs, you just listen, you take them in, you appreciate the nuance, and yes, it makes for good background music too. It’s not “sad girl” music, but maybe went to a few cocktail parties where sad girl music’s mom was hanging out.
In the cruelest of twists, Linda Ronstadt can no longer sing due to progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurological condition similar to Parkinson's disease. The condition, which she was diagnosed with in 2019 after initially being thought to have Parkinson's, affects her ability to control muscles involved in speech and singing. While she can still hear music in her mind, she can no longer sing aloud or play music. Somehow, that makes listening to this set of songs that much more emotional and gives them even more depth. I don’t know if this is my all-time favorite Linda Ronstadt LP, but half a century later, it is absolutely positively a great listen — like welcoming back old friends, it feels really nice to have it around.
