Maps of Music

Lush Life (1984)

Where the lyrics of Lush Life take you, and where it was really made.

The arranger on this Linda Ronstadt jazz album, Nelson Riddle, won a Grammy for its title track after he had died.

Key places

Where Lush Life was recorded (1984)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — The album credits The Complex in Los Angeles, California as its recording location. 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

• Lush Life: album by American singer Linda Ronstadt
• Released November 1984 on Asylum Records
• Second of a trilogy of jazz albums made with bandleader and arranger Nelson Riddle
• All three album covers designed by John Kosh
• Ronstadt's record tenth platinum album

Background

• The album belongs to a three-album jazz project with Riddle
• In 1986 Asylum Records released the compilation Round Midnight, which collected all tracks from the three Riddle albums
• Riddle's arrangements and conductor credit appear across the album

Recording

• Recording location credited as The Complex, Los Angeles, California
• Peter Asher produced the album
• George Massenburg handled recording and mixing, with Murray Dvorkin as assistant
• Mastering by Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab in Hollywood, California
• Don Grolnick on grand piano and piano solo on track 11
• Bob Mann on guitar, Bob Magnusson on bass guitar
• John Guerin on drums for most tracks; Louie Bellson on drums for tracks 7 and 9
• Guest soloists include Tommy Morgan on harmonica, Tony Terran on trumpet, Plas Johnson on tenor sax, Oscar Brashear on trumpet and Chauncey Welsh on trombone

Cover

• Art direction and design by John Kosh and Ron Larson
• Photography by Robert Blakeman
• Wardrobe stylist Genny Schorr

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

Records

• Billboard 200: peaked at number 13
• Billboard jazz chart: peaked at number 8
• Certified platinum, making it Ronstadt's tenth platinum album
• Nominated for two Grammys: Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Album Package
• Won Best Album Package at the Grammys

Reappraisal

• Nelson Riddle was posthumously awarded the Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying A Vocal for the title track
• The award recognized the arrangement of the title track "Lush Life"
• The album's trilogy with Riddle was later gathered into the 1986 compilation Round Midnight

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Lush Life is the second of three jazz albums Ronstadt made with Nelson Riddle, and the 1986 compilation Round Midnight collected all their tracks
• A music video was made for "Skylark" using vintage clothing from wardrobe stylist Genny Schorr
• Riddle received a posthumous Grammy for the arrangement of the title track
• The album's cover art was done by John Kosh, who also designed the covers of the other two Riddle albums

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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