Linda Ronstadt & The Nelson Riddle Orchestra - What's New

Life is full of surprises.
Never expected that the combination Linda Ronstadt & Nelson Riddle would result in such great recordings.
"For sentimental reasons" & "What's new" are two beautiful gems which I treasure for quite some time now.
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Just had to dig up the CD from my pile of digital recordings and I'm now at song #5: "someone to watch over me"
A first time for this CD with my current speaker setup: sensational. Even with the volume at only 9 o'clock
 
I bought those lp's when they were first released, and I've been stocking up on backups whenever I find them.

Beautiful, beautiful music. I've about played the grooves off mine.
 
I bought those lp's when they were first released, and I've been stocking up on backups whenever I find them.

Beautiful, beautiful music. I've about played the grooves off mine.

When I first listened to "What's New" it blew me away. It sounds so good! I've since grabbed a couple more, just because and gave them away.

Good stuff!
 
I have several copies, one of which was bought when it first came out. I like it a lot.

I would like to hear Linda Ronstadt and Michael Buble do an album together. :music:
 
I also see clean copies of the Nelson Riddle titles at the thrifts here all the time.

I hadn't listened to any Linda for awhile. I sold a Living in the USA picture disk on that auction site this weekend - I gave it a play before shipping. Stunning. :thmbsp:
 
I also see clean copies of the Nelson Riddle titles at the thrifts here all the time.

I hadn't listened to any Linda for awhile. I sold a Living in the USA picture disk on that auction site this weekend - I gave it a play before shipping. Stunning. :thmbsp:

Do yourself a favor and grab one with Nelson Riddle. The musical style is worlds apart from Living the USA.
 
Thanks to some Linda Ronstadt fan who assembled a bunch of her LPs, kept them in great shape, and then decided to get rid of them so they ended up on the flea market, I have a bunch of those --including the Nelson Riddle "torch song" type ones. Always liked Linda, in spite of her politics and personal lifestyle issues (had some common acquaintances in California years ago, and heard a lot about her, not all of it good). She's a very good singer with a pleasant voice, and not bad looking, either (well, not sure about today, but at least she was nice-looking). One of those artists whose songs were part of "my life's soundtrack", you might say. :thmbsp:
 
Not a very popular thread. Maybe a rant could be tolerated here. Charles Lloyd. I personally want to slap this sucker upside his head! I ventured some hard earned money to buy his latest CD. I know this cat from back in the day when he was music director and front man for the Chico Hamilton Quintet with Gabor Szabo in the late 60's. Saw em twice at the Jazz Workshop in SF. Own a couple of their records. He never reached what I thought was is potential then and, regrettably, now. But this is a live recording and I had high hopes.

First, let me say that ECM is also a disappointment to me. This doesn't sound like a live recording at all except for audience applause. Everything is close miked just like in their studio. Limited depth of field. No stage. And Lloyd is still full of himself. He's as dexterious a player as anyone but all he can do is lines. He never connects them into a whole. Consequently, to me, his solos never take me anyplace. I say full of himself caused he dressed like a ladies man back then. He preened on stage. Then he met up with Mike Love and started doing transcendental meditation. I expect that his fans think his playing is all introspective now. To these seasoned ears, he's still jerkin the ladies off. Having said that, I must admit, I like his flute playing on this. It's simply has more feeling to me. I'm about that.

I've played this CD two times. Make me an offer in a PM if you might care to, please. I probably won't listen to this again.

Lastly, this has glowing reviews on Amazon. For somebody, maybe.

(later) Whoa! You must be thinkin WTF! Wrong thread. Sorry. Linda Ronstadt is good to me.

WTF is right. That was totally out there.
 
WTF is right. That was totally out there.

And yet refreshing:D Kinda scared me ya know like when your sitting in traffic and the car next to ya creeps forward and you think your rolling backwards and push the brake harder:thmbsp:

Craig
 
Linda Ronstadt is one of my favorites. She has such a wonderful voice. I like her pop tunes as well as her music with Nelson Riddle.
 
LRdontcrynow.jpg
 
Linda Ronstadt longevity

Linda has been with me for a long time!

She first came to my attention as a "Stonepony" with Different Drum.

After that I started picking up her solo efforts. Her recording of Rock me on the water is wonderful.

Most people only paid attention again when You're no good came out.

Her album Mad Love contains 3 Elvis Costello covers and some great guitar work by Danny Kortchmar.

I could write pages about her music, considering she covers songs by writers like Neil Young, Lowell George, EC, James Taylor, Dolly Parton and so on!

I think her cover of I will always love you is the best.

An earlier post stated that she had "provided the soundtrack of their life" and that certainly has been the case for me as well!

She has released 26 albums since 1969 and truly has songs to pick you up, calm you down, rock you, rock you to sleep, wake you up and to just enjoy listening to.

She is one of my "Fave Five" (Linda Ronstadt, Ann Wilson, Sarah Brightman, Nanci Griffith and Alison Krauss) and I find that after "sticking with me" for 40 years, I can overlook her politics.

She has also performed in so many types of music, Pop, Rock, Country, Folk, Opera, Big Band,Standards, Broadway - she has done it all!

For those of you who shop used vinyl, there are very few albums of hers that aren't worth having in your collection! :yes:

Whenever I get the time to scan them, I have some very nice photos that I took at one of her shows back in the mid-70s that I will post.
 
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What's New is/was also available as a 5.1 Multichannel Advanced Resolution Music DVD-A. 192kHz/24-bit stereo or 96kHz/24-bit surrround sound.
 
When I first listened to "What's New" it blew me away. It sounds so good! I've since grabbed a couple more, just because and gave them away.

Good stuff!

It's one of those LP's with great sonics and plenty of used copies available.
 
I just found out, that this album is a 3× Multi-Platinum record.

No wonder why it sounds so good and there are copies all over the place. Now if I could only find another "good" copy!
 
It is hard to believe, but I had all of these original albums. I purchased the original "What's New" right after college. It became a fav of my wife and I, and is still after all these years. We just did miss seeing her perform these standards at the New Orleans worlds fair in 1984. Big regret!!!
 
I picked up the Round Midnight 2 cd compilation and have to say it is quite good. A very versatile singer, she treats these songs with the respect they deserve. Excellent arrangements by the great Nelson Riddle.

These versions are so far superior to the Rod Stewart abuse of the American songbook it is not even funny.
 
On a side note, there is a DVD available, she did a tour in support of this album, and if you can't get enough of the LP or CD, check it out!

I have the Japanese import LaserDisc of the What's New tour- not sure if it's the same content as the DVD, but I assume it would be. Analog stereo only, but really a good-sounding recording. I put it on to test it while prepping dinner recently, and was very impressed. A few cheezy close-ups that were obviously filmed after the show & lip-sync'd, but some of you "fans" out there would overlook that, I'm sure. :rolleyes:

je
 
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