Linda Ronstadt/Nelson Riddle

OK. I got it. I thought later that you might take my post as a put-down. It was never intended as such, and I do apologize if you felt it was. Lush Life is one of my favorite jazz ballads, if not my absolute favorite. If Sinatra had ever recorded it, I would certainly want to hear that recording, but I had already read about his declining to sing it. Thus I was pleasantly surprised to learn that maybe I was wrong. I was not wrong, sadly, but I did learn in the course of my investigation that there is a "bootleg" tape of Sinatra singing it. I'd love to access that. I can actually see why he may have felt it did not suit him.

Nat King Cole first recorded "I love you for sentimental reasons", I think. It was a hit record for a short while. My basic thought was to remind people that Linda Ronstadt was "covering" tunes that already had a history with some of the greatest jazz and pop singers of the 40s, 50s, and 60s. I also read on Wiki that Nelson Riddle passed away during the time that Linda was doing that recording, and his son finished the session as conductor. Anyway, if you like Lush Life, seek out the Johnny Hartman/John Coltrane collaboration, on Impulse. It's "classic".

Lew: No offence taken as I'm sure none intended.

Lewm ...

Linda was indeed re-doing the old ballads as you said. I was brought up on this music. My Mom was a huge fan of the big bands of the 40's and I got indoctrinated. I have albums by Jo Stafford, Helen Merrill, June Christy Sinatra, Freddy Martin, Dick Haymes, Margaret Whiting, and a ton of others. I thought Linda Ronstadt brought a fresh voice into the mix ... so I bought them all. Even a box set with French pressings. The French pressings are quieter than the domestic ones, but the domestic ones sound just as good.

A bit off-analog, but I recently discovered that Wolfgang's Vault has a bunch of old live concert recordings of Linda Ronstadt at her peak that can be downloaded for $7 each. Unfortunately they are not on LP, nor even high-rez. But some of the performances are unique!

Oregon, My mom was an opera singer, and our house was always filled with music, classical and/or operatic, but she did not know much about jazz or the popular singers of her day, such as the ones you listed and more. However, I benefited from her love of music in many ways, including the fact that my dad bought her what I now know is a pretty nice mono audio system in the early 50s, to include Altec Lansing 604 co-axial driver, driven by a mono HK tube receiver off a Garrard changer. Access to this system allowed me to experiment on my own to define my tastes in music, and thus I found out about jazz via mostly Dave Brubeck and Miles Davis. When I first heard "Kind of Blue", that was an epiphany.