Silk Purse (Linda Ronstadt album)
Silk Purse | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | April 13, 1970 | |||
Recorded | January–February 1970 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 29:14 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Producer | Elliot F. Mazer | |||
Linda Ronstadt chronology | ||||
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Singles from Silk Purse | ||||
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Silk Purse is a
Background
Linda Ronstadt had been a member of the folk group the Stone Poneys and they had a top 20 US single with 1967's "Different Drum".[3] The groups two other members (Kenny Edwards and Bobby Kimmel) left the Stone Poneys shortly afterward for a quieter existence. Capitol Records wanted to still invest in Ronstadt which forced her towards a solo career. Because Ronstadt was used to having Kimmel write songs to record, Ronstadt needed songs to record. She chose to draw from the catalog of country music which she heard as a child.[4] Country would be the musical focus for her first two solo albums at Capitol: Hand Sown ... Home Grown (1969) and Silk Purse.[3]
Recording and content
Silk Purse was recorded at Cinderella Sound Studios and Woodland Studios. Both studios were located in
Silk Purse consisted of ten tracks.
Critical reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Christgau's Record Guide | B[7] |
Rolling Stone | (mixed)[8] |
Three months after the album's release, Rolling Stone's Alec Dubro reviewed Silk Purse in the magazine's June 25 issue. "Some of the material is raw imitation and some is more original, but none is very far from the soul of the singer," Dubro wrote. "It is Linda Ronstadt's voice that makes this record; she endows the songs with a feeling that she has shown since the first Stone Poneys' album, and she has developed her Country style considerably since her last album."[8] Lester Bangs also reviewed the album in Penthouse, writing: "Linda Ronstadt's vocal style is like her physical presence: brimming with passion and vulnerability, tremulous, yet possessed of a core of absolute strength."[9]
Music critic Robert Christgau commended Ronstadt for her choice of tunes but noted that "only occasionally – "Lovesick Blues" and "Long Long Time" are both brilliant – does she seem to find Kitty Wells's soul as well as her timbre."[7] Billboard magazine commented that Ronstadt, "has proven she can go it alone [solo], and this album entry makes that even more evident."[2] Cashbox magazine called it "an exceptional LP".[10] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave Silk Purse three and a half stars and wrote, "perhaps she didn't find her voice, not in the way she would a year later on her eponymous record, but this Nashville excursion had a clarifying effect, whittling down the musical excesses and strengthening her aesthetic while winding up a nifty little record in its own right."[1]
Release, chart performance and singles
Silk Purse was originally released by Capitol Records on April 13, 1970. It was the second studio album in Ronstadt's career that solely credited her and not the Stone Poneys. The album was distributed as a
Reflecting on the Silk Purse to Rolling Stone in 1975, Ronstadt commented, "I hate that album. I'm sure Elliot [Mazer] doesn't think it's very good either. I couldn't sing then, I didn't know what I was doing."[5]
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Lovesick Blues" | 2:07 | |
2. | "Are My Thoughts with You?" | Mickey Newbury | 2:47 |
3. | "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" | 2:27 | |
4. | "Nobody's" | Gary White | 2:56 |
5. | "Louise" | Paul Siebel | 3:25 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Long, Long Time" | White | 4:21 |
2. | "Mental Revenge" | Mel Tillis | 2:46 |
3. | "I'm Leaving It All Up to You" | 2:21 | |
4. | "He Darked the Sun" | 2:40 | |
5. | "Life Is Like a Mountain Railway" | Traditional (arranged by Elliot Mazer and Linda Ronstadt) | 3:24 |
Personnel
All credits are adapted from the liner notes of Silk Purse.[6]
- Fred Catero – Recording engineer
- Howard Gale – Recording engineer
- Lee Hazin – Recording engineer
- Elliot F. Mazer – Producer, recording and mixing engineer
- Adam Mitchell – Musical director
- Wayne Moss – Recording engineer
Charts
Chart (1970) | Peak position |
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Australia Kent Music Report[13] | 34 |
Canada Top Albums (RPM)[12] | 59 |
US Billboard 200[19] | 103 |
Release history
Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | April 13, 1970 | LP | Capitol Records | [20] |
North America | [6] | |||
Netherlands | 1976 | [21] | ||
South Korea | 1977 | [22] | ||
Japan | 1979 | [23] | ||
North America | 1995 | CD | [24] | |
Japan | 2014 | [25] | ||
North America | 2015 | LP |
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[26] |
circa 2020 |
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Capitol Records | [27] |
References
- ^ a b c d e Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Silk Purse: Linda Ronstadt: Songs, reviews, credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
- ^ a b "Album Reviews: Pop" (PDF). Billboard. April 25, 1970. p. 56. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
- ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Linda Ronstadt Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-1451668735.
- ^ ISBN 978-1849892483.
- ^ a b c d e f g Ronstadt, Linda (April 13, 1970). "Silk Purse (Original Liner Notes) [North America]". Capitol Records. ST-407 (LP).
- ^ ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 12, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ^ a b Dubro, Alec (June 25, 1970). "Silk Purse". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
- ^ Bangs, Lester (October 1972). "Silk Purse > Review". Penthouse.
- ^ "Cashbox Album Reviews: Pop" (PDF). Cashbox. April 25, 1970. p. 36. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
- ISBN 978-0898201666.
- ^ a b "Search results for "Linda Ronstadt albums'". RPM. Archived from the original on 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
- ^ ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ Ronstadt, Linda (March 2, 1970). ""Will You Love Me Tomorrow"/"Lovesick Blues" (7" vinyl single)". Capitol Records. 2767.
- ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ Ronstadt, Linda (June 15, 1970). ""Long, Long Time"/"Nobody's" (7" vinyl single)". Capitol Records. 2846.
- ^ "Linda Ronstadt chart history (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
- ^ "Search results for "Linda Ronstadt"". RPM. Archived from the original on 2012-10-11. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
- ^ "Linda Ronstadt Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
- ^ Ronstadt, Linda (April 13, 1970). "Silk Purse [Australia]". Capitol Records. VMP-1020 (LP).
- ^ Ronstadt, Linda (1976). "Silk Purse [Netherlands]". Capitol Records. 10205C-038-80451 (LP).
- ^ Ronstadt, Linda (1977). "Silk Purse [South Korea]". Capitol Records. OLE-131 (LP).
- ^ Ronstadt, Linda (1979). "Silk Purse [Japan]". Capitol Records. ECS-40101 (LP).
- ^ Ronstadt, Linda (1995). "Silk Purse [North America CD version]". Capitol Records. 0777-7-80126-2-7 (CD).
- ^ Ronstadt, Linda (2014). "Silk Purse [Japan CD version]". Capitol Records. UICY-76516 (CD).
- ^ Ronstadt, Linda (2015). "Silk Purse [Remastered LP version]". Capitol Records/Varèse Vintage/Universal Special Markets. 302-067-357-1 (CD).
- ^ "Silk Purse by Linda Ronstadt". Apple Music. Retrieved 17 September 2023.