Crazy

[westen44]

Willie Nelson wrote the song.  Patsy Cline immortalized it.  Linda Ronstadt's version was much less known, but still pretty good.  Supposedly, Willie Nelson once said "there are two types of men in the world:  those who had a crush on Linda Ronstadt and those who have never heard of her."  Whether he really said that or not, Barack Obama actually did admit he used to have a crush on her at the National Medal of Arts Award ceremony in 2014.

[uwe]

I preferred Emmylou H, both looks- and voicewise!



Linda had more crossover appeal I guess, but there is something breathtaking ethereal about Emmylou.

And Charlie Dore!



I always thought of her as the Brit answer to Emmylou, both vocally and visually! 

[westen44]

I probably mentioned this already in an earlier thread.  But at the Linda Ronstadt concert I went to circa 1980, she actually addressed the Emmylou Harris issue.  Linda Ronstadt actually seemed to be pissed off that Emmylou Harris wasn't being recognized by the public enough.  Personally, I look at them as equals.  However, that "Heart Like a Wheel" album by Linda was a big plus in making her popular with the public.  Maybe Emmylou had albums just as good or better, but "Heart Like a Wheel" was quite a success.  Much more could be said, but I think this was a turning point for her. 

[uwe]

Linda's music and image was just more commercial - and I don't mean that disparagingly. She was rock and pop as well.



When Emmylou did something commercial, she was kind of awkward doing it:



As someone rightfully remarked in the YouTube comments, the period mess up in the vid is a howler: It professes to be from 1946 - the boys are coming home - yet the original song only came out in 1954:

[westen44]

Chuck Dauphin of Billboard wrote, "Nobody can deliver a song aching with sadness and loneliness quite like Emmylou Harris.  When she pours her heart and soul into a lyric, you are instantly grabbed emotionally..."

Personally, I would say it's the emotional factor which may be the biggest difference between Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris.  Certainly, I already felt that way even before reading the Billboard quote.  But I think it's true.  Still, though, I can't rate one as better than the other.  If I could have had a choice, I would have preferred seeing Emmylou in person rather than Linda, however.  But that's mostly because I think Emmylou puts more into her performances than Linda did.  I'm quite sure seeing Emmylou Harris in person would be a thrill.

[Dave W]

Emmylou and Linda  had different audiences with some overlap.

Two great examples of what Emmylou does best. The first is a Louvin Brothers classic, the second (written by Johnny Mullins) was an earlier hit for Loretta Lynn.

[uwe]

From a German viewpoint the difference was:

If someone owned a Linda Ronstadt album, he/she probably had a copy of Frampton Comes Alive! too. If he/she listened to Emmylou Harris, you'd be more likely to find a Gram Parsons record next to it. And not just because they were a couple at one point.



Harris fans were viewed as "folkies", Ronstadt was seen as much more mainstream.

That said, Linda didn't always tread safe - the way she revisited her Mexican roots in the later part of her career was daring I thought.



Emmylou would always stay much more "on course" of her image and the music you would expect from her, she'd just wriggle a little at times.

[Dave W]

That's a very apt comparison.

[gearHed289]

Let's just say I definitely heard of Linda Ronstadt.  Emmylou is absolutely gorgeous, but I wasn't really aware of her when I was crushing on female singers around age 14.

[uwe]

You had very tame tastes then, Tom, tsk, tsk, tsk ... 

[westen44]

Which reminds me, although it is several years old, I just noticed this comment by Jackie Fox under this Runaways video.  It's the first one.

If you scroll down, she posts again later.  Of course I can't verify that any of this is real.  On YouTube it usually isn't.  Also, most of the comments seem to be from people who have gone bonkers.  But that's par for the course with YouTube. 
 

[Dave W]

Which reminds me, although it is several years old, I just noticed this comment by Jackie Fox under this Runaways video.  It's the first one.

If you scroll down, she posts again later.  Of course I can't verify that any of this is real.  On YouTube it usually isn't.  Also, most of the comments seem to be from people who have gone bonkers.  But that's par for the course with YouTube. 
...

Yes, that's definitely her YT profile.

[westen44]

Yes, that's definitely her YT profile.

That's great to know.  I'm glad she decided to comment.  I just found this interview from 1998 which is interesting. 

https://members.tripod.com/~cherry_b/Jackie.html

[morrow]

Emy Lou had a wedding reception was right across the street from where I was living. She married Brian Ahern. At the time we noticed the party , and thought the bride looked gorgeous. Had no idea who she was at the time.
Edit …  Brian Ahern had worked at the CBC as an engineer and sound guy. He took off with a CBC mobile recording truck and ran off to Nashville.  And became legend here long before he hit the big time in Nashville as a producer.  The CBC eventually got their truck back some years later.

[Dave W]

That's great to know.  I'm glad she decided to comment.  I just found this interview from 1998 which is interesting. 

https://members.tripod.com/~cherry_b/Jackie.html

Good lord, a Tripod site still exists!

Jackie has really opened up since her Jeopardy appearance. Maybe she realizes how many fans she still has. She's very active now on Facebook and interacts with her followers.