Post by erik on Jul 10, 2021 17:42:35 GMT -5
July 15th, 2021 will mark the 75th birthday of Linda Ronstadt; and to honor Linda on this illustrious day for her, we will spotlight a song she recorded at the peak of her popularity that helped make its writer, a fellow female artist of Linda's, very prominent in the music business.
SOMEONE TO LAY DOWN BESIDE ME (Linda Ronstadt; Asylum; 1976)—Among the many things that made Linda Ronstadt such a highly acclaimed singer among her fans and her peers was her ability to spotlight either new or relatively unknown singer/songwriters of her time, particularly within the California country-rock movement that she helped cultivate. One of those was Southern California native Karla Bonoff. While starting her solo career in 1968, Linda met Karla at a time when Karla was a member of the folk-rock quartet Bryndle, which included future friends Andrew Gold and Wendy Waldman, as well as her former Stone Poneys band mate Kenny Edwards. Although Bryndle dissolved before it could actually gain much ground, Linda managed to get Kenny and Andrew into her band by the time she recorded her album Heart Like A Wheel in 1974. She also kept an eye out for Karla’s songwriting acumen, which tended towards acoustic-influenced folk-pop idioms. When Linda got around to recording her album Hasten Down The Wind in 1976, she included no fewer than three of Karla’s songs. Two of them were the impassioned “Lose Again” (which Karla later remarked Linda had turned into a true power ballad), and “If He’s Ever Near”. The third one, and the one that concludes Hasten Down The Wind, was “Someone To Lay Down Beside Me”, a melancholic but ultimately hopeful ballad about finding true love in the somewhat cruel world of misogyny. Linda and her producer Peter Asher managed to get Karla to help out on backing vocals, along with Wendy, and with Kenny and Andrew as part of her band. The fact that “Someone To Lay Down Beside Me” peaked just underneath the Top 40, reaching #42 in February 1977, didn’t tell the whole story; it really helped establish Linda as a premier rock ballad singer. The song’s flipside, her version of the 1961 Patsy Cline classic “Crazy”, peaked at #6 on the C&W singles chart; and both songs ended up being contributing factors to Linda winning her second Grammy, for Best Pop Female Vocal Performance.
SOMEONE TO LAY DOWN BESIDE ME (Linda Ronstadt; Asylum; 1976)—Among the many things that made Linda Ronstadt such a highly acclaimed singer among her fans and her peers was her ability to spotlight either new or relatively unknown singer/songwriters of her time, particularly within the California country-rock movement that she helped cultivate. One of those was Southern California native Karla Bonoff. While starting her solo career in 1968, Linda met Karla at a time when Karla was a member of the folk-rock quartet Bryndle, which included future friends Andrew Gold and Wendy Waldman, as well as her former Stone Poneys band mate Kenny Edwards. Although Bryndle dissolved before it could actually gain much ground, Linda managed to get Kenny and Andrew into her band by the time she recorded her album Heart Like A Wheel in 1974. She also kept an eye out for Karla’s songwriting acumen, which tended towards acoustic-influenced folk-pop idioms. When Linda got around to recording her album Hasten Down The Wind in 1976, she included no fewer than three of Karla’s songs. Two of them were the impassioned “Lose Again” (which Karla later remarked Linda had turned into a true power ballad), and “If He’s Ever Near”. The third one, and the one that concludes Hasten Down The Wind, was “Someone To Lay Down Beside Me”, a melancholic but ultimately hopeful ballad about finding true love in the somewhat cruel world of misogyny. Linda and her producer Peter Asher managed to get Karla to help out on backing vocals, along with Wendy, and with Kenny and Andrew as part of her band. The fact that “Someone To Lay Down Beside Me” peaked just underneath the Top 40, reaching #42 in February 1977, didn’t tell the whole story; it really helped establish Linda as a premier rock ballad singer. The song’s flipside, her version of the 1961 Patsy Cline classic “Crazy”, peaked at #6 on the C&W singles chart; and both songs ended up being contributing factors to Linda winning her second Grammy, for Best Pop Female Vocal Performance.