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stoutfellowAlbum Title: Different Drum
Why I Bought It: Ronstadt first attracted my attention with "Blue Bayou". I bought, and liked, the album with that song, and so when I ran across this LP I bought it as well.
What I Like (Bookends): "Different Drum" and "Long Long Time". There are many songs of unrequited love, some from the POV of the pursuer, others from the pursued. These two songs, which are the first tracks on the two sides of the album, are each of one of these types. "Different Drum" is faster-paced and higher-pitched: "You and I travel to the beat of a different drum / Can't you tell by the way I run / Every time you make eyes at me"; the singer is trying to let her suitor down gently but firmly. ("I ain't sayin' you ain't pretty / I'm sayin' I'm not ready".) "Long Long Time" is slow and lugubrious: "'Cause I've done everything I know / To try and make you mine / And I think I'm gonna love you / For a long long time." Both songs are beautiful, and paired as they obviously are they make a wonderful whole.
What I Like (Rebellious): "Stoney End". Barbra Streisand's version is better known, but I like Ronstadt's better. She conveys the pain of her position better than Barbra does, I think.
What Puzzles Me (Storyteller?) "The Hobo". A curious song about a woman who tries to get a hobo to tell her stories, only to be enraged by his refusal. Compelling, but puzzling.
Overall: I like Ronstadt's voice quite a bit. She can do soft and plaintive ("Will You Love Me Tomorrow"); she can do angry and satiric ("Up to My Neck in High Muddy Water" and "In My Reply"); and you can throw in "Rock Me on the Water" and "Some of Shelly's Blues" for variety. Overall, this is my favorite of the four Ronstadt albums I have.
Why I Bought It: Ronstadt first attracted my attention with "Blue Bayou". I bought, and liked, the album with that song, and so when I ran across this LP I bought it as well.
What I Like (Bookends): "Different Drum" and "Long Long Time". There are many songs of unrequited love, some from the POV of the pursuer, others from the pursued. These two songs, which are the first tracks on the two sides of the album, are each of one of these types. "Different Drum" is faster-paced and higher-pitched: "You and I travel to the beat of a different drum / Can't you tell by the way I run / Every time you make eyes at me"; the singer is trying to let her suitor down gently but firmly. ("I ain't sayin' you ain't pretty / I'm sayin' I'm not ready".) "Long Long Time" is slow and lugubrious: "'Cause I've done everything I know / To try and make you mine / And I think I'm gonna love you / For a long long time." Both songs are beautiful, and paired as they obviously are they make a wonderful whole.
What I Like (Rebellious): "Stoney End". Barbra Streisand's version is better known, but I like Ronstadt's better. She conveys the pain of her position better than Barbra does, I think.
What Puzzles Me (Storyteller?) "The Hobo". A curious song about a woman who tries to get a hobo to tell her stories, only to be enraged by his refusal. Compelling, but puzzling.
Overall: I like Ronstadt's voice quite a bit. She can do soft and plaintive ("Will You Love Me Tomorrow"); she can do angry and satiric ("Up to My Neck in High Muddy Water" and "In My Reply"); and you can throw in "Rock Me on the Water" and "Some of Shelly's Blues" for variety. Overall, this is my favorite of the four Ronstadt albums I have.
