Karla Bonoff - Karla Bonoff

Over the last year I've been on a Linda Ronstadt kick. I managed to find several of her albums in the dollar bin that were in fantastic shape, and from there it led to a couple of albums by Andrew Gold. Today the bins coughed up Karla Bonoff's 1977 debut.

Karla contributed to Linda's release Hasten Down the Wind the year before, as a songwriter and providing backing vocals on two of the three tracks she'd written for the album.

The album itself was in decent shape. The jacket was okay, but sadly there was no insert, so who knows what may or may not have been on the liner. The back cover had a lot of information, though, which I always appreciate.

This was an album I was looking forward to hearing, as I'd never heard the album or anything by Karla that I can remember. I wasn't sure what to expect (I had some idea, but you never know. There are a lot of great writers that need good singers. Jennifer Warnes comes to mind, who was great with Leonard Cohen songs. Anyway, I'm getting way off topic and getting lost in the parentheses).

Boy, it didn't disappoint.

You can certainly hear echoes of Linda in her vocals, and it's hard to separate one from the other, to be honest, particularly when a year later Karla revisits her own songs. Helping - and not helping - with this comparison was the stable of musicians she used to record her album.

Andrew Gold is here, as is Kenny Edwards, who in addition to playing also produced. Both had history with Linda. Heck, the list of credits is mind-boggling. It seems every L.A. ace was somehow involved, from Leland Sklar on bass to J.D. Souther and Glenn Frey providing backing vocals on "If He's Ever Near," which is an amazingly beautiful song.

Heck, Linda returns the favour by providing backing vocals on two tracks, "Home" and "Rose in the Garden," which are really great songs. The album sounds amazing too. Greg Ladanyi engineered so many wonderful records.

Rock and roll is a funny thing. There can be literally dozens of sound-alike bands fronted by men, but Karla seemed to be relegated to being that singer who sounded like Linda Ronstadt. Since rock and roll already had a Linda, did it need a Karla too?

Especially since, just a year earlier, three of the ten songs on her debut were released by Linda.

Sure, Karla killed it. Why wouldn't she? They were her songs. I don't think it helped with the inevitable comparisons, but I suspect they'd have been there regardless, just given the circle they were in.

Did I mention she killed it?

As to redoing her songs, it's like they were written for her, and that's likely why she put them on the album. Which isn't to take away from the other 70% of the album, which doesn't have a weak track in the lot.

With the passage of time and being able to listen to this with fresh ears and no baggage, I love it. I am a sucker for this era of L.A. rock and roll. It's funny (not ha-ha) how fresh this still sounds and highlights how little things have changed in some respects.

Maybe Karla didn't step out from the shadows of her contemporaries. Maybe she didn't need to, as she cast enough light to be seen.

And she's still heard.

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