Linda Ronstadt - Get Closer

Linda Ronstadt has been one of those wonderful discoveries over the last few years. Get Closer came out in '82 and after her brief foray into new wave that featured a few Elvis Costello songs on her previous album Mad Love she was back to being Linda Ronstadt, and all was right with the world. 

Times they were a changin' and Linda was content being herself and she was enough of a presence now that she could be herself and that was enough.

For me at the time, Linda Ronstadt was about as far off my radar as you could get. Other than the few songs I knew from the radio she wasn't relevant to me ... at all. It may not have just been me me either, as Get Closer would mark her first album in almost a decade that wouldn't crack the top 5. The album would go gold in the US which is still a pretty solid accomplishment, but she had reached the summit, and no one stays on top forever. Anyway you can read that kind of stuff on Wikipedia, I know I did. 

It's about the music, and this was a new to me album. Of course saying that, the album opens with the title track "Get Closer" and it's vintage rock and roll Linda. There's a growl in her voice and a sense of urgency that underscores her drive to keep advancing her craft. She wasn't resting on her laurels. Of course, having said that I'll immediately contradict myself by saying that there's a wonderful familiarity and timelessness to this collection of songs.  There are a couple of songs penned by Jimmy Webb, the first is the haunting "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" (thank you Mister Heinlein) written in '74 and the more generic "Easy for You to Say" written in '82.

She did like pulling from the past, as a number of songs were written in the '60s, including the duet "I Think It's Gonna Work Out Fine" with James Taylor, that's fun, but honestly kind of lifeless. Still, there are no bad songs here, just some that are better than others. A song like "Mr. Radio" incorporated some really effective synthesizer in the opening moments before settling into a laid back groove that is one of the finest moments on the entire album. The counter vocal by Andrew Gold is so good.

In terms of the musicians and production, she was joined by longtime producer Peter Asher, and as always the list of musicians here are simply the best of the best:

• Russ Kunkel on drums
• Bob Glaub on bass
• Waddy Wachtel on guitar
• Danny Kortchmar on guitar
• Andrew Gold on guitar
• Bill Payne on keyboards

Those guys still blow my mind.

One of the surprises (well, two actually) was hearing a couple of songs that had been previously unreleased, but fitted right in alongside the other tracks without seeming to be out of place. The first was from 1977, "Sometimes You Just Can't Win" a duet with J.D. Souther that felt like an old hymn. The other was a song written by Dolly Parton "My Blue Tears" that was recorded early in 1978. The song featured Emmylou Harris on guitar and vocals along with Dolly Parton and Linda. It was a wonderful sneak peak into what they had hoped to create together, but weren't able to coordinate due to schedules and label issues. Still there was this reminder of what could have been at the time. It's a stellar piece of music. They would finally get together a few years later when they would release Trio in '87 and a followup over a decade later with Trio II. 

However, this is about Get Closer, and in many ways it was her curtain call with respect to her work in the '70s. While Linda would continue making music she would step off the treadmill and do projects her way. At least that's how it seemed to me looking in from the outside. Whether it's true or not doesn't really matter does it?

This is a Linda Ronstadt album, and that in and of itself is all you really need to know.