Maps of Music

Live in Hollywood (2019)

Where the lyrics of Live in Hollywood take you, and where it was really made.

The master tapes were thought lost until a chance encounter with a Warner Brothers engineer led to their recovery.

Key places

Television Center Studios, Hollywood (1980)

Live show The Music Grinder (Hollywood) — The album was recorded at Television Center Studios in Hollywood, California, on 24 April 1980, for an HBO broadcast special. The point is set at city-center level, not at the exact building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Live in Hollywood: 2019 live album by Linda Ronstadt
• Recorded live at Television Center Studios in Hollywood, California, on 24 April 1980
• Made for broadcast as a special on HBO
• Only "Blue Bayou" and "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" had been released before; the other tracks are unreleased
• First live album released by Ronstadt
• Expanded edition with all 20 performed songs released on 25 October 2024

Background

• Backing band included musicians who had worked with Ronstadt many times over the years
• Players: Kenny Edwards (Stone Poneys), Danny Kortchmar, Dan Dugmore, Bill Payne (Little Feat), Wendy Waldman, Bob Glaub, Peter Asher, Russ Kunkel
• Wendy Waldman was fifteen when she first met Ronstadt in 1965; she later toured with her and came to be on this album
• "Desperado" was originally the title song of a 1973 LP by the Eagles
• Songs performed but left off the album include "Party Girl", "Mad Love", "Cost of Love", "Lies", "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" and "Heat Wave"
• The master tapes were thought lost; they were recovered after a chance encounter with a Warner Brothers engineer

Recording

• Recorded and mixed by Val Garay
• Reissue producer and liner notes: John Boylan; executive producer: Peter Asher
• Compilation engineers: John Boylan, Rob Jacobs, Tim Jaquette; digital transfers by Craig Anderson and David Dieckmann
• Mastered by Bernie Grundman at Capitol Mastering, Hollywood

Cover

• Cover photography by Jim Shea
• Art direction and design by John Kosh

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born July 15, 1946 in Tucson, Arizona; American singer across rock, folk, pop, country, and soul.
• In the mid-1960s joined the folk-rock trio the Stone Poneys as lead singer, releasing three albums in 1967–68.
• Solo debut Hand Sown ... Home Grown (1969), described as the first alternative country record by a female recording artist.
• Became the first female "arena class" rock star; top-grossing concert artist of the decade.
• Voted Top Female Pop Singer of the 1970s; "You're No Good" reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Worked with producer Nelson Riddle on the Great American Songbook trilogy What's New, Lush Life, and For Sentimental Reasons.
• Recorded Canciones de Mi Padre (1987), the best-selling non-English-language album in US music history.
• Retired in 2011 after losing the ability to sing; later diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014; Kennedy Center Honoree in 2019.

Formation

• At age 14 formed a folk trio with her brother Peter and sister Gretchen.
• Moved to Los Angeles in 1964 to form a band with Bobby Kimmel.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• AllMusic (Stephen Thomas Erlewine): says the 12 tracks casually show her skill with soft rock and old-time rock & roll, and that the guts and polish of the set make her renditions memorable even though the set list leans on oldies
• American Songwriter (Hal Horowitz): says she is in terrific voice throughout, with the closing "Desperado" a dramatic vocal accompanied only by Bill Payne's piano, and a powerful take on "Blue Bayou"
• Los Angeles Times (Randy Lewis): says what listeners hear on the album is exactly what Ronstadt sang into her microphone
• Ultimate Classic Rock (Matt Wardlaw): reports that Ronstadt expressed doubts about the concert recording while promoting it
• Rolling Stone (Stephen L. Betts): notes that the self-critical Ronstadt has never liked listening to her own records but is thankful that the vinyl resurgence lets buyers hear the details of the recording
• Analog Planet (Michael Fremer): calls it the soundtrack to a generation, with the originals and her well-known covers brought back to life
• Mercury News (Jim Harrington): says her vocals are strong, clear and convincing on tracks such as "It's So Easy", "Just One Look" and "Poor Poor Pitiful Me"
• Audiophile Audition: gives 4½ out of 5 stars, calls Ronstadt a trailblazer in a male-dominated genre, and praises the audio quality and warm vocal rendering
• Coachella Valley Weekly (Eleni P. Austin): says the best tracks display her effortless vocal dexterity and that the heartbreak of "Blue Bayou" feels unusually palpable
• Country Universe (Kevin John Coyne): calls it an officially sanctioned, carefully mastered keepsake from the 1980 Mad Love tour
• Miami Herald (Howard Cohen): says fans will enjoy live versions of "How Do I Make You", "Willin'" and "Desperado", while noting songs such as "Party Girl" are missing
• On the Records (Phil Bausch): says it is important that recordings like this exist to remind the world that Ronstadt had one of the greatest rock and pop voices of all time

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The master tapes were thought lost; they were recovered after a chance encounter with a Warner Brothers engineer.
• "Desperado" was originally the title song of a 1973 LP by the Eagles.
• Wendy Waldman, then fifteen, first met Ronstadt in 1965 and later toured with her.
• Several songs performed at the concert, including "Party Girl" and "Mad Love", were left off the album.
• An expanded edition with all 20 performed songs came out on 25 October 2024.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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