August 27, 2021 —– Chart #106
Hello Musical Friends,
Welcome to Friday and the 106th edition of Chart of the day. Today’s selection is a song I really like but not one that was a big radio hit. Written by Eric Kaz and Libby Titus, “Love Has No Pride” is a beautiful ballad first recorded and released by Bonnie Raitt in 1972 and again in 1973 by Linda Ronstadt. Both versions are beautiful. As expected, Bonnie Raitt’s version leans on her exquisite acoustic guitar work while Linda’s version is instrumentally led with keyboard. Take your pick, they are both great!
Give It Up is the second studio album by American musician Bonnie Raitt. Released in 1972 by Warner Bros. Records, Give It Up is an amalgamation of various genres, including folk, blues, R&B, and soft rock. Seven of the ten tracks on the album are covers, and the tracks are either soft sentimental ballads or fast-paced folk rock pieces. “Love Has No Pride” is the last song on side 2 of this album. Lyrically, Give It Up revolves around Raitt’s femininity, relationships, and being comfortable with herself. Raitt recorded the album at Bearsville Studios with producer Michael Cuscuna in June 1972.
Give It Up was Raitt’s first album to reach the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart, where it peaked at number 138. The initial reception was positive, as critics liked the vocals and the musicianship throughout the album. Contemporary reviews are also positive, with some critics calling Give It Up a stand-out album within Raitt’s discography. In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked Give It Up at number 495 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Don’t Cry Now is the fourth solo studio album by Linda Ronstadt and the first of her studio releases for Asylum Records, following six albums recorded for and released on Capitol Records including three she recorded as a member of The Stone Poneys. Released in the fall of 1973, Don’t Cry Now debuted on the Billboard album chart in late October and peaked at #45, the highest in her career at that point. The album had staying power, spending more than a year on the chart. In addition to “Desperado,” Asylum released two other singles. The first, “Love Has No Pride,” originally recorded by Bonnie Raitt, peaked at #51 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a Top 10 Easy Listening hit in Canada. The song has endured over the years becoming one of Ronstadt’s signature songs, included in her 7x platinum Greatest Hits. The other, “Silver Threads And Golden Needles,” was the second recording of that song by Ronstadt, a previous version having appeared on her 1969 solo debut, Hand Sown … Home Grown. A re-make of a 1962 hit by the Springfields, “Silver Threads…” peaked at #67 on the Hot 100 and became the first of more than 20 hits to reach the Hot Country Songs chart, peaking at #20 in the spring of 1974.
Don’t Cry Now became Ronstadt’s second Gold-certified album and was followed by the blockbuster success of Heart Like a Wheel.
Bonnie Raitt studio version:
Gorgeous live version, Bonnie Raitt with CSN: https://youtu.be/-nmPdUiT5ks
Linda Ronstadt studio recording: https://youtu.be/RoVYbtVdLvE
Linda live in 1977: https://youtu.be/0hoX4rXJGWg
Keep rockin’ my friends,
Stan