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Jul 11, 2022 · Here are Ronstadt's best songs, from hits as big as "Different Drum" and "Blue Bayou" to songs with Aaron Neville, Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris.
- Pop Music Critic
- Ed Masley
- 4 min
- 3 min
- “You’re No Good” Linda Ronstadt’s top songs don’t come any better than “You’re No Good”. Written by Clint Ballard, Jr. (Wayne Fontana, The Mindbenders) and first recorded and performed by Dee Dee Warwick in 1963, this smoldering, rollicking track opens Ronstadt’s iconic Heart Like a Wheel.
- “Long Long Time” Embellished with luscious strings and a quiet command, the track appeared on her second solo album, 1970’s Silk Purse, famously known for cover art of Ronstadt posing in a muddy pig pen with hogs gleefully playing beside her.
- “Desperado” In the pantheon of music, The Eagles’ “Desperado” (the titular track found on the band’s 1973 studio album) is one of the most performed songs of all time.
- “Blue Bayou” This hit Linda Ronstadt song, a Roy Orbison standard, is deceivingly plodding at first, but once the chorus kicks in, she catapults into the stratosphere with one of her most potent vocals of her career.
- "You’re No Good" Ronstadt notched her sole Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper with this inescapable 1975 hit. The song was first recorded by Dee Dee Warwick in 1963 and written by Clint Ballard, Jr.
- "Don’t Know Much" Ronstadt teamed with Aaron Neville (known for soul hits like “Tell It Like It Is”) on this 1989 collaboration, which came just short of crowning the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 2.
- "Blue Bayou" Written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson, “Blue Bayou” reached the top 30 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for Orbison in 1963. Ronstadt’s rendering of the song, released in 1977, reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- "It's So Easy" Written by Buddy Holly and Norman Petty, “It’s So Easy” was originally released by Holly’s group The Crickets, though it did not chart. Ronstadt released a cover version of the song in 1977 as part of her album Simple Dreams, and the song entered the top five of the Hot 100 in December 1977, the same month it was joined by “Blue Bayou,” from the same album.
- 4 min
- Ed Masley, Arizona Republic
- 'Long, Long Time' Another baroque-pop ballad, this one has more gravitas than "Different Drum." It opens with dramatic strings, pulling back to reveal an acoustic guitar and Ronstadt exercising pure restraint, setting the tone with a vulnerable reading of "Love will abide, take things in stride" before letting the full power of her voice be felt on "Sounds like good advice but there's no one at my side."
- 'Different Drum' This was the first we'd heard of Linda Ronstadt, a baroque-pop ballad written by Mike Nesmith of The Monkees. He was hoping his group would record it but the show's producers turned him down, although they allowed him to rush through a version as part of a comedy bit on the show.
- 'You're No Good' Ronstadt's initial reaction to Peter Asher's guitar-driven production on her first chart-topping single, as revealed in the Grammy-winning documentary, "Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice"?
- 'It Doesn't Matter Anymore' The most subdued of Ronstadt's Buddy Holly covers (this one written by Paul Anka) takes its cue from the despair in Anka's lyrics, not the skip in Holly's step on the original recording.
- Brian Kachejian
- Lose Again. Linda Ronstadt’s recording of “Lose Again” was, in essence, her most outstanding performance. Linda Ronstadt’s vocal performances on all her recordings have always been pitch-perfect.
- You’re No Good. If the song “Different Drum” introduced Linda Ronstadt to the world, the song “Your No Good” augmented her place in popular music history for good.
- Ooh Baby Baby. If you thought Linda Ronstadt’s cover of Smokey Robinson’s “Tracks of My Tears” was terrific, you would be blown away by her version of Smokey’s “Ooh Baby Baby.”
- Tracks of My Tears. It’s incredible how Linda Ronstadt could record songs that were originally massive hits and deliver even more stunning and successful versions of those songs.
Greatest Hits from Linda Ronstadt! Watch and listen to The Best Of Linda Ronstadt in this playlist, including "Long Long Time" featured in HBO's The Last of Us.
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Jul 15, 2023 · Ronstadt was one of the most powerful and adaptable voices of all time, and ‘Por Un Amor’ proves it better than any other track. From 'You're No Good' to 'Desperado' and everything in between, here are the ten best songs from rock legend Linda Ronstadt and her eclectic career.
