Album Review / Lush Life
Stereo Review, February 1985
Review by Peter Reilly
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Talk about upward mobility! Linda Ronstadt first appeared in
the Sixties in a group called the Stone Poneys, then took
some time out to learn how to sing, and finally became a
genuine folk-rock star in the Seventies. Now, in the
Eighties, she's taken to singing major roles in operetta
and opera on Broadway and off. At the same
time she's releasing albums that fondly explore the past
glories of American popular music. Last year's "What's New"
turned out to be a sleeper hit, and her brand-new "Lush Life"
promises to be an even bigger seller.
"What's New" suggested a tribute to Frank Sinatra's classic
album "Only the Lonely." "Lush Life," again arranged and
conducted by Nelson Riddle with stylish grace and true
glitter, ranges a much broader field. It presents a greater
challenge to Ronstadt to make something new, interesting, and
most important- emotionally valid out of material that has
had classic if not "definitive" interpretations in the past.
On the whole, she succeeds superbly. Thanks to her
authentically contemporary musical sensibility and voice (and
Riddle's masterly arrangements), her performances ring true
on their own terms.
Perhaps many who have (or have heard) the old recordings of
these songs will be unable to banish completely memories of,
say, Marlene Dietrich's insolent Falling in Love Again, Ella
Fitzgerald's filigreed Lush Life, Hoagy Carmichael's wistful
Skylark, Jeri Southern's haunting When I Fall in Love, or
Billie Holiday's desperate I'm a Fool to Want You. But the
songs are strong enough to support more than one interpretation,
and Ronstadt is so convincing in her attacks and performances
that such memories recede after the first few bars. There is
no nostalgia or gimmickry or retro cuteness to her work here.
It is all just lovely music, beautifully performed for today's ears.
What's next for Linda Ronstadt? Well, I wouldn't be the least
surprised if in the Nineties someone mounts a new production
of Wagner's Ring starring you know who.