Linda Ronstadt released more than two dozen studio albums during a stellar career that has spanned more than five decades. Surprisingly, during all that time, the legendary singer never released a live album. That will finally change with an upcoming album that features amazing performances from a concert that Ronstadt recorded in 1980 for her acclaimed HBO television special.
Live In Hollywood will be available on February 1 on CD, LP, digital and streaming services. You can pre-order it here.
Recorded on April 24, 1980 at Television Center Studios in Hollywood, the concert captures Ronstadt at the peak of her reign as America’s most popular female rock singer. For Live In Hollywood, Ronstadt selected 12 of her favorite performances from the original concert.
In concert, she was joined by an outstanding band that included guitarists Kenny Edwards and Danny Kortchmar, drummer Russ Kunkel, bassist Bob Glaub, keyboardist Billy Payne (of Little Feat fame), pedal steel guitarist Dan Dugmore, and backing vocalist Wendy Waldman. Rounding out the band was Peter Asher – Ronstadt’s producer and the concert’s executive producer – who played percussion and sang background.
On stage, Ronstadt held the packed audience spellbound with powerful renditions of her biggest hits – “Blue Bayou,” “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” and “It’s So Easy” – plus an incredible, previously unreleased six-minute jam of her #1 smash, “You’re No Good.” The concert also showcased a trio of Top Ten hits from Ronstadt’s then-current album – Mad Love – with performances of “I Can’t Let Go,” “How Do I Make You” and “Hurt So Bad.” After its release in February 1980, Mad Love would become Ronstadt’s seventh consecutive platinum-selling album.
John Boylan – who produced Live In Hollywood – says the album almost didn’t happen because HBO, Ronstadt, and her record label could not initially find the master tapes. It was a rink-side conversation with a Warner Bros. audio engineer at their sons’ hockey practice that would finally lead him to the missing tapes. In the album’s liner notes, he writes: “I have no way of calculating the odds of finding the lost tapes through a chance encounter at a hockey practice, but they must be astronomical – like winning the lottery. And in this case of remarkable serendipity, every Linda Ronstadt fan is a lottery winner.”
Live In Hollywood tracklisting:
CD Track Listing:
1. “I Can’t Let Go” *
2. “It’s So Easy”
3. “Willin’” *
4. “Just One Look” *
5. “Blue Bayou”
6. “Faithless Love” *
7. “Hurt So Bad” *
8. “Poor Poor Pitiful Me”
9. “You’re No Good” *
10. “How Do I Make You” *
11. “Back In The U.S.A.” *
12. “Desperado” *
LP Track Listing:
Side One
1. “I Can’t Let Go” *
2. “It’s So Easy”
3. “Willin’” *
4. “Just One Look” *
5. “Blue Bayou”
6. “Faithless Love” *
Side Two
1. “Hurt So Bad” *
2. “Poor Poor Pitiful Me”
3. “You’re No Good” *
4. “How Do I Make You” *
5. “Back In The U.S.A.” *
6. “Desperado” *
*previously unreleased
