#490 Linda Ronstadt, 'Heart Like a Wheel' (1974)

New Entry

The last challenge gave us ‘The Best Of Linda Ronstadt,’ (at #165) but no actual studio albums. Now, her breakthrough album has broken through into the new version of the countdown. This album sees Ronstadt transition from country artist to pop artist. It enjoyed 4 weeks at #1, 51 weeks in the chart (missed out on a year by one week) and was nominated for four Grammys, winning one for ‘Best Country Vocal Performance Female.’

For me personally, Linda Ronstadt has never quite hit the mark. Her performance on this record is flawless and beautiful. The drum sound on the opening track, ‘You’re No Good,’ is pristine and I really liked the song as a whole. Bookending the record, the last track ‘You Can Close Your Eyes’ features incredible harmonies by country-rock harmony masters, The Eagles. Essentially an album of covers, of the ten tracks, only three had never been recorded by other artists before. It’s a strong record musically, but it just doesn’t connect personally for me other than the abovementioned tracks. A lot of incredible guest artists on this album including Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmidt (all from The Eagles), Emmylou Harris, Cissy Houston (mother of Whitney and incredible artist in her own right), amongst many others. Produced by Peter Asher from Peter and Gordon fame.

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