WAYLON JENNINGS - SONGBIRD

Country music legend Waylon Jennings died back in February 2002 and in the years that followed nearly all of his original albums have been re-issued. However, there has only been a handful of previously unreleased tracks issued... until now.

I have been a fan of Waylon since 1976 when I bought Wanted! The Outlaws and over the years that followed have collected all his albums and saw him in concert at the Hammersmith Apollo, London in 1983 and as part of The Highwaymen in 1992 at Wembley Arena, London.

In this article/review I will be looking at the latest archival release Songbird, the first of three that will feature previously unheard material.

Several years ago Shooter Jennings, Waylon's son, discovered a wealth of multi-track transfers of songs his father had recorded in the late-1970s and early-1980s. During this period Waylon had released albums including Ol' Waylon, I've Always Been Crazy, What Goes Around Comes Around, Black On Black, Waylon And Company and Sweet Mother Texas. 

Starting in 2008 Shooter and record engineer/producer Nate Haessly went through all the tapes hoping to find something of interest and songs that had never been heard before. What they found was a treasure trove of songs that Waylon had recorded in the downtime between tours and during the peak of his career.

Talking about the discovery Shooter said, "These weren't demos, these were songs that were cut with the intention of releasing, and as time went on, not all of them found places on the albums that Waylon and the Waylors were releasing at the time."

While working through the tapes they realised there was enough quality material to make three albums aimed at the fans.

Although, in most cases, they were finished masters some would benefit from some additional instrumentation. It was decided to call on the services of those who had previously worked with Waylon including Jerry Bridges, Barney Robertson, Gordon Payne and Carter Robertson, all members of The Waylors.

Additional vocals were provided by American country artists Elizabeth Cook and Ashley Monroe who would feature on the albums opening track.

To avoid the modern digital sound all the tracks were mixed at Sunset Sound Studio 3 (apparently renamed Snake Mountain by Shooter) on Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood using a vintage analogue mixing desk. Despite comments of AI being used no digital alteration was made to any of the tracks.

In June 2024 he announced on social media that he had a wealth of unreleased Waylon Jennings recordings from the 1970s and 1980s and that they were working on what would become the first of three albums of material.

The following year, in June 2025, the first single, a cover of Fleetwood Mac's Songbird was made available on his YouTube channel. A few days later the song was made available for streaming, the first new solo Waylon Jennings material in more than ten years. A second single, The Cowboy (Small Texas Town), was released in August. Both created a lot of interest and demand for the new album.

The forthcoming album was promoted on social media and in the music press although it was almost the day of release before a track listing appeared.

Songbird was released on 3 October 2025 on the Son of Jessi label marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers. It was available in several different formats including  CD, vinyl (black, red, orange and purple), digital download and streaming.

The cover featured a photograph taken by Billy Mitchell and the packaging was designed by Jeri Heiden of SMOG Design Inc. Her previous work had included the albums Behind The Mask (Fleetwood Mac), Graceland (Paul Simon), Live From The Forum MMXVIII (The Eagles), Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway (Barbra Streisand) and many, many more.

Shooter gives an overview of how it all came together and there are details of the musicians, credits and track listing. Unfortunately there is no detail on the individual tracks, songwriters, recording dates etc, and this is my only complaint.

We now take a look at the tracks that appeared on Songbird with some background information to each of the songs.

The album opens with a cover of the Christine McVie (Fleetwood Mac) song Songbird. This classic song was first released on the 1977 album Rumours and was the closing song at all of Fleetwood Mac's concerts in the 1970s and 1980s. Waylon turns in a beautiful and heartfelt performance supported by some excellent piano and steel-guitar along with the recently added vocals of Elizabeth Cook and Ashley Monroe. A fine cover and great opening track which I enjoyed very much. However, being a Fleetwood Mac fan and with Rumours being my all-time favourite release, nobody will ever sing Songbird like Christine McVie. Waylon would also record another Fleetwood Mac classic, Stevie Nicks' Rhiannon, which was released on his 1985 RCA release Turn The Page.

The next track, The Cowboy (Small Texas Town) was a song written by Johnny Rodriguez who didn't record his own version until 1979, a year after Waylon recorded his. It is a simple story of a humble artist whose music brings together different segments of society during his travels from a small Texas town.

I'd Like To Love You Baby was composed by J J Cale and appears on his 1974 album Okie. The lyrics delve into the complex desire for love and companionship while also touching on the idea of other romantic interests and a partner not always being around.

Waylon toured and worked in the studio with Johnny Cash many times over the years and recorded three of Cash's songs, Folsom Prison Blues, I Walk The Line and You Beat All I Ever Saw. They also released the duets album Heroes and recorded and toured as part of The Highwaymen. Making its first appearance on Songbird is the Jack Routh composition I'm Gonna Lay Back With My Woman that Cash included on his 1974 album The Junkie And The Juicehead Minus Me. Listening to the song it is not hard to imagine Cash and Jennings performing a duet, similar to those featured on Cash's I Would Like To See You Again release. . The song breaks down at the end but it doesn't take anything away from what is a great performance by the artist and musicians.

Wrong Road Ahead follows and was composed by producer and songwriter Allen Reynolds. Recorded first by Crystal Gayle in 1974 and also by Loretta Lynn and Marianne Faithfull who included the song on her 1976 country flavoured album Dreamin' My Dreams. The song is about the frustration of falling back into a relationship that is unhealthy and likely to lead to heartache. The singer is aware they are going down the 'wrong road' and that it is leading to a negative outcome.

I Hate To Go Searchin' Them Bars Again was written by singer and instrumentalist Isaac Payton Sweat who hailed from Port Arthur, Texas and had his first hit with Cotton Eyed Joe in the 1980s. I Hate To Go Searchin' is a typical bar-room song about drinking too much and searching for love. In some reviews this song has been classed as a rehearsal as it breaks down at the end but I personally don't think it is the case.

Jesse Winchester was a prolific songwriter whose songs included Mississippi, You're On My Mind and Every Word You Say. His songs have been covered by artists including Emmylou Harris, Joan Baez, Elvis Costello, Patti Page and The Everly Brothers. He wrote Brand New Tennessee Waltz and released the song on his 1970s self-titled album. Over the years it has been covered by Matthews Southern Comfort, The Walker Brothers, Sweethearts Of The Rodeo, Ralph Stanley and many others. A sad, reflective song about past love and a wish to return to Tennessee.

(I Don't Have) Anymore Love Songs is a cover of the Hank Williams Jnr song that appeared on his 1979 album Whiskey Bent And Hell Bound. It tells of the difficulties of writing about a love that has never come true.

The penultimate track is the second song on the album originally recorded by Johnny Cash, After The Ball. Written by Cash and originally released by Cash on his The Rambler concept album in 1977. Waylon sticks pretty close to Cash's version and it is another great cover of a song by his close friend and musical partner.

The closing track, Dink's Blues, is an American folk song often known as Fare Thee Well and Dink's Song. First recorded by John Lomax back in 1909 it has been recorded by many folk artists including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger and Kate & Anna McGarrigle. Originally telling the story of a woman deserted by her husband when she needed him most it is sung from the viewpoint of a man here. The song features some beautiful harmony from Jessi Colter.

Reviews have been positive with Record Collector saying, "It's a covers album, and a fine one at that, classic country from a time when pedal steel ruled, the vocals earthy and heartfelt.  The music is effortless. A country classic made up of leftovers that would have been career greats for so many artists."

Doug Maynard wrote, "Truly a treasure this is. From the first song, a cover of Christine McVie's Songbird, to a cover of Johnny Cash's After The Ball, and everything in between. Waylon took these songs and made them his own. The band is sharp, the voice is strong and clear, and this is pure Waylon at his best."

Writing on glidemagazine.com Shawn Donohue ended his review with the comment, "A wonderful addition to Waylon Jennings' discography, Songbird is filled with enjoyable tunes, resulting in a pleasure-filled ride."

"Waylon was the real deal if ever there was one, and that's why unheard tracks come so anticipated, especially in this era when so much of popular music sounds like bad parody," was the opinion of savingcountrymusic.com. They went on to say, "The 10 tracks from Songbird are from the 70s and early 80s era, discovered by Shooter in the family's musical archive. You can tell they're from that era since they come with that distinctive Waylon half time beat and two tone bass line, with Waylon's voice sounding fresh and vital. This is Waymore at the peak of his  powers."

As I wrote earlier there is no recording information but from my own research using John L. Smith's excellent reference book The Waylon Jennings Discography (Greenwood Press-1995) I have pieced together information on four of the tracks.

The Cowboy was the only song recorded during a three-hour session on 13 April 1978 at Jack Clement Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Two months later, in June, at American Studios in Nashville a guitar overdub took place and at the time the title was changed to Small Texas Town (The Cowboy). The song was recorded during the sessions for the I've Always Been Crazy album and was among several songs recorded around the same time that didn't make it onto the album or any other release.

On 8 June 1978 three songs were recorded at American Studios in Nashville including I'd Like To Love You Baby. It would be over two years before the song was revisited. At a session at Pantheon Studios in Scottsdale, Arizona on 12 December 1980 Jessi Colter overdubbed a vocal on the song. The song may have been intended for the Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter album Leather And Lace as some songs from the album were recorded at the same session.

The Brand New Tennessee Waltz was recorded, along with two other tracks, during a session at American Studios in Nashville on 6th January 1979. It was originally planned to be the title track of a new album but for unknown reasons the title was changed to Sweet Mother Texas and the song was dropped.

Moving on to 1980 and on 8 December during an afternoon session at Pantheon Studios in Scottsdale the basic tracks were laid down for I Don't Have Anymore Love Songs. Further sessions were held on 11 December, 20 January 1981 and 1 February 1981, also at Pantheon Studios. This song, along with two others recorded during the same period, were scheduled to be included on the previously mentioned album The Brand New Tennessee Waltz but once again were deleted when the album was renamed Sweet Mother Texas. In 1985 Waylon recorded the song again and this time it did find a release as a single and on the RCA compilation album The Best Of Waylon released in 1986.

Songbird is an excellent album and an essential addition to any Waylon Jennings collection. I am looking forward to the next two releases and, hopefully, even more unreleased tracks from the archives in the future.

As Shooter wrote in his liner notes, 'Enough explaining. Just put the damn record on... and remember: Waylon Jennings is Still The King!

DEPTFORD CREEK LIFTING BRIDGE

One of my many interests and hobbies is disused railways and I have spent many hours in London hunting out and photographing old stations and other related buildings and structures.

I recently followed part of the route of the London and Greenwich Railway which was London's first passenger steam railway and opened in stages between 1836 and 1838. My walk took me alongside the Southwark Viaduct which runs for almost four miles and carried the railway from London Bridge to Greenwich. It was constructed with 878 arches and originally, in 1836, only went as far as Deptford but was extended to Greenwich in 1838.

One of the places I missed on my walk was the Deptford Creek Lifting Bridge and during my latest London trip I took time to visit and in this article I give some history of the area, the bridge and include many of the photos I took. 

Deptford is an area on the south bank of the Thames that lies within the boroughs of Greenwich and Lewisham. The name Deptford originates from a ford where the River Ravensbourne was crossed by the A2 (Watling Street... the old Roman Road) and first appeared in records as Depeford, meaning deep ford, back in the 1200's.

In the mid-16th century it was home to the Deptford Dockyard, one of the Royal Dockyards, and was a major shipbuilding location until it closed in 1869. The whole area is currently undergoing regeneration focussed on improving the town centre with amenities and housing projects.

Deptford Creek is where the Ravensbourne meets the tidal Thames and at high tide is very deep. This meant that it could be used by sailing barges with their tall masts who had right of way over any other form of transport. This meant that when plans were made to extend the London and Greenwich Railway to Greenwich a decision had to me made as to how the railway could cross the Creek, a challenging task for the railway. The idea to extend the viaduct was a non-starter due to both the high tides and the right of way granted to shipping.

Two options were put forward, a swing bridge or lifting bridge. There would have been many problems with constructing a swing bridge at the same height as the viaduct, so the decision was made to construct a lifting bridge. This would allow the rail tracks to be raised letting high-masted shipping through. The complications in constructing such a structure delayed the extension of the line to Greenwich which didn't open until December 1838.

There have been three lifting bridges built over the years with the first opening in November 1838. Constructed of iron it had a central section where the two railway lines crossed the creek. Opening and lifting the bridge was a time-consuming task which would take between 30 minutes and an hour to complete and required eight strong men to complete the task. Bolts had to be removed that secured the tracks to the fish-plates and a complicated series of chains, pulleys and counterweights were then tackled by the men to raise the section of the bridge and allow ships to pass. Delays in the operation often meant that train timetables were seriously disrupted with passengers facing long waits, either on the train waiting to continue their journey or those people waiting in Greenwich to meet friends and family.

An Act of Parliament required the bridge to be raised promptly and in a timely manner. Failure to raise the bridge was a criminal offence and the railway company could be fined. It wasn't until the 1980s that the act was abolished.

In 1884 the original lifting bridge was replaced after being in service for more than forty years. However, technology had not improved the procedure to raise the tracks, which was now even more complicated than before. The actual rails had to be removed to allow the bridge to be raised and rather than eight men it now required twelve!

This second bridge was in service for almost eighty years before being replaced in December 1963. The new bridge was designed by British Rails Southern Regions Chief Civil Engineer, A H Cantrell and built by the Glasgow firm Sir William Arrol & Co.

Any barges wanting to pass through during high tide would have to book a time in advance to allow the bridge to be opened.

In the 2000s the central span, which weighed around 40 tonnes, was welded shut and new rails were laid in a permanent position.

The bridge, which is now a listed structure, is managed by Network Rail who are considering removing the lifting mechanism which, after being inoperative for almost thirty years, has become run-down and fallen into disrepair.

Often described as 'ugly' it is part of Deptford's industrial heritage and many locals would hate to see it demolished. Maybe a new lick of paint would make it more attractive and could also serve to protect the ironwork which has either rusted over the years or was, at some time, painted black.

My own personal opinion is that it should remain, freshly painted, as it has so much historical value and from experience I have seen so many old railway structures demolished or left to slowly disintegrate and it is such a shame.

Visiting the bridge is easy and it can be reached from either Deptford or Greenwich Stations, both on the line out of London Bridge and with a journey time of less than ten minutes, and then a short ten minute walk from either station.

I approached the bridge from Greenwich Station, continued across Ha'Penny Bridge and along the Creekside Street Art Footpath, where all the railway viaduct arches are covered in street art, before turning back.

Ha'Penny Bridge, which is painted blue and visible in one of the photos above, also has an interesting history. It's actual name is Ha'Penny Hatch Bridge and the original wooden bridge was built in 1836 allowing passengers who had travelled by train to Deptford, the end of the line at the time, access to the other side of Deptford Creek and onto Greenwich.

As we have already seen the line was extended in 1838. For those two years it allowed passengers to finish their journey, on foot, at the cost of a halfpenny. The original wooden bridge closed in the 1920's.

The modern replacement, built in 2002, still gives access across the creek and has a steel lifting mechanism which continues to allow access for boats that occasionally make their way up and down the creek.

Most of the photos included in this article were taken from the Ha'Penny Bridge and the Creekside Street Art Footpath although I also walked around the local area to capture different views.

I enjoyed the walk and pleased to have viewed this impressive structure and would recommend a visit to anyone interested in the history of the railways. This will not be my last visit to London and I look forward to discovering more of London's hidden gems.

I will be covering some of my other photographic trips to old railways and will be posting more articles in the future.

HASTEN DOWN THE WIND

Hasten Down The Wind, released in 1976, was the first Linda Ronstadt album I purchased and the one that turned me into a lifelong fan. To celebrate I am looking back at the recording, release and success of the album. The majority of the text in this article is taken from my e-book Linda Ronstadt-A Life In Music which was published back in 2009 although there is additional/edited text throughout. The illustrations have also been added specially for this article.

Photograph: Ethan A. Russell

By 1976 Linda Ronstadt was riding high with two very successful albums, Heart Like A Wheel (Capitol ST11538) which reached #1 on both the Billboard US Top Country Charts and Top 200 Album Charts and Prisoner In Disguise (Asylum 7E-1045) which peaked at #2 on the Country Charts and #4 on the Album Charts. Both albums would go on to achieve platinum status by the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA).

She also had success on the Billboard Singles Charts. From Heart Like A Wheel chart success came with You're No Good (#1 on the Top 40 Singles Chart), When Will I Be Loved (#1 on the Top Country Singles and #2 on the Top 40 Singles Chart), I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You) (#2 on the Top Country Singles) and It Doesn't Matter Anymore (#54 on the Top Country Singles).

Prisoner In Disguise would give her chart success with Love Is A Rose (#5 on the Top Country Singles), Tracks Of My Tears (#11 on the Top Country Singles and #25 on the Top 40 Singles Chart), The Sweetest Gift (#12 on the Top Country Singles) and Heatwave (#5 on the Top 40 Singles Chart).

Despite her increasing following in the United Kingdom, chart success evaded her with only the single Tracks Of My Tears b/w Prisoner In Disguise (Asylum K13034) charting at a disappointing #42 and neither of her recent albums achieving any chart action, although this would change with her next release.

Meanwhile at the 1975 Grammy Award Ceremony, held at the Hollywood Palladium on 28 February, 1976, more success came her way when she was nominated in the 'Album Of The Year' category for Heart Like A Wheel, 'Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female' for Heart Like A Wheel and walked away with a Grammy award for I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You) in the 'Best Country Vocal Performance, Female' category. Peter Asher was also nominated for an award in the 'Producer Of The Year' category but was beaten by Arif Mardin.

Her confidence must have been high when she returned to the studio to work on her new album Hasten Down The Wind. Sessions were held between March and June 1976 at The Sound Factory in Los Angeles, produced by Peter Asher and engineered by Val Garay.

Musicians appearing on the album included regulars Andrew Gold (guitars, piano, bass), Kenny Edwards (bass, acoustic guitar, mandolin), Dan Dugmore (guitar), Mike Botts (drums) and Peter Asher (tambourine, cowbell, handclaps) along with Waddy Wachtel (guitars), Russ Kunkel (drums), Clarence McDonald (piano) while the string arrangements were handled by David Campbell. A host of backing vocalists included Peter Asher, Andrew Gold, Kenny Edwards, Karla Bonoff, Wendy Waldman, Don Henley and Herb Pedersen.

Mike Botts, who played drums on the sessions, has good memories of the recording of Hasten Down The Wind, “It was before drum machines and samplers so typically the sessions would consist of Linda and a full rhythm section, bass, drums, keyboard and two guitars."

"She was always active in the arrangement process and would provide ‘work vocals’ during the basic tracking sessions to help guide us through the nuances of the arrangement. Once a final take had been chosen, she would then come in to put on the final vocal along with any instrumental overdubs that may have been necessary."

The exception to this was That'll Be The Day and Botts was impressed with how she handled the song in the studio. “She wanted to record it just the way Buddy did, live with no overdubs! So we rehearsed the arrangement for a couple of days and then went in to record it,” recalled Botts. “ It was not only recorded live in the studio but, amazingly, we nailed it on the first take. Now that’s really rare. It was a wonderfully creative time with some really talented and gifted artists. I’m quite proud to have been part of it.”

Unlike many singers, Linda writes few of her own songs, preferring to choose from the multitude of talented singer/songwriters that were around. In the past she had fallen back on the work of people like John David Souther, James Taylor, Lowell George and Neil Young, but with this new release, she turned to a new crop of talented writers including Karla Bonoff, Warren Zevon and Tracy Nelson. However, it wasn’t to the new writers that she turned to for the first single.

For the second time she chose to cover a classic Buddy Holly rock and roll track from the fifties. Back in 1974 she had recorded and released It Doesn't Matter Any More and in August her cover of That’ll Be The Day was issued with Try Me Again as the b-side (Asylum E-45340). The single just failed to reach the top ten on the Top 40 Singles Chart stalling at #11 while on the Top Country Singles Chart it had a worse fate only reaching #27. Released in the UK with the same b-side (Asylum K13053) it fared even worse spending just one week at #52.

Hasten Down The Wind (Asylum 7E-1072 / Asylum K53045) was released in the USA and UK on 9 August 1976. The cover featured a sexy image of Linda on the beach near her home in Malibu taken by Ethan A. Russell. The album cover was designed by John Kosh who first worked on Prisoner In Disguise and would go on to design many more of her album covers including Simple Dreams, Living In The USA, Mad Love, her Spanish/Mexican albums and her trio of recordings with Nelson Riddle. Despite working with many other artists, including The Beatles Abbey Road album and The Eagles Hotel California, his only Grammy's were for Linda Ronstadt albums... Prisoner In Disguise, Get Closer and Lush Life.

The album was presented in a gatefold sleeve with other images from the photoshoot and included an insert with song lyrics and credits.

The cover of her early album Silk Purse had gone a long way in portraying Linda as a sex symbol and the cover of Hasten Down The Wind, which showed her in a sexually teasing pose wearing a low-cut dress that clearly showed she wasn’t wearing a bra, set against a backdrop of a California sunset, only added to the image.

In an interview she spoke about the cover, “I didn’t have a concept for this album cover, and neither did anyone else. I wanted a picture of me in mid-air, falling. I wanted to look like I was floating.”

They tried several ideas, shooting in a swimming pool and jumping off a ladder but it didn’t look right. They finally settled on the beach scene. The photograph was actually unplanned as photographer Ethan A. Russell recalled, “We were shooting pictures outside Linda’s Malibu home when the horse ran by in the background. Linda said, ‘Don’t shoot, you’ll scare the horse.’ Happily, I ignored her.”

After the shoot was over and she saw the photos there was talk of retouching the image to cover up the fact that she was wearing nothing under the dress but she remarked, “I never looked that good a day in my life anyway.”

They didn’t set out to produce a sexy cover and unfortunately this was counterproductive as people were beginning to see her as more of a sex symbol than a serious recording artist.

Mind you Linda is fully aware of her sexy image as she explained, “I love sex as much as I love music, and I think it’s as hard to do. I don’t know how good a sex symbol I am, but I do think I’m good at being sexy. The sexual aspect of my personality has been played up a lot, and I can’t say it hasn’t been part of my success. But it’s unfair in a way, because I don’t think I look as good as my image.”

Three of the tracks were written by Karla Bonoff who had worked in a group with Andrew Gold. Bonoff was born and raised in Southern California and with her sister Lisa started writing and performing under the name ‘The Daughters of Chester P’, named after her father.

Despite an audition with Elektra Records, where they recorded an 11-song demo, she could not get a record deal. She had many musician friends including Kenny Edwards and Wendy Waldman and along with Andrew Gold they decided to form Bryndle.

An unreleased album made for A&M Records, and a single produced by Lou Adler, who also produced the Mamas and the Papas, failed to help their career and the band split. Then both Edwards and Gold went to work with Linda. 

Photograph: Unknown

This led to Linda hearing a demo of Lose Again. Bonoff recalled her saying “Hey, you know that's real good. What else have you got?” Bonoff also provided both Someone To Lay Down Beside Me and If He's Ever Near to the new album. It was Lose Again that opened the album and it is a great song with its emotional opening lines, 'Save me, Free me, From my heart this time.'

Linda described Someone To Lay Down Beside Me as a song 'about a prostitute' and the melody is full of dramatic moments. The song closes the album and is a strong performance by Linda on a song with great lyrics.

The album’s title track was a Warren Zevon composition. Zevon, who was born in Chicago in 1947, began his professional music career in the mid-1960s as part of a boy/girl folk-singing act called Lyme and Cybelle. His own version of the song was still unreleased when Linda recorded her own take on the song. Don Henley joins her for the vocal harmony and the result is another beautiful performance.

Linda had already dabbled with the Jamaican music style of reggae, with some success, on her previous album, covering Jimmy Cliff’s Many Rivers To Cross and continued this trend with John and Johanna Hall’s Give One Heart which includes an a cappella prelude of Rivers Of Babylon. John Hall was a member of the group Orleans and the song had appeared on their 1975 album Let There Be Music.

Along with Johanna, his lyrical partner, he has written songs recorded by artists including Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, James Brown, Steve Wariner, The Doobie Brothers, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt and many others.

Although the album leaned heavily towards less well-known material, it did contain two covers. As well as That’ll Be The Day, a firm concert favourite for years to come, she also covered the Patsy Cline hit Crazy. Written by Willie Nelson it became a number one for Cline in 1961 and was one of her biggest hits.

She would return again to the Holly catalogue for her next album and the reason for her desire to record his songs can be traced back to her early days in Arizona where she probably heard a lot of his songs on the radio.

Furthermore, Hasten Down The Wind was the first album to showcase her song-writing skills. Try Me Again, a story of cheating and confession, was co-written with Andrew Gold. Featuring another confident vocal from Linda that demonstrates the power and drama in her performance.

In an interview he remembered her first attempt at song-writing. “She was kind of shy and she was telling Peter and I that she’d written this little melody with a few words and it wasn’t finished and maybe she could sing it but she was just too shy. It’s funny now because she’s not shy at all." 

"So, anyway she finally said, ‘I’ll sing it for Andrew’ so I went up to her room, closed the door and she sat on one bed and I in the other and she just sang it. I had a guitar and tried to put some chords to it. It was so funny because we opened up the door and it was like one of those cartoons where all these people fell. It was Peter and the band just dying to know what this song was.” Gold made a few suggestions, additional chords and music for the bridge, but Try Me Again was mainly Linda’s song.

The Spanish Lo Siento Mi Vida was a joint effort with Kenny Edwards and Linda’s father Gilbert. With its simple backing of just acoustic guitar, pedal steel, bass and drum, it is a beautiful performance by both band and singer and is one of the best foreign language recordings she ever made, pre-dating her Spanish/Mexican albums by at least ten years.

In the sleeve-notes to her 2004 compilation Jardin Azul/Las Canciones Favourites Linda talked about the writing and recording of the song. “My oldest musical compatriot, Kenny Edwards, was enamoured of a beautiful girl who was a Spanish major and played great blues guitar. Lo Siento Mi Vida was a phrase that stuck from that romance and one that he always loved, so he came up with a snatch of a melody for it, a few chords—and nothing else.”

Photograph: Unknown

Linda’s grasp of Spanish was not great and she called her dad to help with the lyrics as she went on to describe: “The three of us came up with some lyrics and worked and worked on them. I decided we’d write the bridge in English, because it was too hard to get my dad on the phone again.”

Edwards recalled how the song came together: “I was on the road with Linda and we had a day off in some god-forsaken town and so we were killing time at the motel. I had been playing with a melody that had a kind of Tex-Mex vibe to it and Linda responded, suggesting we write it. I think we came up with the title then and planned to finish it sometime."

Back in LA we got together to do so and found we didn't know enough Spanish to get through the lyrics unaided so we called Linda’s dad on the phone and it was like, ‘…so how do you say blah, blah...?’ And he would tell us and we’d plug it into the song.”

It was a song that would cause problems for Andrew Gold when Linda performed it in concert. He couldn’t speak Spanish so learnt it phonetically and never really knew what he was singing.

Gold had also offered other songs to her, “we tried on at least two occasions to record my song Love Hurts. I was always offering her songs but, alas, she didn’t do any. She liked them though, especially Lonely Boy.”

The Tattler is a blues/gospel song that dates from the 1920s and written by Washington Phillips. The song was covered by Ry Cooder on his 1974 Paradise And Lunch album and Linda follows a similar arrangement.

Tracy Nelson was an American country and blues singer whose career started in the mid-1960s with the release of her debut album, Deep Are The Roots. She moved to San Francisco in 1966 and became a part of the local music scene. It was during this period that she wrote and recorded Down So Low which appeared on her Living With The Animals album. It was a song that she would re-record on a number of occasions. Nelson has spoken about the inspiration for the song... her broken heart in the aftermath of her break-up with the musician Steve Miller. It was a perfect song for Linda to cover and is often cited as the best cover version of the song.

The album had a very depressive feel, as Linda said herself. “It was a very down album. I was very depressed then.” The entire album was full of sadness and heartbreak and although there was a heavy quality to the music her voice was, at times soulful and at times beautiful. This was something that many reviewers would pick up on.

Press coverage for the album was mixed. Circus magazine in their review in November 1976 by Ken Tucker felt that she had not released one consistently good album and that she should record an upbeat album with fast country, fast rock and roll and fast rock. The album was criticised for having too many maudlin songs although Tucker did praise both That’ll Be The Day and her version of Crazy. Talking about Karla Bonoff he joked that: “The only thing interesting about Ms Bonoff is that her name, at a quick glance, looks like an acronym for Boris Karloff.”

David McGee, writing in Rolling Stone in September was more impressed feeling that the album was “…a fine album that begs closer inspection.” In particular he picked out her cover of That's Be The Day saying, "I've always appreciated Ronstadt's good-natured approach to her remakes of rock 'n' roll oldies. The version of That'll Be The Day included here neither alters my feelings for nor threatens the Buddy Holly original. Her reading could be tougher, but the music behind it - particularly the solo sparring between guitarists Andrew Gold and Waddy Wachtel - has enough bite to overcome vocal shortcomings." He also felt her other cover, Crazy, was an inspired choice.

"Hasten Down The Wind is not the easiest Linda Ronstadt album to 'get' the first time one hears it, but it may be the classiest and longest-lived one she has done so far", wrote Noel Coppage in the November issue of Stereo Review. He went on to praise many of the tracks and ended the review by saying, "It's the kind of album I don't listen to one cut at a time anyway - It's the kind I listen to a whole lot. The thing has hardly been off the turntable since it got here. It's there now, and I'm anxious to get back to it for what must be the hundredth time in the last few days. That's the kind of judgement about an album I trust most."

Billboard rated That'll Be The Day, Lose Again, Give One Heart, Try Me Again and Rivers Of Babylon as the best cuts on the album and had nothing but praise for the album. They wrote, "That Queen of Lost Ladies whose golden heart is always broken by unfeeling men is back again with another unique delivery of country/pop/rock-oldies laments and defiant good-time pledges. Ronstadt's highly effective stage image of the romantic female loser leads the listener smoothly through a wide variety of music by a staggering variety of songwriters." They went on to say, "It took Ronstadt a long and determined time to get to the top of the heap, but if she can keep up the quality of albums like this, she'll be on top even longer." They also gave credit to Peter Asher for his remarkable production.

The mixed reaction didn’t affect sales with the album reaching #1 on the US Country Charts and #3 on the Top 100 Album Chart. Despite only reaching #32, it did give Linda her first chart album in the UK and went on to receive a silver disc from the British Phonographic Institute (BPI). If further proof of the album’s success were needed, gold and platinum awards from the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) within a month of its release should have been enough to silence even the harshest critics.

Another Grammy Award came Linda's way at the 1976 Grammy Award Ceremony, held at the Hollywood Palladium on 19 February, 1977, when Hasten Down The Wind won the 'Best Vocal Performance, Female' category.

In support of the album, Linda embarked on a lengthy US tour in early August with sell-out concerts across the USA. A concert review appeared in the December 1976 issue of Playboy where they said, "A few days after Linda Ronstadt released Hasten Down The Wind, we caught the country singer in concert. During the next few hours, she moved through old favourites and introduced the audience to the songs on her new album. The verdict was unanimous: Ronstadt is stronger and more confident than ever before, and with good reason - the new material is equal, if not superior, to the best of her standards." They also praised her band, who they felt were one of the strongest in the business.

In November her fans in the United Kingdom finally had the opportunity to see her in concert when she undertook a short tour of the UK and Europe. There were dates in London at The New Victoria Theatre, the Odeon Theatre in Birmingham, Apollo in Glasgow, the Rai Congrescentrum in Amsterdam and Musikhalle in Hamburg. There were three shows in London with the final show an Old Grey Whistle Test Special, introduced by 'Whispering' Bob Harris.

Photographs: Unknown

During the concerts Linda would perform several songs from Hasten Down The Wind including, Lose Again, That'll Be The Day, The Tattler, Crazy, Lo Siento Mi Vida and the title track. She also turned to earlier material with When Will I Be Loved, Silver Threads And Golden Needles, Love Is A Rose and Tracks Of My Tears.

Backing her on the tour were Andrew Gold (keyboards, guitar and backing vocals), Kenny Edwards (bass, harmonica, backing vocals), Waddy Wachtel (guitars, backing vocals), Dan Dugmore (guitar, steel guitar, backing vocals) and Mike Botts (drums). Andrew Gold was also the supporting act on the tour.

In November a second single (Asylum E-45361) was issued, Someone To Lay Down Beside Me which stalled at #42 on the Pop Charts, although it was the other side, Crazy, that became a #6 country hit. Its success was probably down to the popularity of the song as many were aware of the Patsy Cline original and, although nobody could ever match that, Linda’s version was certainly an excellent performance. Released in the UK a few months later (Asylum K-13071) it failed to create much interest chart wise.

Unfortunately a third single (Asylum 45402), pairing Lose Again with Lo Siento Mi Vida, released in May 1977, could not create any interest and disappeared without trace. It was the same fate in the UK where the single (Asylum K-13065) failed to chart. It was issued in the UK in October 1976 with a picture sleeve featuring a lovely portrait of Linda and on the reverse were the upcoming tour dates.

The chart positions were by no means a reflection of the quality of the material and could be put down to the fact that Linda was becoming more of an album artist at this stage of her career.

Hasten Down The Wind shows the maturity in her voice and demonstrates how much further she had come as a vocalist. The music is emotional and moving, very soulful and for those raised on her earlier work it may have been a difficult album to come to terms with.

However, it was becoming obvious with Hasten Down The Wind, her tenth album, that Linda was getting restless with performing the same old country and country-rock material and wanted to stretch herself by moving into far more complex musical areas. This would become more evident with the release of future albums like Simple Dreams, Living In The USA and Mad Love.

Next year Hasten Down The Wind celebrates its fiftieth anniversary and time for an expanded and remastered edition with, if available, bonus tracks that could include alternate or early versions, demos, songs recorded but not used along with a detailed booklet with comprehensive liner notes, photos and memorabilia. To be honest all her catalogue is way overdue for re-issue. I can always hope. 

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM - REVIEW

 

In the early- to mid-1960s Manchester was a popular music centre that was second only to London. It was also where amateur photographer and music fan Brian Smith combined his two passions, capturing images of the many American artists who visited the United Kingdom. Among the local clubs these artists played, and where Brian would attend with his camera, were The Free Trade Hall, The Oasis, The Princess Club and The Twisted Wheel Club. Brian would soon become one of the latter clubs inner circle, around the same time that DJ Roger Eagle started promoting his R&B All-Nighters in 1963. Brian's photographs soon started appearing in Eagle's R&B Scene magazine. 

Brian Smith

For years his photographs were limited to Manchester's local scene and it would be several more before his work would reach a wider audience, thanks in the main to the advent of CDs and accompanying artwork/booklets.

I have known Brian Smith for more than thirty years and first had contact with him in the late-1990s when I was running the Johnny Cash Fanzine, The Man in Black. He was kind enough to allow me to use his photographs of Johnny Cash at Manchester's Astoria Irish Club in October 1963 in my magazine.

Johnny Cash

We have stayed in contact ever since and he has been a great supporter of my work on Johnny Cash and other artists. I am so pleased that a small portion of his incredible work has finally been bought together in a new book, Boom Boom Boom Boom - The American Rhythm And Blues Photographs Of Brian Smith.

A foreword by ex-Manfred Mann vocalist Paul Jones opens the book and is followed by a preface written by Simon Robinson of the books publishers, Easy On The Eyes Books, which gives some detail on how much work was involved in putting the book together.

A detailed look at the career of Brian Smith makes very interesting reading with background to his life and career along with several interesting quotes from him. Talking about how skiffle led to his love of the blues he says, "Lonnie Donegan was a major milestone for me. Essentially I was a rock 'n' roller in the fifties, although Donegan, Barber and Muddy were developing my other tastes alongside this. My first blues albums were Muddy At Newport and Howling Wolf which I bought in 1961,62. I very much came to blues via Rock n' Roll and Donegan."

Today everyone takes photos at concerts on their mobile phones but back in the 1960s things were very different. Brian recalls a Dusty Springfield TV show where he took a photo with flash and it affected Dusty's performance and they had to do a retake.... "The producer came out and said, 'Would the gentleman who took the photograph please come and have a word with us afterwards?'. I was petrified! I thought I was going to have my camera confiscated so I just put it under my coat and snuck out! Later I thought if I had taken my bollocking I may even have got my photograph, and this did influence me to 'ask first' next time." There are many more great stories to read.

These early sections of the book are accompanied by some great images including many of Brian with artists including Little Richard, Karl Denver, Chuck Berry and Carl Perkins. Brian ran the Official Carl Perkins Fan Club and this sits next to a newspaper ad for the club and his photos, a nice touch. However, my favourite photo is of Brian at a table playing cards with Cousin Pleasant, Otis Spann and Muddy Waters.

There are also many items of memorabilia including magazine covers (Hit Parade and R&B Scene), adverts for shows, newspaper cuttings and, of interest to me as a photographer, an advert for an Ilford Sportsman 35mm Camera... a bargain at £11-19-6!

We now come to the main part of the book and what a feast we are treated to. Within the following 150...plus pages there are more than 200 photos, mostly high quality considering the conditions under which the photos were taken and the camera technology of the time.

There are so many artists and wonderful photos to enjoy, too many to cover here so I will just pick out a few of my own personal favourites and leave you, the reader, to enjoy the rest.

In May 1964 Chuck Berry toured the UK and there are photos from shows at The Odeon, Bolton and City Hall, Sheffield. Along with images of Chuck on stage are some great backstage shots.

Blues musician and songwriter J. B. Lenoir's appearance at the fourth American Folk-Blues Festival at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester in 1965 is covered with some stunning photos while Little Richard's May 1964 Oasis Club appearance is covered with more great images. 

J. B. Lenoir, Chuck Berry & Little Richard

Backstage images of Jimmy Reed at the Twisted Wheel in November 1964 include one of him with guitar in hand and harmonica in mouth, one of many favourites in this book.

Blues legends Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howling Wolf, Memphis Slim and T-Bone Walker are all featured as are many UK artists who were heavily-influenced by the artists mentioned above, including The Rolling Stones, Alex Harvey, The Spencer Davis Group, Long John Baldry and Rod Stewart.

Carl Perkins appearances on TV in 1964 are covered with some backstage shots and two years later he is shown with June Carter and Johnny Cash during Cash's first UK tour.

Big Joe Turner

While most of the photos are in good old black & white, which I personally feel works better for these photos, there are a few colour images including this great backstage image of Big Joe Turner, 'Boss of the Blues'.

The text that appears alongside each artist featured gives background to the photos, where and when they were taken, some of Brian's own memories and much more. There are also many pieces of memorabilia illustrated from the time... album sleeves, TV listings, tour ads, concert tickets and much more. All fascinating stuff.

Muddy Waters

The final few pages are devoted to Brian's own look back at his career along with more photos of 'Brian And The Stars', including Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy Williamson, Helen Shapiro, Johnny Cash, Duane Eddy and Gary US Bonds. A comprehensive index of the text and photographs brings this fantastic book to a close.  

This is my kind of book and I thoroughly enjoyed looking through the pages and it should be in the collection of any fan of American Rhythm & Blues Music. If I was giving out stars in my review it would receive five!

With thanks to Brian Smith for the amazing photos and Simon Robinson and Ann Warburton (EASYONTHEEYESBOOKS) for providing a review copy of the book.