While possessing a distinctive, utterly compelling voice was indeed a blessing, it was no guarantee every release from that artist would be an accomplished record, Rod Stewart a mid-70s case in point of an expressive singer being able to make intermittently modest material sound agreeable.
Stewart was among a handful of vocalists whose phrasing of a song was convincing no matter how compromised the lyric or contrived the actual track, his last two albums ‘Atlantic Crossing‘ (1975) and ‘A Night On the Town‘ (1976), offering a number of examples.
In regard to conveying emotion in the process of engaging the listener, if Stewart had a female equivalent then Linda Ronstadt was the obvious candidate – although through her previous two releases ‘Heart Like a Wheel‘ (1974) and ‘Prisoner in Disguise‘ (1975) not a single track had gone to waste. The golden voiced songstress had carried off both records with the utmost serenity, these, her fifth and sixth albums, establishing her as the standout female vocal talent of the era – the former catapulting her to global stardom, the latter consolidating those gains in handsome fashion.
Born 15/7/1946 in Tucson, Arizona of German/Mexican heritage, in the mid-60s she relocated to Los Angeles with fellow emigrees Kenny Edwards and Bobby Kimmel in order to make their mark on the burgeoning West Coast folk-rock scene.
As a trio they cut three albums on Capitol records and with Ronstadt to the fore came up with a striking rendition of ‘Different Drum‘ (written by Mike Nesmith of The Monkees). While it became a well deserved hit, reaching number 12 on the U.S. singles charts in November 1967, it represented a breakthrough they were unable to capitalise upon, the group going their separate ways after a third album, by which time the label already had designs on promoting Ronstadt as a solo artist.
Through a run of four releases through to ‘Don’t Cry Now’ (1973) there was little doubt Ronstadt was a supremely gifted interpreter of wide-ranging material. But due to instances of unflattering production, there came a sense she was far more gifted, (only the last made any true commercial headway), than this quartet of recordings suggested.
In 1974, however, things underwent a significant change. Peter Asher, once a member of U.K. 60s pop duo Peter & Gordon, assumed full production responsibility for her next album, (his renown as a producer based upon input to big-selling James Taylor L.P’s) and with top-notch sessioneer Andrew Gold taking the role of band leader, the resultant ‘Heart Like a Wheel‘ became the first fully-realised Linda Ronstadt album – the equally assured ‘Prisoner in Disguise‘ crafted from the same pallet.
As such, this meant setting material from songsmiths such as Taylor, JD Souther, Neil Young and Little Feat front man Lowell George alongside polished Motown and country covers in creating engaging soft-rock entities that resulted in rapturous reviews and soaraway sales – both records enjoying lengthy stays inside the top five of U.S. album listings.
While they may have been understandable temptation to concoct something along similar lines when she next entered the studio, for her next offering Ronstadt made a sideways step from her now established path.
‘HASTEN DOWN THE WIND‘ (August 1976) found Asher and Gold both carrying out their duties with typical aplomb, but instead of relying on already revered writers, she sourced songs from talented, if comparative unknowns, such as Karla Bonoff and Warren Zevon. The artist herself takes a co-write credit on two songs and overall the 12-track collection is a studious, poignant affair, but no less impressive for that – Ronstadt never failing in bringing her captivating tones to bear.
The reflective nature of the record immediately becomes apparent, ‘Lose Again‘, a solid if subdued Bonoff composition sequenced as the opening track.
Featuring sterling keyboard work from Gold, this power pop ballad has the protagonist reflecting upon a doomed relationship she cannot muster the strength to walk away from (‘I’ve made up my mind I would leave today/But you’re keeping me going I know it’s insane/’Cause I’ll love you and lose again‘), the poignancy supplemented by restrained electric guitar work from L.A. session stalwart Dan Dugmore.
On the face of it a slightly puzzling selection, her reading of ‘The Tattler’, a gospel/blues standard from the 1920s by Washington Phillips that had been revived by Ry Cooder for his 1974 ‘Paradise and Lunch‘ set, is further testament to the way Ronstadt could elevate the sensibilities within a song without recourse to vocal dramatics or over elaboration.
Essentially a lament for how love affairs end through impulsive decisions, Gold once gain does her proud in coming up with a breezy arrangement while steering the song on electric piano, the track well-served by a subtle string arrangement and understated mandolin.
Ronstadt returns to the writing of Bonoff for ‘If He’s Ever Near‘, the country-rock overtones accentuated by Dugmore, who makes a suitably mournful pedal steel guitar contribution – the narrator, while so far thwarted in her search for lasting love, not deterred enough to stop looking:
‘Well it seemed the time had come/I thought you were the one/When I looked into your eyes/It never looked like lies/And love’s so hard to see/That when it’s in front of me/Oh I hope I’ll know it/If it’s ever near.’
To give side one light along with the shade, a punchy take of the 1957 Buddy Holly hit ‘That’ll Be the Day‘ brings a welcome change of pace. Her soaring delivery of the lyric, combined with an emphatic guitar solo from Waddy Wachtel ensured the track would be a surefire hit when issued as a single, climbing to number 11 on the U.S. charts in August 1976.
Receiving songwriting accreditation for the first time on one of her albums, Ronstadt in conjunction with former Stone Poney guitarist Edwards (who had appeared on her most recent albums including this one), and her father Gilbert Ronstadt, come up with the plaintive, Mexican-themed ‘Lo Siento Mi Vida’ which translates to ‘I’m Sorry My Love.’
Edwards (guitar) and Dugmore (pedal steel) provide the framework for a haunting song that for the most part she sings in Spanish, the lines delivered in English, (‘I wait for the night to pass and turn to day/I can’t make this feeling go away/’Cause I get so weak when the day is through/And I think of you/I’m gonna see it through‘), indication of the sorrowful sentiment.
No less sombre is the title track that closes side one. Ronstadt turns this gem by Zevon (her Asylum records stablemate, it had been included on his magnificent self-titled set of three months earlier), into a string-laden duet with Eagles drummer Don Henley, who adds resonant harmonies to the affecting chorus. Together they capture the indecisiveness at the core of a failing relationship:
‘She’s so many women/He can’t find the one who was his friend/So he’s hanging on to half her heart/He can’t have the restless part/So he tells her to hasten down the wind.’
Side two opens with Ronstadt and Gold performing an a cappella version of ‘Rivers of Babylon‘ that at just 52 seconds is by far the shortest track on the record.
Written by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton, each a member of Jamaican ska band The Melodians and based on Psalms 19 and 137 of the Hebrew bible, three years later it would become a worldwide hit for West German pop act Boney M. On this Linda Ronstadt record it also serves as a prelude to the reggae-infused ‘Give One Heart‘, a track composed by married couple John and Joanna Hall, husband John being lead guitarist of New York rock band Orleans, who had included the piece on their 1975 ‘Let There Be Music’ album.
Featuring a resplendent guitar solo from Wachtel and imaginative background vocal arrangement, the contemplative nature of the lyric (‘Love I am told is the deepest mystery/Harder to fathom than any sea/More precious than all the earth and sky/But nobody can tell you why‘), sits comfortably with the soul-searching theme of the record. While in truth it is an inclusion where style is superior to substance, Ronstadt’s singing is so exemplary she could have won her 1977 Grammy Award for ‘Hasten Down the Wind‘ (‘Best Pop Vocal Performance’) for this track alone.
Also edging close to the cohesion over content category is the piano-based, blues-rock offering ‘Down so Low’. The best known song of Wisconsin-born singer-songwriter Tracy Nelson, whose roster included time spent in San Francisco psychedelic ensemble Mother Earth, Ronstadt adds a layer of gospel harmonies to her version, the polished nature of the recording at times at odds with the downbeat outlook.
If the general concept of the album is indeed taking lessons from love lost, the remaining three songs are fine choices in support of the message.
Written by Ronstadt in collaboration with Gold, ‘Try Me Again‘ is an instantly likeable country-rock number, decorated with strings and eloquent harmonies. The words depict a lovelorn figure stricken with regret, (‘I drove around in this lonesome town/Felt just like a beginner/Friends I saw they just brought me down/They’re so cynical and bitter/Well I guess I’m just like them now/I never thought I’d turn out like that’). Gold supplies a melody not dissimilar to those found on his well-received debut record of the year before, the multi-instrumentalist leaving to pursue a full-time solo career on completion of ‘Hasten Down the Wind.’
Just as she had done with Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You‘ on her previous album, Ronstadt puts an indelible stamp of Willie Nelson’s country classic ‘Crazy’, a song most associated with Patsy Cline. The deft piano and pedal steel accompaniment allow Linda full reign to convey the vulnerability found in and between the lines of the lyrics, her capability of redefining a well-known song evident here, as it would be on ‘Blue Bayou‘ on Ronstadt’s next L.P. and with ‘Love Me Tender‘ on the one after that.
After opening the record with a Karla Bonoff song, she chooses to close it similar fashion, ‘Someone to Lay Down Beside Me‘ easily the best of the writer’s three submissions.
It stands as a complete triumph to the collaborative talents of Ronstadt, Asher and Gold – crystal clear production, innovative arrangement, the masterful vocal almost goes without saying. There is a notable sense of drama in the way she releases each line, Gold producing Springsteen-affected piano chords over which the vocals are intense but never over-wrought.
The lyrics (‘There’s somebody waiting alone in the street/For someone to walk up and greet/Here you are all alone in the city/Where’s the love that you took to your side/Lonely faces will stare through your eyes in the night‘), evoke a search for romance in surroundings where it may not be expected to exist, Ronstadt skillfully creating a mood where the fear of loneliness and alternative of a fleeting connection run close to each other.
Quickly established as her third successive album to register platinum sales (a fourth ‘Linda Ronstadt’s Greatest Hits‘, would appear before the year was out), ‘Hasten Down the Wind‘ peaked at number three on the U.S. charts.
With the Grammy award success still to come, the record was released to a slew of positive reviews, Rolling Stone in their complimentary appraisal applauded Ronstadt for showcasing the work of lesser known songwriters, while in the U.K., where she had yet to make a clear breakthrough (that would come with a run of heralded London shows in late 1976), the New Musical Express deemed it, ‘another Linda Ronstadt album without a sub-standard track’.
The N.M.E. had a point. ‘Hasten Down the Wind’ is a classy, often engrossing record that confirmed Ronstadt’s status as the best female rock singer in the business – the richness of her voice again ensuring this was a collection that, to use the title of her minor 1970 hit, would resonate for a long, long time.
LINDA RONSTADT – HASTEN DOWN THE WIND (Released August 9 1976):
Lose Again/The Tattler/If He’s Ever Near/That’ll Be the Day/Lo Siento Mi Vida/Hasten Down the Wind/Rivers of Babylon/Give One Heart/Try Me Again/Crazy/Down So Low/Someone to Lay Down Beside Me;
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