Silk Purse
Encyclopedia
Silk Purse is the second solo album
by Linda Ronstadt
, released in March 1970, a year after the release of her first solo set, Hand Sown ... Home Grown
. It was recorded at Woodland Recording Studios in Nashville
, the only Ronstadt album recorded in the country music
capital, and it was produced by Elliot Mazer
, who had previously worked with Richie Havens
, Gordon Lightfoot
, James Cotton
, Rufus Thomas
, Chubby Checker
and Frank Sinatra
and who had been recommended to Linda by her friend Janis Joplin
.
setting. Ronstadt later remarked that Nashville Country is very different than California Country. This album was also different in style and sound from Ronstadt's previous Folk Rock
work with the Stone Poneys
. Silk Purse includes interpretations of Hank Williams
' rendition of "Lovesick Blues
" and Mel Tillis
' "Mental Revenge" and a version of the bluegrass traditional song "Life Is Like A Mountain Railway." Ronstadt also included a strange remake of the Gerry Goffin
and Carole King
"Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" that had been recorded by The Shirelles
in 1962, and a harmony duet with Gary White on the Paul Siebel
ballad "Louise," later covered
by Bonnie Raitt
. Included as well was a recording of a song White himself wrote, and Linda had to persuade her record company to get the ballad "Long, Long Time" on the album, which in due course, proved to be Linda Ronstadt's first chart single. After its recording, Capitol Records
executives attempted to dissuade Ronstadt's from picking songs, like Long Long Time, which they considered too Country, even though Ronstadt had been attracted to ballads such as this and Heart Like A Wheel, which she later recorded.
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." Lester Bangs of Penthouse
also reviewed the album: "Linda Ronstadt's vocal style is like her physical presence: brimming with passion and vulnerability, tremulous, yet possessed of a core of absolute strength."
Music critic Robert Christgau
commended Ronstadt for her choice of tunes but noted "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."
Though released in March, Silk Purse did not debut on the Billboard
Top LPs
chart until October 1970, spending 10 weeks on the chart and peaking at a disappointing #103. This came on the heels of the late-summer showing of the single "Long, Long Time," which peaked at No. 25 on the Hot 100
singles chart. As a single, "Long, Long Time" proved to be a breakthrough of sorts for Ronstadt. The recording earned her a Grammy Award
nomination in early 1971 for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Female
, which she lost to Dionne Warwick
for "I'll Never Fall In Love Again
.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
, released in March 1970, a year after the release of her first solo set, Hand Sown ... Home Grown
Hand Sown ... Home Grown
Hand Sown ... Home Grown is a 1969 album by American singer/songwriter/producer Linda Ronstadt. Produced by Chip Douglas of the Turtles, it was Ronstadt's first solo release following three Folk Rock albums with her band The Stone Poneys. The album saw Ronstadt take a decisive turn away from the...
. It was recorded at Woodland Recording Studios in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, the only Ronstadt album recorded in the country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
capital, and it was produced by Elliot Mazer
Elliot Mazer
Elliot Mazer is a producer, executive, technologist, and project leader. Elliot produced multi-platinum albums for artists including Neil Young, Janis Joplin, and Linda Ronstadt. He was the recording engineer of the live Last Waltz Concert. Meanwhile he has also built, designed, owned and operated...
, who had previously worked with Richie Havens
Richie Havens
Richard P. "Richie" Havens is an African American folk singer and guitarist. He is best known for his intense, rhythmic guitar style , soulful covers of pop and folk songs, and his opening performance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival.-Career:Born in Brooklyn, Havens was the eldest of nine children...
, Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s...
, James Cotton
James Cotton
James Cotton is an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who has performed and recorded with many of the great blues artists of his time as well as with his own band.-Career:...
, Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas, Jr. was an American rhythm and blues, funk and soul singer and comedian fromMemphis, Tennessee, who recorded on Sun Records in the...
, Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...
and Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and who had been recommended to Linda by her friend Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
.
History
The album featured songs in a more traditional countryCountry music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
setting. Ronstadt later remarked that Nashville Country is very different than California Country. This album was also different in style and sound from Ronstadt's previous Folk Rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
work with the Stone Poneys
Stone Poneys
The Stone Poneys were a folk-rock trio formed in Los Angeles, consisting of Bobby Kimmel , Kenny Edwards , and Linda Ronstadt . Their recordings include Linda Ronstadt's first hit song, a cover of Mike Nesmith's "Different Drum"...
. Silk Purse includes interpretations of Hank Williams
Hank Williams, Sr.
Hank Williams , born Hiram King Williams, was an American singer-songwriter and musician regarded as one of the most important country music artists of all time...
' rendition of "Lovesick Blues
Lovesick Blues
"Lovesick Blues" is a show tune written by composer Cliff Friend and co-lyricist & producer Irving Mills. It has become a pop standard and an even more popular country song since it helped make Hank Williams famous in the 1940s. Published through Tin Pan Alley in 1922, the song was first recorded...
" and Mel Tillis
Mel Tillis
Lonnie Melvin Tillis , known professionally as Mel Tillis, is an American country music singer. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s, with a long list of Top 10 hits....
' "Mental Revenge" and a version of the bluegrass traditional song "Life Is Like A Mountain Railway." Ronstadt also included a strange remake of the Gerry Goffin
Gerry Goffin
Gerry Goffin is an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 with former songwriting partner and first wife, Carole King. he has co-written six Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers.-Career:Goffin enlisted with the Marine Corps Reserve after graduating from...
and Carole King
Carole King
Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
"Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" that had been recorded by The Shirelles
The Shirelles
The Shirelles were an African-American girl group that achieved popularity in the early 1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens , Doris Coley , Addie "Micki" Harris , and Beverly Lee...
in 1962, and a harmony duet with Gary White on the Paul Siebel
Paul Siebel
Paul Siebel is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, born on September 19, 1937 in Buffalo, NY. He is best known for other artist's cover versions of his songs, most notably "Louise"...
ballad "Louise," later covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
. Included as well was a recording of a song White himself wrote, and Linda had to persuade her record company to get the ballad "Long, Long Time" on the album, which in due course, proved to be Linda Ronstadt's first chart single. After its recording, Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
executives attempted to dissuade Ronstadt's from picking songs, like Long Long Time, which they considered too Country, even though Ronstadt had been attracted to ballads such as this and Heart Like A Wheel, which she later recorded.
Reception
Three months after the album's release, Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
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
Stone Poneys
The Stone Poneys were a folk-rock trio formed in Los Angeles, consisting of Bobby Kimmel , Kenny Edwards , and Linda Ronstadt . Their recordings include Linda Ronstadt's first hit song, a cover of Mike Nesmith's "Different Drum"...
' album, and she has developed her Country style considerably since her last album." Lester Bangs of Penthouse
Penthouse (magazine)
Penthouse, a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione, combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictorials that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore. Penthouse is owned by FriendFinder Network. formerly known as General Media, Inc. whose parent company was Penthouse International...
also reviewed the album: "Linda Ronstadt's vocal style is like her physical presence: brimming with passion and vulnerability, tremulous, yet possessed of a core of absolute strength."
Music critic Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
commended Ronstadt for her choice of tunes but noted "only occasionally—"Lovesick Blues" and "Long Long Time" are both brilliant—does she seem to find Kitty Wells
Kitty Wells
Ellen Muriel Deason , known professionally as Kitty Wells, is an American country music singer. Her 1952 hit recording, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts, and turned her into the first female country star...
's soul as well as her timbre."
Though released in March, Silk Purse did not debut on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Top LPs
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart until October 1970, spending 10 weeks on the chart and peaking at a disappointing #103. This came on the heels of the late-summer showing of the single "Long, Long Time," which peaked at No. 25 on the Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
singles chart. As a single, "Long, Long Time" proved to be a breakthrough of sorts for Ronstadt. The recording earned her a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination in early 1971 for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Female
Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance is the latest in a series of awards recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. The award goes to the artist...
, which she lost to Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
for "I'll Never Fall In Love Again
I'll Never Fall in Love Again
"I'll Never Fall In Love Again" is a popular song by composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David. Originally written for the 1968 musical Promises, Promises, it soon became one of Bacharach and David's most enduring songs. It was nominated for Song of the Year in the 1969 Grammy awards...
.
Track listing
- "Lovesick BluesLovesick Blues"Lovesick Blues" is a show tune written by composer Cliff Friend and co-lyricist & producer Irving Mills. It has become a pop standard and an even more popular country song since it helped make Hank Williams famous in the 1940s. Published through Tin Pan Alley in 1922, the song was first recorded...
" (Cliff FriendCliff FriendCliff Friend was an accomplished songwriter and pianist. A member of Tin Pan Alley, Friend co-wrote several hits including "Lovesick Blues," "My Blackbirds Are Bluebirds Now" and "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down," also known as the theme song to the Looney Tunes cartoon series.-Early life:Friend was...
, Irving MillsIrving MillsIrving Mills was a jazz music publisher, also known by the name of "Joe Primrose."Mills was born to Jewish parents in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. He founded Mills Music with his brother Jack in 1919...
) – 2:07 - "Are My Thoughts With You?" (Mickey NewburyMickey NewburyMickey Newbury was an American songwriter, a critically acclaimed recording artist, and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Biography:...
) – 2:47 - "Will You Love Me TomorrowWill You Love Me Tomorrow"Will You Love Me Tomorrow", also known as "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and originally recorded by The Shirelles. It has been recorded by many artists and was ranked among Rolling Stone 's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time at #125...
" (Gerry GoffinGerry GoffinGerry Goffin is an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 with former songwriting partner and first wife, Carole King. he has co-written six Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers.-Career:Goffin enlisted with the Marine Corps Reserve after graduating from...
, Carole KingCarole KingCarole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
) – 2:27 - "Nobody's" (Gary White) – 2:56
- "Louise" (Paul SiebelPaul SiebelPaul Siebel is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, born on September 19, 1937 in Buffalo, NY. He is best known for other artist's cover versions of his songs, most notably "Louise"...
) – 3:25 - "Long, Long Time" (Gary White) – 4:21
- "Mental Revenge" (Mel Tillis)-2:46
- "I'm Leaving It All Up to You" (Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Dewey TerryDon and DeweyDon and Dewey were an American rock and roll duo, comprising Don "Sugarcane" Harris and Dewey Terry . Both were born and grew up in Pasadena, California....
) – 2:21 - "He Darked the Sun" (Gene ClarkGene ClarkGene Clark, born Harold Eugene Clark was an American singer-songwriter, and one of the founding members of the folk-rock group The Byrds....
, Bernie LeadonBernie LeadonBernard Mathew "Bernie" Leadon, III is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Prior to the Eagles, he was a member of two pioneering and highly influential country rock bands, Dillard & Clark and the Flying Burrito Brothers...
) – 2:40 - "Life Is Like a Mountain Railway" (Traditional/Arr,: Elliott Mazer, Linda Ronstadt) – 3:24