Live in Hollywood (Linda Ronstadt album)

Last updated

Live In Hollywood
Linda Ronstadt - Line In Hollywood Cover.jpg
Live album by
ReleasedFebruary 1, 2019 (2019-02-01)
Recorded1980
VenueTelevision Center Studios, Hollywood, CA
Genre Rock
Length43:39
Label Rhino
Producer John Boylan
Linda Ronstadt chronology
Opus Collection
(2014)
Live In Hollywood
(2019)
Singles from Live in Hollywood
  1. "Just One Look"
    Released: December 14, 2018
  2. "You're No Good"
    Released: January 30, 2019
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Audiophile AuditionStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [2]
Country UniverseStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
American SongwriterStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]

Live In Hollywood is a 2019 live album release by Linda Ronstadt. It was recorded at Television Center Studios in Hollywood, California on April 24, 1980, for broadcast as a special on HBO. All tracks from this recording except "Blue Bayou" and "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" are previously unreleased. This is the first live album released by Ronstadt. The master tapes, thought to be lost, were discovered through a chance encounter with a Warner Brothers engineer leading to their recovery. [5]

Contents

The backing band for this recording includes some of the musicians who collaborated with Ronstadt many times over the years: Kenny Edwards of the Stone Poneys, Danny Kortchmar, Dan Dugmore, Bill Payne of Little Feat, Wendy Waldman, Bob Glaub, Peter Asher and Russ Kunkel. A then fifteen-year-old Wendy Waldman describes meeting Ronstadt for the first time in 1965 and how she later toured with her and came to be on this album. "Desperado" was originally the title song from a 1973 LP by the Eagles.

Some songs performed at the concert, such as "Party Girl", "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love With You)", "Look Out for My Love", "Mad Love", "Cost of Love", "Lies", "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" and "Heat Wave", are not included on the album. An expanded edition with all 20 songs that were performed was released on October 25, 2024. [6]

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic writes in his interview, "These 12 tracks casually illustrate her facility with both soft rock and old-time rock & roll, and if the set list leans heavily on oldies, the combination of guts and polish makes her renditions memorable." [1]

Hal Horowitz of American Songwriter remarks that "she’s in terrific voice throughout with a few standout performances like the closing 'Desperado' — a knockout, dramatic vocal accompanied only by Payne’s piano — and a powerful take on Roy Orbison’s 'Blue Bayou' (has anyone done that song better?)" [4]

Randy Lewis of the Los Angeles Times writes, "What audiences today hear on Live in Hollywood is exactly what Ronstadt sang into her microphone." [7]

Matt Wardlaw of Ultimate Classic Rock begins his interview with Ronstadt about the album with, "Most artists stick with a repetitively upbeat message when promoting a new project, but the always-honest Linda Ronstadt isn't most artists. In fact, she's expressing doubts about a new concert recording called Live in Hollywood, taken from a performance orchestrated for broadcast by HBO in 1980." [8]

Stephen L. Betts of Rolling Stone writes, "Although the famously self-critical Ronstadt has never liked listening to her own records, she’s thankful the resurgence of vinyl LPs means record buyers have the chance to hear more of the details and nuance labored over by the singer, her band, producers and engineers." [9]

Michael Fremer of Analog Planet writes, "This is the soundtrack to a generation on both the originals and Ronstadt's well-known covers brought back to life for one more go round." [10]

Jim Harrington of Mercury News writes, "Her vocals are strong, clear and convincing as she moves through such winners as 'It's So Easy,' 'Just One Look' and 'Poor Poor Pitiful Me.' And the stunning version of 'Blue Bayou'? Wow. That's one for the time capsule." [11]

Audiophile Audition gives the album 4½ out of 5 stars and has this to say about it in their review. "Linda Ronstadt was a trailblazer. She was a dominant rock and roll singer in a male-dominated genre and stood tall." and "It is a treat to have a recording of this unique talent. The integrity of the audio quality is captured with finesse and verve. The primary instrument, this dazzling voice, is rendered with warmth and subtlety during quieter moments. The muscular fidelity is also on display with tonal vitality." [2]

Coachella Valley Weekly's Eleni P. Austin reviews the album and notes, "The best tracks here display Linda’s seemingly effortless vocal dexterity. The heartbreak of 'Blue Bayou' has never felt so palpable. Roy Orbison’s South of the Border charmer unfurls slowly, lush electric piano, in-the-pocket percussion lachrymose pedal steel and filigreed guitar notes, underscore her yearning tone. She sings the final verse in Spanish, and the results are positively thrilling." [12]

Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe says of the album, "It’s an officially sanctioned, painstakingly mastered keepsake from Ronstadt’s Mad Love tour in 1980, which was broadcast on HBO when it was still a brand new cable channel." [3]

Howard Cohen of the Miami Herald states, "fans will relish finally having live renditions of 'How Do I Make You,' Lowell George's (Little Feat) Willin' and the Eagles' 'Desperado'. They won't get Elvis Costello's 'Party Girl,' the Cretones' 'Mad Love' or her 1969 country-rock staple, 'Silver Threads and Golden Needles,' which had figured on that cooking concert stage." [13]

Phil Bausch concludes his On the Records review with, "It’s important that recordings like Live In Hollywood exist to remind the world Linda Ronstadt once possessed one of the greatest Rock and Pop voices of all time." [14]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I Can't Let Go" (Previously unreleased)3:06
2."It's So Easy"2:38
3."Willin'" (Previously unreleased) Lowell George 3:36
4."Just One Look" (Previously unreleased)
3:06
5."Blue Bayou"4:18
6."Faithless Love" (Previously unreleased) JD Souther 3:54
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Hurt So Bad" (Previously unreleased)3:25
8."Poor Poor Pitiful Me" Warren Zevon 3:53
9."You're No Good" (Previously unreleased) Clint Ballard Jr. 6:12
10."How Do I Make You" (Previously unreleased) Billy Steinberg 2:49
11."Back in the U.S.A." (Previously unreleased) Chuck Berry 2:58
12."Desperado" (Previously unreleased)3:44
Total length:43:39

Personnel

Production

Technical stage/tour personnel

Linda Ronstadt crew

Track information and Personnel credits verified from the album's liner notes. [15]

Release history

Release history and formats for Live in Hollywood
RegionDateFormatLabelRef.
North AmericaFebruary 1, 2019
  • LP
  • CD
  • digital
Rhino Records [16]

References

  1. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Live in Hollywood at AllMusic
  2. 1 2 "Linda Ronstadt – Live In Hollywood – Rhino Entertainment". audaud.com. Audiophile Audition. March 20, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  3. 1 2 Coyne, Kevin John (January 30, 2019). "Album Review: Linda Ronstadt, Live in Hollywood". countryuniverse.net. Country Universe. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  4. 1 2 Horowitz, Hal (February 1, 2019). "Album Review: Linda Ronstadt, Live in Hollywood". americansongwriter.com. American Songwriter. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  5. "Linda Ronstadt's First-Ever Live Album – Live In Hollywood – Available February 1 From Rhino". Rhino.com. Rhino. February 1, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  6. "Linda Ronstadt's LIVE IN HOLLYWOOD Gets Expanded Re-Release". rhino.com. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
  7. Lewis, Randy (February 9, 2019). "Years after giving up singing, Linda Ronstadt is back on the charts with 'Live in Hollywood'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  8. Wardlaw, Matt (February 22, 2019). "Linda Ronstadt Had Serious Reservations About 'Live in Hollywood': Exclusive Interview". ultimateclassicrock.com. Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  9. Betts, Stephen L. (January 30, 2019). "See Linda Ronstadt's Commanding 'You're No Good' From New 'Live in Hollywood'". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  10. Fremer, Michael L. (February 16, 2019). "Linda Ronstadt Live in Hollywood". analogplanet.com. Analog Planet. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  11. Harrington, Jim (February 15, 2019). "Linda Ronstadt releases first-ever live album and it's a gem". mercurynews.com. Mercury News. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  12. Austin, Eleni P. (April 10, 2019). "Linda Ronstadt "Live In Hollywood"". coachellavalleyweekly.com. Coachella Valley Weekly. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  13. Cohen, Howard (February 2, 2019). "Linda Ronstadt can no longer sing. But there is still so much music left in her life". miamiherald.com. Miami Herald. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  14. Bausch, Phil (February 6, 2019). "Linda Ronstadt…Live In Hollywood". ontherecords.net. On The Records. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  15. Live in Hollywood (liner notes). Linda Ronstadt. Rhino. 2019.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. Ronstadt, Linda (February 1, 2019). "Live in Hollywood (Liner Notes)". Rhino Records . 574477 (CD & LP); 0603497855438 (Digital).