Linda Ronstadt & The Stone Poneys

Before becoming a solo act, Linda Ronstadt was the lead singer of the Stone Poneys, an L.A.-based trio with an acoustic folkish sound and strong original material. The band's focal point and greatest asset was Ronstadt's clear, powerful singing. Originally recording in a coffeehouse folk style not far removed from Peter, Paul and Mary, the group rocked up its sound slightly and scored a Top 20 hit with "Different Drum," written by Mike Nesmith of the Monkees, in 1967.

If Rhino had merely combined Linda Ronstadt's Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 and volume two, they would have a compilation that captured her at her peak. They didn't do that for 2002's The Very Best of Linda Ronstadt, but they did follow that basic blueprint very closely, with 16 of the 21 songs culled from her '70s heyday, with the remaining five drawing from her late-'80s/early-'90s adult contemporary comeback, including "Don't' Know Much" and "Somewhere out There." That these songs don't quite fit musically with the laid-back Californian soft rock of the '70s doesn't matter, nor does it matter that her excursions into other genres – her traditional pop albums with Nelson Riddle, her Mexican records, her country albums with Trio – are missing ("Different Drum" with the Stone Poneys is here), because this collection expertly delivers her biggest hits in an enjoyable fashion with very little fat. Those original hits records remain first-rate, but it's nicer to get all of these on one disc instead of two.

Linda Ronstadt has been an icon for more than 50 years. Her extraordinary vocal range and ambition created unforgettable songs across rock, pop, country, folk ballads, American standards, classic Mexican music and soul…

Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 is a good 12-track collection of Linda Ronstadt's biggest hits from the early '70s, beginning with the Stone Poneys' "Different Drum" and running through "Tracks of My Tears," from 1975's Prisoner in Disguise. In between, all of her best-known songs – "You're No Good," "When Will I Be Loved," "Heat Wave" – are included, plus selected minor hits, making it an excellent overview of her peak years.

By nature, Linda Ronstadt isn't a solo singer. She started her career in the Stone Poneys and during the height of her fame she was happy to harmonize on records by friends; later still, she joined Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris in the group Trio. Duets, a compilation released on the eve of her 2014 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, doesn't concentrate on this considerable legacy as a harmonizer, preferring instead to pick 14 previously released duets from throughout Ronstadt's career, adding an unreleased version of "Pretty Bird" with Laurie Lewis as mild collector bait…