The Best Linda Ronstadt Recordings You've Never Heard

There was a ten year period between the mid-1960s and mid-1970s when so-called "super groups" were a regular feature on the music scene. Some of them ended up being actual groups that toured and recorded multiple albums (see: Derek and the Dominoes) and some were really nothing more than the result of a couple of nights of random sessions that included some well-known musicians.

Linda Ronstadt's least-known released recordings are part of such a "super group," a two-album set of sessions that included a staggering number of star musicians.

"Music From Free Creek" is a bit mysterious, since I haven't been able to find anything that explains how the sessions came about or who organized them. The original liner notes lay out a scenario that sounds more like a rejected Cheech and Chong bit than the truth. But however it happened, the number of famed musicians appearing on the various tracks is really astounding.

The two-album set was cobbled together from a series of sessions featuring some of the hottest musicians of the day. Three tracks came from a session that included Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Moogy Klingman, Buzzy Linhart, Delaney Bramlett, Erle Doude, Stu Woods and many others. Four tracks came from a session that included Jeff Beck and Todd Rundgren, along with many of the same musicians that played on the Clapton tracks. Some of the same musicians also played on three instrumental tracks featuring Keith Emerson as well as three tracks fronted by the under-rated guitarist Harvey Mandel.

For Ronstadt, this period was the time between the release of her first and second solo albums. 1969's "Hand Sown...Home Grown" was a critical success and has been called the first alternative country album recorded by a female artist. But it was also a commercial disappointment. While preparing to record her second album, 1970's "Silk Purse," Ronstadt kept herself busy by recording some TV commercials (including a very bizarre one with Frank Zappa for Remington Razors). She also contributed vocals to two tracks on the "Free Creek" project.

There isn't a lot of documentation in general for "Free Creek" recordings, so it's not clear how Ronstadt got involved. But she sang Bernie Leadon and Gene Clark's "He Darked The Sun" and Maxwell & Crutchfield's "Living Like A Fool" with a band that included Bernie Leadon on guitar and musicians who would ultimately team up with Michael Nesmith on his first post-Monkees recordings. Like all the "Free Creek" recordings, the tracks were recorded at New York City's famed Record Plant sometime in June, July or August of 1969. A different version of "He Darked The Sun" ended up on Ronstadt's "Silk Purse" album. But although she seems to have played "Living Like A Fool" regularly in concert (see below), Ronstadt doesn't seem to have ever officially released the track.

Both tracks by Ronstadt are notable because they show off a singer that is part-powerhouse, part-bar singer. She sounds amazing and listening to the performances, you get a sense of why she seemed destined to be a star. The tracks are also notable because-unlike the other musicians-she just went in and recorded two songs she was very familiar with backed by her then backing band members. That's a real difference from the rest of the tracks, that tend to nothing much more than organized jams.

"Music From Free Creek" wasn't released in the U.S. until 1973 and the various contractual issues kept Charisma Records from mentioning some of the performers. For instance, Jeff Beck was identified as "A.N. Other." The set was re-released on CD in 2004, but it's now back out of print and it's become merely a forgotten footnote in the annals of 1970s country rock. Which is too bad, because some of the performances on the set are very memorable.