Cool album!

This album spawned more hits than its predecessor,HASTEN DOWN THE WIND. Memorable tunes include a cover of the Everly Brothers' hit IT'S SO EASY,a cover of the late Warren Zevon's personally penned POOR POOR PITIFUL ME,a cover of BLUE BAYOU,first recorded by the late Roy Orbison and the Jagger-Richards classic TUMBLING DICE. Linda Ronstadt must be a fan of the Everly Brothers since she previously covered WHEN WILL I BE LOVED which was first recorded by the EB. The follow-up album,LIVING IN THE USA would become a hit.

LInda Ronstadt In Her1970s Prime!

This is a classic Ronstadt album, recorded when she was really in her prime, busy cranking out the volume of hits and those seemingly effortless and sometimes facile interpretations of other people's songs, showing just how original an artist she was. Like the legendary Johnny Rivers, who always seemed to have a magical touch for turning other people's work into brilliant covers and best-selling albums, Ronstadt here does a star turn with other people's songs. She shows here just how versatile and eclectic her approach to some interesting material could be. From a raucous hit song like "It's So Easy" to a sweet and soulful interpretation of the plaintive "Simple man, Simple Dream", Linda pulls out all of the stops, and although the album was panned critically, it was also yet another of a string of hers to go platinum. Well, so much for them pesky critic fellas!

Her fans knew what they liked, and they sure seemed to like this terrific collection of so many different genres gathered under a single tent. The single best effort is likely the reinterpreted Roy Orbison song, "blue Bayou" in which Ronstadt simply soars with a voice that echoes the heartache of someone really longing for home, and which was a number one hit as well. "Carmelita" is a haunting, powerfully performed song. Then too, the Rolling Stones' "Tumbling Dice" proves to be a perfect showcase for Linda's bluesy interpretation of it. With a well-arranged version of the traditional "I Will Never Marry", she give a nice turn at a folk interpretation, and her nice rendition of "Sorrow Lives Here" is done with a country style that is almost bluegrass in its tones and approach. My personal favorite here is the title song, "Simple Man, Simple Dreams", and of course, "Blue Bayou". The title song is, of course quite reminiscent of a number of the songs from her previous albums such as "Hasten Down the Wind", "Prisoner In Disguise" and Long, Long. Time". All in all, this is a terrific album and one that is really a showcase for Linda at her very best. Enjoy!

My favorite of Linda's pop rock albums

Linda has recorded many different styles of music including folk, country and old standards from the Great American Songbook. She has proved her brilliance at all of them but, ultimately, her place in music history is assured by her pop-rock albums of the seventies. Of those albums, this is my favorite although Prisoner in disguise is a close second.

By the time Linda recorded this album, she had decided who her favorite songwriters were and what type of songs she was happy with. So here you get a Buddy Holly cover (It's so easy), two Warren Zevon songs (Carmelita, Poor poor pitiful me), a J D Souther song (Simple man simple dream) and an Eric Kaz song (Sorrow lives here) - all brilliant songs from sources that Linda had used before. Maybe I'm right, written by Robert Wachtel, is another excellent song. The album also includes outstanding covers of Blue bayou (Roy Orbison) and Tumbling dice (Rolling stones).

In amongst all those pop-rock songs, Linda went back to her roots and included two traditional songs that would seem to be out of place, except that Linda found a way to record them so that they blended in with the rest of the album without destroying them. The first is I never will marry, on which her friend, Dolly Parton, can clearly be heard on harmony vocals. The second, Old paint, is an even more unlikely inclusion, but it works superbly.

Every song here is a gem, although I particularly like Blue bayou, It's so easy, I never will marry and Old paint (not necessarily in that order). If you like Linda singing pop-rock music, you'll love this album.