Linda Ronstadt's Silk Purse

"Not all pigs are your enemies," read the Capitol Records advertisement for Linda Ronstadt's "Silk Purse", which came out in 1970, with the Country-Rock explosion in full swing. Although Linda hadn't hooked up with Peter Asher yet to formulate the method of her biggest 70s successes, she was already in the groove of picking amazing songs to cover, by writers with heart and soul. This record was produced by the legendary Elliot Mazer and includes one Top 40 hit, "Long, Long Time", but there are even better songs here, like "Lovesick Blues" which opens the Lp, Gary White's "Louise" (about the lonely death of a hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold), and the medley that occupies most of the second side and closes with the hillbilly folk song "Love Is Like A Mountain Railway". There's also a stunning country-rock adaptation of Carole King's "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" that shoulda been a hit. Linda at her finest.

Video links:

• Linda sings "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" on the Johnny Cash Show, 1970. This appears to be sung live to the record's backing track.
• Duetting with the great Bobby Darin on "Long, Long Time". Bobby plays acoustic guitar. Her vocals are such a note-for-note match to the record that I thought this was lip-synced at first, but after the first verse, it's obvious that Bobby's backing crew is playing live.