40 years ago this week, Linda Ronstadt’s smash hit album Living In The USA was released. The album, which featured the iconic roller skating photo on the front, followed Linda’s massive breakthrough Simple Dreams and was the first album in the US to ship Double Platinum. 

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While it didn’t scale the same heights as its predecessor, which featured the hits “Blue Bayou” and “It’s So Easy” (which together made Linda the first female artist – and the first artist since the Beatles – to have two singles in the US Top 5 at the same time), and “Poor Poor Pitiful Me”, as well as a cover of the Rolling Stones ‘”Tumbling Dice” that got substantial airplay, “Living In the USA” did result in three Top 50 hits in the US, and two – “Back In The USA” and “You’re No Good” – Top 40 hits here in Australia.

In addition to Chuck Berry and Elvis covers and the usual covers of songs by her Californian contemporaries including Warren Zevon, JD Souther and Little Feat, the album found Linda looking across the pond to the controversial new songwriter – and second Elvis -  Elvis Costello. Although associated with the punk movement, Costello’s roots were very much in the same country and R&B that all the West coast writers were into, and the song “Alison”, from his debut album My Aim Is True, stylistically fit Ronstadt to a tee. Costello went on record as saying he thought hers was a poor version, but that didn’t stop her, or him, from supplying more material. Linda’s next album Mad Love included three Costello covers which, of course, the man also said he didn’t like. 

Let’s have a look at some fun versions Living In The USA’s couple of hit singles –  a funky “You’re No Good” - and that Elvis Costello cover, and of course revisit those classic roller skate images. And if you want to hear more Linda Ronstadt, check out Spotify's This Is Linda Ronstadt playlist below.

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