The band Linda Ronstadt always wanted to tour with: “I always thought it was a shame”
Linda Ronstadt has worked with so many legends in her career, and each one of them would say it was their pleasure and privilege, not hears. The Eagles once called her their muse. Neil Young is her biggest fan, and countless other names in the world of rock and folk bowed to her as an incredible talent. But even after achieving so much, there is still one tour that she wishes she could have made happen, wishing she could have hit the road with another huge name.
Ronstadt’s resumé is an impressive one. As well as having her own solo career with artists who were desperate for her to turn her stunning, folkish voice to their work, laying their songs at her feet in the hope she might pick it up, she also regularly contributed to other people’s tracks. Her voice is heard on plenty of Neil Young songs, including ‘Old Man’ and ‘Heart Of Gold’. She also worked with Randy Newman on his 1995 album Faust.
But of all of those incredible experiences, none of them could hold a candle to the time she spent in a supergroup fueled by pure talent and girl power as the three titans of country and folk came together. It was Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton putting their incredible voices together for something truly special.
But beyond the fact that all three members are supremely talented, the magic of Trio lay in their natural chemistry. The women had all been lifelong friends who had checked in on each other throughout their careers, acting as a necessary support network against the patriarchy that the music industry was then and still largely is today. They’d also been huge admirers and vocal fans of one another, so the desire to collaborate on something was partly a longing to hang out but partly a chance to get to work with other musicians that they deeply loved and revered.
They’d originally tried to get in the studio in the 1970s, but as their careers were just breaking through into the big time, their busy schedules kept them apart. Some of those early sessions did, however, contribute to their solo albums, with the other women’s voices being heard across their individual offerings. But then, in 1986, they finally carved out enough time to come together and make a whole album, Trio.
It was a hit, holding the number-one spot on the Billboard Country chart for five weeks running. But more so than its commercial performance, it was a joy to make. Ronstadt loved the experience of getting to work with some of her best friends and the industry’s finest female talent, so she wanted it to continue. She wanted them to hit the road.
However, as they’d encountered before, the women were just too busy to ever make it work. “Dolly was very involved with the television show she was doing, so she couldn’t tour with us,” Ronstadt explained to Uncut. But she’s always considered how a tour would have changed and improved their sound as a ground. She said, “I always thought it was a shame that we never toured together because we would’ve refined what we were doing on the bus singing together, and that would have made a big difference. And doing it night after night, we would’ve gotten really tight.”
