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*[[George Massenburg|George Massenburg Studio]], Los Angeles
*[[George Massenburg|George Massenburg Studio]], Los Angeles
*[[Record One]], Los Angeles
*[[Record One]], Los Angeles
| genre = [[Rock music|Rock]]<ref name="Lounge 1998">{{cite book|last= Dedrick|first= Jay|chapter= Linda Ronstadt|editor-last= Knopper|editor-first=Steve|date=January 1, 1998|title=MusicHound Lounge: The Essential Album Guide|publisher=[[Visible Ink Press]]|location=Detroit|pages= 409-410}}</ref>
| genre = [[Rock music|Rock]]
| length = 36:31
| length = 36:31
| label = [[Asylum Records|Asylum]]
| label = [[Asylum Records|Asylum]]
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With her previous album, ''[[Mad Love (Linda Ronstadt album)|Mad Love]]'', in 1980, Ronstadt's career took a turn away from the country-rock style she'd succeeded with for more than a decade. In 1980–81, she sang light opera on Broadway in ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'', and during production of the play in New York she expressed a desire to record an album of standards. In 1981, she recorded a session with producer [[Jerry Wexler]] and a small jazz combo for a planned album titled ''Keeping Out of Mischief'', but Ronstadt was dissatisfied with the results and cancelled its release.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.ronstadt-linda.com/artdb85.htm |title= An Intimate Conversation with Linda Ronstadt (originally published in Downbeat, July 1985)|last= Bloom|first= Steve|website= Linda Ronstadt Homepage|access-date= February 10, 2020}}</ref> Although she would later revisit the concept (and most of the songs she'd attempted with Wexler) for a trilogy of albums with [[Nelson Riddle]], ''Get Closer'' was recorded to satisfy her label obligations, with Ronstadt working again with producer [[Peter Asher]] and returning to the [[Music genre|genres]] that had resulted in her commercial and critical success throughout the 1970s.
With her previous album, ''[[Mad Love (Linda Ronstadt album)|Mad Love]]'', in 1980, Ronstadt's career took a turn away from the country-rock style she'd succeeded with for more than a decade. In 1980–81, she sang light opera on Broadway in ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'', and during production of the play in New York she expressed a desire to record an album of standards. In 1981, she recorded a session with producer [[Jerry Wexler]] and a small jazz combo for a planned album titled ''Keeping Out of Mischief'', but Ronstadt was dissatisfied with the results and cancelled its release.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.ronstadt-linda.com/artdb85.htm |title= An Intimate Conversation with Linda Ronstadt (originally published in Downbeat, July 1985)|last= Bloom|first= Steve|website= Linda Ronstadt Homepage|access-date= February 10, 2020}}</ref> Although she would later revisit the concept (and most of the songs she'd attempted with Wexler) for a trilogy of albums with [[Nelson Riddle]], ''Get Closer'' was recorded to satisfy her label obligations, with Ronstadt working again with producer [[Peter Asher]] and returning to the [[Music genre|genres]] that had resulted in her commercial and critical success throughout the 1970s.


The album contained two tracks originally recorded for but left off of previous albums: A remake of [[George Jones]]'s "Sometimes You Just Can't Win," recorded for ''[[Simple Dreams]]'' in June 1977 with [[J. D. Souther]] on harmony vocals; and a cover of [[Dolly Parton]]'s 1971 song "My Blue Tears," performed with Parton and [[Emmylou Harris]] as part of a planned trio album that was never released due to scheduling and record company conflicts. The trio version was originally recorded in January 1978; Parton, Ronstadt and Harris would eventually record and release the first of two albums together in 1987 (''[[Trio (Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris album)|Trio]]'', followed by ''[[Trio II]]'' in 1999).
The album contained two tracks originally recorded for but left off of previous albums: A remake of [[George Jones]]'s "Sometimes You Just Can't Win," recorded for ''[[Simple Dreams]]'' in June 1977 with [[JD Souther]] on harmony vocals; and a cover of [[Dolly Parton]]'s 1971 song "My Blue Tears," performed with Parton and [[Emmylou Harris]] as part of a planned trio album that was never released due to scheduling and record company conflicts. The trio version was originally recorded in January 1978; Parton, Ronstadt and Harris would eventually record and release the first of two albums together in 1987 (''[[Trio (Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris album)|Trio]]'', followed by ''[[Trio II]]'' in 1999).


Also on ''Get Closer'' was a duet with [[James Taylor]] on a remake of [[Ike Turner|Ike and]] [[Tina Turner]]'s "I Think It's Gonna Work Out Fine"; and covers of two mid-'60s hits: [[The Knickerbockers]]' "Lies" and [[The Exciters]]' "Tell Him." A version of the 1965 [[The Everly Brothers|Everly Brothers]] song "[[The Price of Love]]" was recorded for the album as well, but remains unreleased.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJZS_hJLalU|title=Linda Ronstadt - The Price of Love (originally published November 7, 2017)|website=Youtube|access-date=2023-01-30}}</ref>
Also on ''Get Closer'' was a duet with [[James Taylor]] on a remake of [[Ike Turner|Ike and]] [[Tina Turner]]'s "I Think It's Gonna Work Out Fine"; and covers of two mid-1960s hits: [[The Knickerbockers]]' "Lies" and [[The Exciters]]' "Tell Him." A version of the 1965 [[The Everly Brothers|Everly Brothers]] song "[[The Price of Love]]" was recorded for the album as well, but remains unreleased.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJZS_hJLalU|title=Linda Ronstadt - The Price of Love (originally published November 7, 2017)|via=YouTube|access-date=2023-01-30}}</ref>


== Reception ==
== Reception ==
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Stephen Holden of ''[[The New York Times]]'' also hailed Ronstadt's vocal performance on the album, writing, "Miss Ronstadt's singing is so strong and unaffected." He called the title track "the album's most adventurous performance" and noted that Ronstadt's "shouting, growling exuberance" was "reminiscent of [[Aretha Franklin]]'s '[[Respect (song)|Respect]].'"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/10/arts/strength-and-simplicity-forge-a-fine-new-ronstadt-album.html|title=STRENGTH AND SIMPLICITY FORGE A FINE NEW RONSTADT ALBUM|first=Stephen|last=Holden|work=The New York Times |date=10 October 1982|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>
Stephen Holden of ''[[The New York Times]]'' also hailed Ronstadt's vocal performance on the album, writing, "Miss Ronstadt's singing is so strong and unaffected." He called the title track "the album's most adventurous performance" and noted that Ronstadt's "shouting, growling exuberance" was "reminiscent of [[Aretha Franklin]]'s '[[Respect (song)|Respect]].'"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/10/arts/strength-and-simplicity-forge-a-fine-new-ronstadt-album.html|title=STRENGTH AND SIMPLICITY FORGE A FINE NEW RONSTADT ALBUM|first=Stephen|last=Holden|work=The New York Times |date=10 October 1982|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>

In ''[[The Phoenix (newspaper) | The Boston Phoenix]]'', Milo Miles found Ronstadt's album to be "an unusually casual, dry-eyed curtain call — it includes nods to her songwriting kith and kin as well as leftovers from her heyday and a few glassy late-period laments. ''Get Closer'' does not sum up or revise Ronstadt’s career so much as it lifelessly recycles a once-potent formula now helplessly (hopelessly?) out of synch with even rock’s mainstream."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Miles |first1=Milo |title=Ronstadt's Evening of the Day |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_boston-phoenix_1982-11-09_11_45/page/1/mode/1up |access-date=September 30, 2024 |work=The Boston Phoenix |date=November 9, 1982}}</ref>


Commercially, the album was a disappointment, peaking at number 31 on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' album chart in late 1982,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ronstadt-linda.com/toppopa.htm|title=Linda Ronstadt Top Pop Albums|website=www.ronstadt-linda.com}}</ref> her first album to fail to make the top 5 since 1973. It was, however, certified [[Music recording sales certification|Gold]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] for sales of over 500,000 copies, and surpassed American sales of 900,000 copies by the time of its deletion from print
Commercially, the album was a disappointment, peaking at number 31 on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' album chart in late 1982,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ronstadt-linda.com/toppopa.htm|title=Linda Ronstadt Top Pop Albums|website=www.ronstadt-linda.com}}</ref> her first album to fail to make the top 5 since 1973. It was, however, certified [[Music recording sales certification|Gold]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] for sales of over 500,000 copies, and surpassed American sales of 900,000 copies by the time of its deletion from print


This album's driving title track, "Get Closer" was written by Washington D.C.-based singer-songwriter Jon Carroll,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.joncarroll.org/ |title=Jon Carroll |publisher=Jon Carroll |access-date=2012-01-10}}</ref> an original member of the [[Starland Vocal Band]]. The song, notable for its unusual {{music|time|7|4}} [[septuple meter]], was later chosen to promote [[Close-Up (toothpaste)|Close-Up]] toothpaste ("Want love? Get Close-Up").
This album's driving title track, "Get Closer" was written by Washington D.C.–based singer-songwriter Jon Carroll,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.joncarroll.org/ |title=Jon Carroll |publisher=Jon Carroll |access-date=2012-01-10}}</ref> an original member of the [[Starland Vocal Band]]. The song, notable for its unusual {{music|time|7|4}} [[septuple meter]], was later chosen to promote [[Close-Up (toothpaste)|Close-Up]] toothpaste ("Want love? Get Close-Up").


Assisted by a popular [[MTV]] music video, "Get Closer" peaked at number 29 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] and hit the Top 20 in [[Cash Box]] magazine. It garnered considerable airplay on AOR (Album-Oriented Rock) stations while its follow-up single, "I Knew You When", was also aided by a popular music video and peaked at number 37 Pop, number 25 Adult Contemporary, and number 84 Country.
Assisted by a popular [[MTV]] music video, "Get Closer" peaked at number 29 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] and hit the Top 20 in [[Cash Box]] magazine. It garnered considerable airplay on AOR (Album-Oriented Rock) stations while its follow-up single, "I Knew You When", was also aided by a popular music video and peaked at number 37 Pop, number 25 Adult Contemporary, and number 84 Country.
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|writer11 = Smokey Stover
|writer11 = Smokey Stover
|length11 = 2:30
|length11 = 2:30
|note11 = with [[J. D. Souther]]
|note11 = with [[JD Souther]]
|title12 = My Blue Tears
|title12 = My Blue Tears
|writer12 = [[Dolly Parton]]
|writer12 = [[Dolly Parton]]
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{{div col}}
{{div col}}
* Linda Ronstadt – lead vocals, backing vocals (1, 3, 7, 10, 12)
* Linda Ronstadt – lead vocals, backing vocals (1, 3, 7, 10, 12)
* [[Bill Payne]] – [[Wurlitzer electric piano]] (1), acoustic piano (2, 3, 5), string arrangements and conductor (2), organ (3), [[Fender Rhodes]] (4, 8), synthesizers (8), keyboards (9, 10)
* [[Bill Payne]] – [[Wurlitzer electric piano]] (1), acoustic piano (2, 3, 5), string arrangements and conductor (2), [[Electric organ|organ]] (3), [[Fender Rhodes]] (4, 8), synthesizers (8), keyboards (9, 10)
* [[Lindsey Buckingham]] – accordion (6)
* [[Lindsey Buckingham]] – [[accordion]] (6)
* [[Don Grolnick]] – [[Prophet-5]] (7), organ (11)
* [[Don Grolnick]] – [[Prophet-5]] (7), organ (11)
* [[Andrew Gold]] – electric guitar (1, 10), acoustic guitar (6, 8), percussion (7, 8, 10), harmony vocals (8), acoustic piano (11)
* [[Andrew Gold]] – electric guitar (1, 10), acoustic guitar (6, 8), percussion (7, 8, 10), harmony vocals (8), acoustic piano (11)
Line 123: Line 125:
* [[David Grisman]] – [[mandolin]] (6)
* [[David Grisman]] – [[mandolin]] (6)
* [[Emmylou Harris]] – acoustic guitar (12), lead and backing vocals (12)
* [[Emmylou Harris]] – acoustic guitar (12), lead and backing vocals (12)
* [[Bob Glaub]] – bass guitar (1-5, 7–10)
* [[Bob Glaub]] – bass guitar (1-5, 7-10)
* [[Kenny Edwards]] – acoustic bass guitar (6), bass guitar (11)
* [[Kenny Edwards]] – [[acoustic bass guitar]] (6), bass guitar (11)
* [[Russ Kunkel]] – drums (1-5, 8, 9)
* [[Russ Kunkel]] – drums (1-5, 8, 9)
* [[Rick Shlosser]] – drums (7, 10)
* [[Rick Shlosser]] – drums (7, 10)
Line 137: Line 139:
* Edie Lehmann – backing vocals (9)
* Edie Lehmann – backing vocals (9)
* Debbie Pearl – backing vocals (10)
* Debbie Pearl – backing vocals (10)
* [[J.D. Souther]] – lead and harmony vocals (11)
* [[JD Souther]] – lead and harmony vocals (11)
* [[Dolly Parton]] – lead and backing vocals (12)
* [[Dolly Parton]] – lead and backing vocals (12)
{{div col end}}
{{div col end}}

Latest revision as of 23:48, 19 November 2024

Get Closer
Studio album by
Linda Ronstadt
ReleasedSeptember 27, 1982
RecordedAugust 1981–August 1982
Studio
GenreRock[1]
Length36:31
LabelAsylum
ProducerPeter Asher
Linda Ronstadt chronology
Greatest Hits, Volume 2
(1980) 		Get Closer
(1982) 		What's New
(1983)
Singles from Get Closer
  1. "Get Closer"
    Released: September 1982
  2. "I Knew You When"
    Released: November 1982
  3. "Easy for You to Say"
    Released: April 1983

Get Closer is the eleventh studio album by singer Linda Ronstadt, released in 1982.

History

[edit]

With her previous album, Mad Love, in 1980, Ronstadt's career took a turn away from the country-rock style she'd succeeded with for more than a decade. In 1980–81, she sang light opera on Broadway in The Pirates of Penzance, and during production of the play in New York she expressed a desire to record an album of standards. In 1981, she recorded a session with producer Jerry Wexler and a small jazz combo for a planned album titled Keeping Out of Mischief, but Ronstadt was dissatisfied with the results and cancelled its release.[2] Although she would later revisit the concept (and most of the songs she'd attempted with Wexler) for a trilogy of albums with Nelson Riddle, Get Closer was recorded to satisfy her label obligations, with Ronstadt working again with producer Peter Asher and returning to the genres that had resulted in her commercial and critical success throughout the 1970s.

The album contained two tracks originally recorded for but left off of previous albums: A remake of George Jones's "Sometimes You Just Can't Win," recorded for Simple Dreams in June 1977 with JD Souther on harmony vocals; and a cover of Dolly Parton's 1971 song "My Blue Tears," performed with Parton and Emmylou Harris as part of a planned trio album that was never released due to scheduling and record company conflicts. The trio version was originally recorded in January 1978; Parton, Ronstadt and Harris would eventually record and release the first of two albums together in 1987 (Trio, followed by Trio II in 1999).

Also on Get Closer was a duet with James Taylor on a remake of Ike and Tina Turner's "I Think It's Gonna Work Out Fine"; and covers of two mid-1960s hits: The Knickerbockers' "Lies" and The Exciters' "Tell Him." A version of the 1965 Everly Brothers song "The Price of Love" was recorded for the album as well, but remains unreleased.[3]

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Robert ChristgauC+[5]
Rolling Stone[6]

Asylum Records released Get Closer in late September 1982.[7] Reviewers wrote about a newfound confidence in Ronstadt's vocals. Ken Tucker of Rolling Stone magazine wrote in his November 11 review, "Linda Ronstadt's voice has never sounded better than it does on Get Closer...its spirit is unassailable." Noting her turn in Pirates, Tucker wrote that Ronstadt's vocal development on Broadway "hasn't made her self-conscious. Just the opposite, in fact: Linda Ronstadt is no longer a prisoner of technique." Tucker did decry much of the album's second side, saying that some of the oldies in the soul genre were performed too meticulously.[6]

Stephen Holden of The New York Times also hailed Ronstadt's vocal performance on the album, writing, "Miss Ronstadt's singing is so strong and unaffected." He called the title track "the album's most adventurous performance" and noted that Ronstadt's "shouting, growling exuberance" was "reminiscent of Aretha Franklin's 'Respect.'"[8]

In The Boston Phoenix, Milo Miles found Ronstadt's album to be "an unusually casual, dry-eyed curtain call — it includes nods to her songwriting kith and kin as well as leftovers from her heyday and a few glassy late-period laments. Get Closer does not sum up or revise Ronstadt’s career so much as it lifelessly recycles a once-potent formula now helplessly (hopelessly?) out of synch with even rock’s mainstream."[9]

Commercially, the album was a disappointment, peaking at number 31 on the Billboard album chart in late 1982,[10] her first album to fail to make the top 5 since 1973. It was, however, certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over 500,000 copies, and surpassed American sales of 900,000 copies by the time of its deletion from print

This album's driving title track, "Get Closer" was written by Washington D.C.–based singer-songwriter Jon Carroll,[11] an original member of the Starland Vocal Band. The song, notable for its unusual 7
4 septuple meter, was later chosen to promote Close-Up toothpaste ("Want love? Get Close-Up").

Assisted by a popular MTV music video, "Get Closer" peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit the Top 20 in Cash Box magazine. It garnered considerable airplay on AOR (Album-Oriented Rock) stations while its follow-up single, "I Knew You When", was also aided by a popular music video and peaked at number 37 Pop, number 25 Adult Contemporary, and number 84 Country.

Ronstadt's seductive interpretation of Jimmy Webb's "Easy For You To Say" was a surprise Top Ten hit on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart in the spring of 1983. "Sometimes You Just Can't Win," the B-side to the "Get Closer" single, peaked at number 27 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.[12]

Ronstadt was nominated in early 1983 for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance Female and Best Rock Vocal Performance Female for the album and the song "Get Closer", losing to Melissa Manchester and Pat Benatar respectively.[13] The album did, however, win the Grammy for Best Album Package, an art director's award. The trophy went to well known designers Ron Larson and Kosh.

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Get Closer"Jon Carroll2:29
2."The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress"Jimmy Webb3:03
3."I Knew You When"Joe South2:53
4."Easy for You to Say"Jimmy Webb4:03
5."People Gonna Talk"William Wheeler, Lee Dorsey, Morris Levy, Clarence L. Lewis2:38
6."Talk to Me of Mendocino"Kate McGarrigle2:57
7."I Think It's Gonna Work Out Fine" (with James Taylor)Rose Marie McCoy, Sylvia McKinney4:01
8."Mr. Radio"Roderick Taylor4:07
9."Lies"Buddy Randell, Beau Charles2:35
10."Tell Him"Bert Berns2:35
11."Sometimes You Just Can't Win" (with JD Souther)Smokey Stover2:30
12."My Blue Tears" (with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris)Dolly Parton2:40
Total length:36:31

Personnel

[edit]

Musicians

[edit]

Production

[edit]
  • Peter Asher – producer (Tracks 1–11)
  • Brian Ahern – producer (Track 12)
  • George Massenburg – engineer (Tracks 1–11)
  • Val Garay – engineer (Tracks 1–11)
  • Stuart Taylor – engineer (Track 12)
  • Niko Bolas, Barbara Rooney and Bruce Wildstein – assistant engineers (Tracks 1–11)
  • Doug Sax – mastering engineer
  • Edd Kolakowski – piano and guitar technician
  • Aaron Rapoport – photography
  • John Kosh with Ron Larson – art direction and design
  • Gloria Boyce – album coordination
Studios

Charts

[edit]
Chart (1982/83) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[14] 31
Canadian RPM Top Albums 48
United States (Billboard 200) 31

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[15] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

[edit]
Release history and formats for Get Closer
Region Date Format Label Ref.
North America September 27, 1982
  • LP
  • cassette
 Asylum Records [16]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Dedrick, Jay (January 1, 1998). "Linda Ronstadt". In Knopper, Steve (ed.). MusicHound Lounge: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. pp. 409–410.
  2. ^ Bloom, Steve. "An Intimate Conversation with Linda Ronstadt (originally published in Downbeat, July 1985)". Linda Ronstadt Homepage. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  3. ^ "Linda Ronstadt - The Price of Love (originally published November 7, 2017)". Retrieved 2023-01-30 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ AllMusic review
  5. ^ "Robert Christgau: CG: Linda Ronstadt". www.robertchristgau.com.
  6. ^ a b "Get Closer". Rolling Stone. 11 November 1982.
  7. ^ "Linda Ronstadt Album and CD Releases". Ronstadt-linda.com. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
  8. ^ Holden, Stephen (10 October 1982). "STRENGTH AND SIMPLICITY FORGE A FINE NEW RONSTADT ALBUM". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  9. ^ Miles, Milo (November 9, 1982). "Ronstadt's Evening of the Day". The Boston Phoenix. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  10. ^ "Linda Ronstadt Top Pop Albums". www.ronstadt-linda.com.
  11. ^ "Jon Carroll". Jon Carroll. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
  12. ^ "Linda Ronstadt Top Country Singles". www.ronstadt-linda.com.
  13. ^ "Grammy Awards for Linda Ronstadt". www.ronstadt-linda.com.
  14. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 258. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  15. ^ "American album certifications – Linda Ronstadt – Get Closer". Recording Industry Association of America.
  16. ^ Ronstadt, Linda (February 18, 1980). "Mad Love (Liner Notes)". Asylum Records. 60185-1 (LP); 60185-4 (Cassette).
[edit]
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