Linda Ronstadt
Listen -Linda Ronstadt – (She’s A) Very Lovely Woman – MP3
Greetings all.
I’m going to make this short as I’m in the middle of some real world moves that preclude long form composition.
Today’s post is yet another object lesson in the appearance of an artist that you never imagined you’d see on Iron Leg.
If you’ll step into the wayback machine (way back a few weeks) I posted the tune ‘Live’ by the Merry Go Round.
Not too long before that, one of my Facebook friends posted a link to a video of Linda Ronstadt appearing on the old Johnny Cash TV show. The Cash show as legendary for the consistently high quality of its musical guests, not to mention the Man in Black himself.
I’ve always been interested in the early part of Linda Ronstadt’s career including her time in the Stone Poneys and the music she made between leaving that group and having hits on her own.
When I clicked on the link, and the song started playing I was instantly hit with the feeling that I was hearing something familiar in an unfamiliar setting, a feeling that was borne out after about five seconds.
The song in question was a cover (with the gender POV reversed) of the Merry Go Round’s ‘You’re a Very Lovely Woman’. Aside from the Fairport Convention and Bangles covers mentioned in the previous post I had no idea anyone else had ever interpreted Emmit Rhodes’ MGR-era material.
The next – obvious – step was to hit the intertubes so that I might ascertain whether or not Ronstadt’s version of the song had come out on a record.
Indeed it had, as a 1971 45-only release on Capitol records.
I found a copy for the entirely agreeable price of one single US dollar (not including shipping, natch) and made the purchase forthwith.
Good thing too, because even though the single lacks the raw guitar of the live version from the Cash show, it’s still a great interpretation of the song, maintaining the darkness of the original, wrapping it in a slightly fuller arrangement with electric piano and strings.
All in all a nice surprise.
I hope you dig it too, and I’ll be back on Monday with something groovy.
Peace
Larry
PS Head over to Funky16Corners for funked up library music.
7 Comments
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Love it. It has a sort of Doors production flavor, but I dig it. Thanks for posting this!
Nice, Larry. I’ve never even heard of this one (or long ago forgotten of it) and I am probably just as crazy a fan as you are. Perhaps that outside of the rare live recordings virtually all of her material is carefully annotated in re-release. I, like you, are an Emmitt Rhodes & MGR fan ever since the day I heard “Till The Day After” back in my youth (spending a summer in a college library back room doing a job my Dad had arranged for me). I followed him through the Fairport Convention version to his first solo LP and the bad A&M reissue cash-in and finally to finding a used copy of the MGR LPs. This is a welcome addition to my pool of knowledge, murky as it may seem sometime. Just goes to reinforce my contention that the more I look, the more I find and the less I know.
Thanks for the mp3,
I’m a big fan of Linda and for some reason I hadn’t heard it before.
Just found out it’s now a bonus track on an CD by Raven Records (Hand Sown … Home Grown / Silk Purse) her two early albums on one CD.
Steve in Sheffield UK
hello all linda fans,when this came out in say march 71,its too late was the #1 single ,rose garden,for all we know,it was steped on,got a lot of air play,it should have been included on the last capitol lp,the diff drum an d retrospective 2lp set,knowing how capitol always f…k this up I am not surprized it was not on any of them,on the capitol years set,I knew even before it was ou theis would not be there,or the cant it be true,or tittle song for the film,maybe Ill come home in the spring,I tried to find the 45 at most store in the ny area,no one had it or the sheet music ,I wrote capitol a very firm and nasty letter about this and of course never heard from them,what do you expect,,,,,
any replys to eflat007@hotmail.com…..
hello again ,I just found out about the raven release,when it came out in oct-nov 09 I did not check the contents,I would like to know where they got the MONO master tape,it sounds like a tape not a 45 dub,why is the stereo mix not available when they made this,I dont know,her last lp should have been included,even it required a 2nd disc,no excuse for this,plus her unreleased tracks,carnival bear,can it be true,song from maybe Ill come home in spring,any other tracks that are rare the sidewalk labels,so fine,anyone know about this one,,,,,,,,,,
Can you please, please put this back up. I have had the 45 since it came out, but have no way to transfer it to mp3 myself. Besides, my copy is a bit rough (I have always loved B sides and played all the ones on the 45s I got) and you can’t find it anywhere on CD (not even on the Capitol 2 CD reissue of her 4 Capitol LPs). I would really appreciate this. Also, do you have Living Like A Fool from the Music From Free Creek (1 of 2 non Lp songs. the other being the alternate version of He Dark The Sun, available on the affoementioned 2 CD set)? Tanx so much.
Flashg