Brandon’s Reviews > Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir > Status Update

Randy’s songs can be bleak. Not to seem a hard man he will insert a shard of comfort so meager. it seems Dickensian. His songs are superbly crafted, with a musical tension that results from this combination of Hope and utter despair. In his orchestrations, he might comment on the narrative being carried by the singer, using the instruments to deliver the jabs. Singing in the midst of one of his arrangements …..

Ronstadt was wary of the border between country and rock, and eventually she tired of limitations of arena, stadiums and “short note” songs (by which she refers to the effect of fast tempos on melody and, thus, lyrics. She makes a solid argument that what could be heard in venues began to affect what got recorded in the studio.

Ronstadt is brutal on arena rock: “There was so much evil slapback ricocheting off his those walls and ringing in the rafters, i’d swear I could still hear the lead guitar solo from the band that had played the week before” (141).

Ronstadt’s discussion of “parlor music” reminds me of a music scene at home in Winter‘s Bone. It’s not exactly feminine or feminist; it’s something women do for their own enjoyment.

High “lonesome” sound of male harmony is a good description. Why is it difficult for men to get along with women?

From conflicted to collaborative with Emmy Lou Harris.

Marvelous paragraph about vocal influences and character.