‘Adieu False Heart’: The collaboration album for which Linda Ronstadt has a “soft spot”
“I like drama and nuance,” Linda Ronstadt once said, detailing the struggle of fighting to gain recognition for her heritage while being one of the biggest names in rock. She loved the genre; of course, she did. However, her heart belonged elsewhere, and she never truly felt she could leave her roots behind after everything it meant to her.
That’s not to say that the singer held her Mexican heritage at arm’s length. In fact, Ronstadt’s upbringing has guided everything she has ever done, from adopting a mentorship role from the characters of her heroes to enabling it to shape her foray into rock ‘n’ roll. As she once explained to Uncut: “I have a little rule for myself: I never try to do any kind of music that I hadn’t heard at home by the age of ten… Mexican country music was always in my background and really informed my rock ’n’ roll singing style more than anything.”
By the 1970s, therefore, it’s no surprise that Ronstadt became one of the industry’s most versatile entity. At the same time, she emerged as one of the industry’s wisest characters, earning her keep with both her extraordinary talent and the support she showed those around her. For instance, the story of how she nurtured the talent of Don Henley and Glenn Frey is well-known, but her generosity also taught many about the value of grace, especially when it was underscored by immense knowledge and understanding.
Although that means she likely never anticipated the label ‘Queen of Rock’, she earned it by blending genres in a way that only a true virtuoso could do so effortlessly. What compounds this with even more poignancy is that she’s her own worst critic and usually regards her earlier work with a sceptical eye, admitting that her voice hadn’t yet become authentic because she was busy trying to imitate her heroes.
Because of her high standards, many of her records don’t sit very high in her mind. In fact, she once admitted to The Guardian that she doesn’t “like any of them”, at least not holistically, despite the subtle moments here and there when she feels the slightest bit proud. While she does enjoy her singing on Winter Light, she said that the most successful album “artistically” was her collaboration with Ann Savoy on Adieu False Heart just before she got Parkinson’s disease.
“I don’t like any of them,” she said, “but there are moments on some records that I like. The one with Nelson Riddle; the Trio records I did with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. I made a record with Ann Savoy, the Cajun singer, after I got Parkinson’s disease, and I could barely sing. I had to whisper everything, but that was a really successful record for us – artistically successful.” She also said elsewhere she was “struggling” with it at the time, though “out of all my work, I do have a real soft spot for this record.”
Although it arrived during a difficult time, Adieu False Heart was undoubtedly Ronstadt’s perfect swan song. Adorned with acoustic folk and Cajun influences, along with notable oscillations between delicate arrangements and moments of unavoidable fullness, the record spotlights everything beautiful about Ronstadt’s talent, including her unparalleled emotional vocal delivery, which shone still, despite her physical restraint.
