Hand Sown...Home Grown/Silk Purse/Linda Ronstadt Linda Ronstadt Artist

{|BGO|}'s 2014 double-disc set rounds up {|Linda Ronstadt|}'s first three solo albums: 1969's {|Hand Sown...Home Grown|}, 1970's {|Silk Purse|}, and 1971's {|Linda Ronstadt|}. These are the records where she finds her voice, moving from the hazily fo... Read more

{|BGO|}'s 2014 double-disc set rounds up {|Linda Ronstadt|}'s first three solo albums: 1969's {|Hand Sown...Home Grown|}, 1970's {|Silk Purse|}, and 1971's {|Linda Ronstadt|}. These are the records where she finds her voice, moving from the hazily focused Laurel Canyon folk-rocker through country-rocker to the assured interpreter who became a star. None of these records was a hit, partially due to {|Ronstadt|} figuring out her style, but each is distinctive and appealing; {|Hand Sown|} is a colorful SoCal roots rock record, {|Silk Purse|} is a country-rock set made in Nashville, and {|Linda Ronstadt|} is where she pulls it all together, aided by a backing band that would later become {|the Eagles|}. This three-fer winds up being a terrific way to hear {|Ronstadt|} coming into her own. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Less