THE RONSTADT REPORT

LINDA RONSTADT Simple Dreams (Asylum)

Table of Contents (Peter Asher, Producer): —2 Warren Zevon songs—one on loneliness and dope, another on being screwed over.

—2 traditional (folk) ballads.

—2 rockers soft-styled, though Buddy Holly's "It's So Easy" wasn't hard (rock) to begin with.

—1 song each: J.D. Souther, Eric Kaz, "Waddy" Wachtel.

—1 Roy Orbison number. "Blue Bayou."

—No reggae songs or Spanish lyrics. This "Venture" plays it extra safe...

What Else Is New Department:

-LINDA RONSTADT BREAKS DOWN GENERIC BARRIERS! Transcendence of form is either irrelevant or past history for this doll; everything she tackles turns into easy listening. Sure, I love her—though not perhaps like one of the boys might.

But love in itself is a whole other drift, which Miss Ronstadt has excelled in singing the hazards of successfully: such is the career Linda and her various producers hath molded. Out of the ashes into the bucks and into a formula. Linda Ronstadt is not a Renaissance Woman. (Psycho-) Analysis: