Greatest Hits

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Those syndrum accents haven't aged well, but the rest of the recording does a brilliant job of underscoring Ronstadt's melancholy vocal. Long before they got together on "Trio," Emmylou Harris turned up singing harmonies on this highlight of "Heart Like a Wheel," a melancholy take on a Hank Williams classic with pedal steel guitarist Sneaky Pete Kleinow underscoring the heartache. on Billboard's Hot 100, topping the Adult Contemporary charts and picking up a 1990 Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

There's a reason Ronstadt chose this torch song first recorded by Bob Crosby and His Orchestra in 1939 as both the title track and lead single when she hit us with the first installment in a trilogy of albums exploring the Great American Songbook with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra.

But what ultimately makes a record this romantic translate is the chemistry the singers bring to the proceedings. Linda Ronstadt’s Greatest Hits will be reissued on black 180g vinyl with a special textured jacket for International Women’s History Month on March 4, 2022. And speaking of that bridge, her final plea is met by the opening notes of Danny Kortchmar's searing lead guitar break, mixed ridiculously high to outstanding effect.

Although the track is credited to the Stone Poneys featuring Linda Ronstadt, she's the only member of the group that actually appears on the recording, which features future Eagle Bernie Leadon, session ace Jim Gordon and jazz bassist Jimmy Bond. This doesn't sound a thing like Buddy Holly's million-selling hit recording of the song, which topped the charts in Billboard and the U.

Ronstadt's version makes you feel the hurt with more conviction, from the trembling vulnerability of the opening lines to the full-throated pleas of "please don't go" coming out of the bridge. Just last year, the Miracles' original recording of this soulful gem was singled out in Rolling Stone as no less than the Greatest Motown Song of All Time.