Posts Tagged ‘First Cut Is the Deepest’

Today’s Top 5: Linda Ronstadt’s Rare TV Appearances

Posted: January 21, 2019 in 1970s, Linda Ronstadt, Top 5
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Last night, I popped a recent find into the DVD player: a grey-market Linda Ronstadt release with the unimaginative title of Rare TV Appearances. Quality-wise, it ain’t much. The box sports a so-so cover picture of Linda at the microphone; and a back cover that advertises “more rare Linda DVDs.” Inside is a stamped DVD, but no insert that lists the featured clips. For that, one needs to either save or reference the disc’s contents from the label’s website.

December 17, 1969 – The Mike Douglas Show: “Silver Threads and Golden Needles”; “Break My Mind”

October 1970 – Darin Invasion: “Long Long Time”

1970 – Something Else: “Baby You’ve Been on My Mind”

November 3, 1973 – In Concert: “Love Has No Pride”; “Fill My Eyes”; “First Cut Is the Deepest”

November 20, 1974 – Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert: “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore”; “When Will I Be Loved”; “Heart Like a Wheel”; “You’re No Good”; “You Can Close Your Eyes”; “Faithless Love”; “Silver Threads and Golden Needles”

December 31, 1974 – Rockin’ New Year’s Eve: “Love Has No Pride”; “You’re No Good”

May 23, 1975 – The Old Grey Whistle Test: 12-minute interview

December 6, 1975 – Capitol Theatre, NJ: “When Will I Be Loved”

November 28, 1976 – Hits a GoGo: “Lo Siento Mi Vida”; “That’ll Be the Day”

June 18, 1980 – Studio 3: “Mad Love”

January 8, 1983 – Champs–Elysées: “Lies”

February 2, 1983 – Plantine 45: “Lies”

Visually speaking, the collection is akin to watching a worn VHS tape on an ancient tube TV – or, for those too young to remember the bulky cathode-ray wonders of yore, a YouTube playlist that includes clips from a variety of so-so sources. The latter hints at how I discovered it, in fact. Last week, I came across this 1975 interview with Linda…

…and there, in the clip’s description, was an advertisement for this DVD. I figured, for $12.99, why not give it a go? And after viewing it, I can say that – despite the varying video quality – the set is well worth the investment for Ronstadt fans, especially those of us who can never get enough. The disc charts, albeit in a haphazard manner, the evolution of her singing prowess, and includes her jaw-dropping rendition of Cat Stevens’ “The First Cut Is the Deepest.”

And, with that, here’s today’s Top 5: Linda Ronstadt’s Rare TV Appearances.

1) “Break My Mind.” The oldest clip on the disc, Linda’s 1969 appearance (and solo TV debut) on The Mike Douglas Show, is also the worst. The audio is out of sync with the video, which can happen when encoding from videotape. How do I know? For one, it happened to me when I digitalized some old VHS recordings a few years back. For two, here’s one of the two songs she sang that day, and everything lines up as it should:

2) “Long Long Time.” In 1970, Linda had her first taste of solo success with this single, which reached No. 25 on the charts and earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Female Vocal Performance. Here, she performs it on The Darin Invasion, a 1970 Bobby Darin TV special. (The performance is available in better quality on the Darin Invasion DVD.) 

3) “Love Has No Pride,” “Fill My Eyes” and “The First Cut Is the Deepest.” The DVD hits its stride with this three-song set lifted from ABC’s late-night In Concert series. All I can say is: Linda’s rendition of “The First Cut Is the Deepest” rivals P.P. Arnold’s. It’s amazing. One wonders if she was contemplating recording it at the time and, if she did, if an outtake exists somewhere in the vaults. (As an aside: The video quality is better on the DVD.)

4) “You’re No Good.” On December 31st, 1974, Linda shared the bill with Tower of Power, Billy Preston and the Pointer Sisters on Dick Clark’s second-ever New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, which was hosted by George Carlin. The quality on DVD is far, far better than this clip, which (as of this writing) is the only YouTube video available for it.

5) “When Will I Be Loved.” Linda performs this classic Everly Brothers’ song, which was a No. 2 hit for her, at the legendary Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ, on Dec. 6, 1975.

And one bonus…

The seven-song set lifted from Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert is a wonder to behold, but it’s not available in full on YouTube. Here’s one highlight: the J.D. Souther-penned “Faithless Love.”

Today’s Top 5: April 9, 1977

Posted: April 9, 2017 in 1977, Abba, David Soul, Glen Campbell, Hall & Oates, Rod Stewart, Steve Miller Band, Thelma Houston, Top 5
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Where has the time gone?! It seems just like yesterday that I was a studious sixth-grader (yes, that’s me to the left) successfully navigating the rigors of academia at Loller Middle School, the first of the Hatboro-Horsham school district’s two middle schools (6th-7th grades; 8th-9th grades). I was on my way to achieving the Honor Roll yet again on this day 40 years ago, and would continue to do so until 8th or 9th grade, when I ran into problems with math. X plus Y equals what?!

According to my old report card, my homeroom teacher was Miss Goldeman – but, sad to say, I have no memories of her beyond a vague feeling that she may have been an art teacher. In fact, I have few in-school memories of any kind from that spring. I do remember a fire drill that found us kids lined up outside on a dreary day for what seemed like forever, but it could well have been the previous fall or sometime during the next school year; regardless, it turned out that it wasn’t a fire drill but a locker search. (The only thing they would have found in mine: gum.) I watched far too much TV, and read and collected pro wrestling magazines.

One book that I read around this time: The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins, about a Nazi plot to kidnap Winston Churchill. I remember that because I decided I wanted to read it after seeing the film of the same name, which was released in the States on April 2nd.

In the wider world: Jimmy Carter was president. Unemployment was high at 7.2 percent, but on a downward slope; and inflation was unseemly, too, at 7.0 percent. No president deserves acclaim or blame for the economy three months into their first term, of course; their policies have yet to be implemented, and even if they have, it takes time for those changes to reverberate beyond the bureaucracy. So I’ll save my criticisms of Carter for another day.

As I write, the temperature outside is 69.6 degrees, the sun is out and few clouds dot the blue, blue sky. It’s a beautiful day. This day in 1977, a Saturday, wasn’t quite as nice: though the sun was out, the high peaked at a mere 48 degrees. The low was 25. We likely visited one or both sets of grandparents, or the great-aunts & uncle, as that’s what we did most weekends.

In the sports world, the Flyers, who racked up a 48-16-16 record during the regular season, were two days away from beginning their first-round playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. They’d lose the first two games before winning four straight, but were then swept in the next round by the Boston Bruins. The 76ers, in the penultimate game of their season, defeated the Washington Bullets 125-93, improving their record to 50-31; they’d make their way to the NBA Finals—and lose to the Portland Trailblazers. The other team in town, the Phillies, began their season with a 4-3 lose to the Montreal Expos.

Anyway, enough of the preamble. Here’s today’s Top 5: April 9, 1977 (via Weekly Top 40)

1) Abba – “Dancing Queen.” Debuting at No 1 is this dollop of unadulterated pop, which some folks hate with a passion. Not me, though. It never fails to put me in a good mood.

2) David Soul – “Don’t Give Up On Us.” The No. 2 song of the week is this kitschy number from the actor better known as Richard “Hutch” Hutchinson on Starsky & Hutch. Along with Charlie Rich’s “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World,” it was often a featured song on TV commercials for love-themed compilation LPs during the late ‘70s.

3) Thelma Houston – “Don’t Leave Me This Way.” Clocking in at No. 3: this disco tune from Ms. Houston, which would top out at No. 1 in a few weeks and earn her a Grammy for Best Female R&B Performance.

4) Hall & Oates – “Rich Girl.” Falling from No. 1 to No. 4 is this classic from the blue-eyed soul duo, who met while students at Temple University in Philadelphia in 1967.

5) Glen Campbell – “Southern Nights.” Years ago, in my TV GUIDE days, I interviewed Campbell (via phone) for a Nashville Network special that he was in – and he was nothing but nice. Super nice, actually. He even sang snippets of different songs to me, including Bob Dylan’s “Lay, Lady, Lay.” Of this song, this week it jumped from No. 9 to No. 5 and was on its way to No. 1.

And two bonuses:

6) The Steve Miller Band – “Fly Like an Eagle.” I don’t believe I ever bought anything by Steve Miller. I never felt the need. Not because his songs weren’t catchy or good, but because they were played so often on Philly radio stations that I came to know them like the back of my hand. Of this song: Having already hit No. 2 a month a change earlier, this week it held steady at No. 13 for a second week.

7) Rod Stewart – “The First Cut Is the Deepest.” The No. 22 song this week is this classic, which many folks, nowadays, consider a Sheryl Crow song. And while I love her version, I can’t help but to shriek a little inside when she’s credited for the Cat Stevens-penned tune, which was a U.K. hit for P.P. Arnold in 1967 and, a decade later, a sizable hit for Rod Stewart in the U.S.