Linda Ronstadt Country

This set combines five of Linda Ronstadt's albums for Asylum Records released between 1975 and 1980 and all produced by Peter Asher, 1975's Prisoner in Disguise, 1976's Hasten Down the Wind, 1977's Simple Dreams, 1978's Living in the U.S.A., and 1980's Mad Love, which means one gets Ronstadt's fine versions of Neil Young's "Love Is a Rose," Buddy Holly's "That'll Be the Day," Roy Orbison's "Blue Bayou," and many other covers done while she was at the peak of her radio success…

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.

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.

Following the same formula as her early records, Heart Like a Wheel doesn't appear to be a great breakthrough on the surface. However, Ronstadt comes into her own on this mix of oldies and contemporary classics…

Don't Cry Now is Linda Ronstadt's Gold-certified fourth solo LP and the first of her studio releases for Asylum Records, following six albums recorded for and released on Capitol Records in 1974…