Linda Ronstadt – Simple Dreams (1977) – CD review –

Linda Ronstadt walked away from rock n’ roll in 1983 and never looked back.  Perhaps that’s why she’s mostly ignored by classic rock radio and rarely shows up on “greatest singer” lists.  The truth is, Ronstadt was incredibly influential.

She showed an entire generation that women could keep up with the boys in the rock n’ roll department.  She was also a gifted interpreter of other people’s songs, always being able to inject some new life into even the most shop-worn classic.  Simple Dreams is her finest moment; a varied mix of rock, country and oldies, and Ronstadt handles them all equally well.  She takes the obscure Buddy Holly song “It’s So Easy” and turns it into a rocker, Roy Orbison’s “Blue Bayou” becomes a twangy masterpiece, and even “Tumblin’ Dice” keeps pace with the Stones original.

It’s not that these are vast reinventions of the songs; they’re basically the same arrangements, but filtered through Linda and her great band.  And who else could turn Warren Zevon’s “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” into a hit song?  It’s time to give this lady some more credit. –Tony Peters