“A master”: Linda Ronstadt names the best writer on the 1970s scene
Whether it’s artists who recorded their own solo material, produced stuff as a member of a band, or who were for hire to other performers, the 1970s saw an absolute deluge of incredible songwriters either emerge onto the scene or further their craft, having begun the decade prior. While many of the biggest performers of the period were the writers of their own material, others managed to court success by surrounding themselves with exceptional talents, and Linda Ronstadt is a prime example of this.
Having had hits with songs written by the likes of JD Souther and Warren Zevon, and released interpretations of tracks by Neil Young, Randy Newman and James Taylor to name a few, it was clear that Ronstadt’s ear for what makes a song great was unmatched, and the success that she managed to have with her renditions of other’s music led to her becoming the biggest-selling female solo artist of the 1970s.
Often, it’s a case of keeping things simple that makes a song so timeless and memorable, but in other instances, there are artists who continually push the boat out and choose to make their compositions elaborate and complex, with layered arrangements and multiple distinct sections. Ronstadt was acutely aware of this, and her song selection always edged towards the simpler side of things, realising that the more instantly punchy a song is, the more likely it is to become a hit.
However, if you’re constantly surrounding yourself with exceptional songwriters who are clamouring to work with one of the most successful performers of the moment, and also digesting the works of other talented composers at the same time, then it becomes a challenge for you to pick who you want to work with, or to narrow down to one specific songwriter who you believe to stand out as the greatest of the era.
Ronstadt would attempt to establish who she believed to be the finest of the decade in an interview with Music Radar in 2013, and reflecting back on the period, she acknowledged just how lucky she was to have been in such esteemed company. “I think everybody finds their milieu,” she told the publication. “Their buddies and their cronies and people with similar sensibilities. Talent never deserts the gene pool, not unless you get so much lead poisoning that you’re not able to act on it. Those people weren’t stars or part of a particular movement; they were just my pals, and they were writing good songs.”
When it came to singling out one particular figure, she did highlight the brilliance of one particular writer with whom she had been fortunate enough to collaborate. “Jimmy Webb is a master,” she enthused. “He’d had success early on, and of course, writers like JD [Souther] and Jackson [Browne] and Don Henley all revered Jimmy. They thought he was ‘the guy’ – and he was. What a good writer.”
Having established himself as a prodigious talent from a young age, winning his first Grammy Award at the age of 21, Webb would make himself known for his works with Ronstadt as well as writing for the likes of Glen Campbell, Art Garfunkel and Carly Simon, and is largely celebrated as one of the finest songwriters for hire of his generation. He may have had a handful of more questionable moments early on in his career – see ‘MacArthur Park’ as a prime example – but Ronstadt is right, Webb really was ‘the guy’.
