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Heart Like a Wheel by Linda Ronstadt (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Heart Like a Wheel
  • Artist name: Linda Ronstadt
  • Year: 1974
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Capitol Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Hole drilled through top right corner of album
    • Scratched into side one of LP: ST-1-11358 25
    • Scratched into side two of LP: ST-2-11358 25
  • Buy it on Amazon: $38.73

Heart Like a Wheel by Linda Ronstadt

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never heard this record before, but it will be my ninth review of a Linda Ronstadt record. The previous eight were:

What I expected

This appears to be another country and soft rock style record of cover songs, and I don’t anticipate anything nearly as bad as What’s New.

What it was actually like

Ronstadt’s rendition of the Dee Dee Warwick song You’re No Good was great, but I did not love some of the instrumentation choices. I did, however, love everything about her outstanding rock version of the Everly Brothers song When Will I Be Loved, with an electric blues sound and great guitar.

The highlight of the record, however, was her cover of the Hank Williams song I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love with You), with great harmonies and steel guitar (and I think this was the definitive version of that song).

Her version of the Buddy Holly song It Doesn’t Matter Anymore was much more country than his, and I thought it was really good, but that it could have been faster. Several other songs were also, in my opinion, too slow: Keep Me from Blowing Away; The Dark End of the Street, which has been performed by many artists, and this version was pretty much average; and Faithless Love, which had some banjo that I enjoyed, but I was definitely not a fan of the soaring vocals.

Willin’ was a totally ok country song, but nothing special.

You Can Close Your Eyes was not one that I recognized, but was credited to James Taylor, and in my view it should have been a rock song.

The title track Heart Like a Wheel was a bit of a train wreck, with piano at the beginning, bad violin, vocals that sounded excessive, and an annoying vocal harmony.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

Gord’s Gold by Gordon Lightfoot (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Gord’s Gold
  • Artist name: Gordon Lightfoot
  • Year: 1975
  • Number of discs: two
  • Label: Reprise Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Scratched into side one of LP: 2RS 2237-31958-3 X
    • Scratched into side two of LP: 2RS 2237-31959-B
    • Scratched into side three of LP: 2RS 2237-31960-2 X
    • Scratched into side four of LP: 2RS 2237-31961-B
  • Buy it on Amazon: $25.00

Gord's Gold by Gordon Lightfoot

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never listened to this Gordon Lightfoot compilation before, but it will be the fourth of his records that I review. The previous three were:

What I expected

Soft rock, folk rock, country.

What it was actually like

This compilation was far too long, but some of it was actually good, especially the parts that had more of a country sound. For example, I liked I’m Not Sayin’/Ribbon of Darkness, For Lovin’ Me/Did She Mention My Name and Bitter Green better than most.

I also enjoyed Sundown, a country song with an electric guitar solo that was pretty good, and Steel Rail Blues, a folk style country song that was the record’s most Dylanesque, particularly its Dylan-style “hee ee hee” laugh.

Old Dan’s Records was an ok country song with banjo that I liked, but its bad drumming ruined it. Summer Side of Life also made good use of banjo.

The record’s best song was Cotton Jenny, an up tempo country rock track that had almost an R&B quality to it, with solid harmonica.

Song for a Winter’s Night used jingle bells and sounded like a folk Xmas carol.

Affair on 8th Avenue was quite a boring folk song; Beautiful was probably the most boring on the record; Softly, as could be surmised from its name, was soporific.

If You Could Read My Mind was probably the worst song on the record because of its orchestral violin-dominated backing sound.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

Wild Life by Wings (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Wild Life
  • Group name: Wings
  • Year: 1971
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Apple Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • 99¢ sticker on front of album
    • Scratched into side one of LP: SW-1-3386 2112
    • Scratched into side two of LP: SW-2-3386 Z 103 #3
  • Buy it on Amazon: $35.49

Wild Life by Wings

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never listened to this record before, but the album art reminded me of John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, which was worrying.

It will be my seventh post-Beatles McCartney record, and the previous six have shown a clear trend, which is that up until the mid 1970s, his solo work was not good, but not terrible, either, and that after the mid 1970s, it got much worse:

What I expected

Rock, soft rock, maybe some blues.

What it was actually like

Mumbo was a rock song that seemed to be putting a lot of effort into channeling Chuck Berry with an electric blues sound, but did not succeed.

Bip Bop was a very strange tribute to the Korean rice dish, using an Oompa Loompa sound with weird, whispery vocals.

Love Is Strange was a reggae style cover of the classic Mickey and Sylvia song that was nowhere near as good as the original, but which did have a good guitar solo.

The title track Wild Life sounded like a waltz, and I did not like its vocals, but thought it was a good song overall.

I Am Your Singer was boring song that introduced a recorder (yes, like you learned to play in your elementary school music class), and the recorder gambit failed.

Tomorrow seemed like it had inside it the germ of an interesting song, but was ruined by the oppressively terrible backing vocals.

Dear Friend would have been good as a rock song, but as a piano ballad was not good.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

The Soft Parade by the Doors (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: The Soft Parade
  • Group name: the Doors
  • Year: 1969
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Elektra Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Scratched into side one of LP: ESR TD5 2876 EKS 75005 A-SP 8
    • Scratched into side two of LP: ESR TD5 2876 EKS 75005 B-SP 5
  • Buy it on Amazon: $35.99

The Soft Parade by the Doors

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’m pretty sure that I’ve never heard this record before. A couple of its songs were also on the Doors’ compilation 13 (1970) that I rated 4/5.

The other Doors record that I’ve reviewed was The Doors (1969) and I rated it 5/5.

What I expected

Probably this will not be one of the Doors’ stronger records.

What it was actually like

This was much jazzier than other Doors records, with lots of brass on (I think) every song.

I had always thought of Doors songs like Touch Me as a kind of parody of pre-rock and roll pop music (like, for example, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass), but after listening to an entire record that was much more like that, I wasn’t sure what to think about it.

The saxophone solo on Touch Me was fine, by the way, but I did wonder while listening to it if, in the event that Morrison had lived, the Doors would have become one of those crappy Vegas acts, and the string section on Wishful Sinful was similarly weird and gave me the same thoughts.

I liked the organ on Shaman’s Blues, and strongly disliked the grating Wild Child.

Easy Ride was the most Oompa Loompa song and also the most up tempo, with good guitar and organ solos.

The most surprising part of the record was the bluegrass-style part of Runnin’ Blue, with a brief but excellent mandolin part. I hated that song’s trumpet part, though.

The title track The Soft Parade, which ran over eight minutes long, was multiple songs in one, which really should have been broken out into individual tracks.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

Ram by Paul and Linda McCartney (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Ram
  • Artist name: Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney
  • Year: 1971
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Apple Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Sticker on lower left of album cover: “M” (for McCartney)
    • Scratched into side one of LP: 5MAS-1-3375-Z1 #5 EW/N
    • Scratched into side two of LP: 5MAS-2-3375-F16 #2
  • Buy it on Amazon: $36.13

Ram by Paul and Linda McCartney

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never listened to this record before, but it will be sixth post-Beatles McCartney record that I’ve reviewed (chronologically the second):

What I expected

I have not been particularly impressed with what McCartney has done after 1969, but there does seem to be a trend that I’ve liked his work in the first few years after the Beatles broke up more than what he did later.

What it was actually like

I didn’t hate this at all! It was nowhere near as bad as it could have been and, while I wouldn’t listen again, I do think it was fine to listen once, and it certainly has redeeming value. I did not care at all for the backing vocals, though.

The worst song was probably Long Haired Lady, a classic case of Fauls’s granny shit, as was Heart of the Country.

Monkberry Moon Delight was quite Oompa Loompa and had some weird vocals, but was not that bad.

Dear Boy was the most Beatles-sounding of the songs, but would have been one of the worst Beatles songs. Smile Away also sounded like it could have been one of the worst songs on, probably, Abbey Road, and used an electric wall sound effect.

On the subject of sound effects, Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey was full of them and they were pretty dumb, but the second part was way better than the first.

I liked the electric guitar solo on Too Many People, and the blues rock song 3 Legs was the best on the record.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me