AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville

Artist:Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville

Song:Don't Know Much

Album:Just One Look: Classic Linda Ronstadt

Singer Linda Ronstadt had her greatest success in the 70s. By the 80s, she wasn't chasing fame anymore. She was trying different kinds of music. But her two biggest overall hits were the 1987 single Somewhere Out There featuring James Ingram and the 1987 single Don't Know Much featuring Aaron Neville. I've already written about Somewhere Out There so now I will write about Don't Know Much. Linda met Neville at the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans. After they met, the two promised to work together in the future. At the time, Linda was recording big band music with Nelson Riddle, the Trio recordings with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris and albums in Spanish. So she hadn't recorded a pop album for a while. Somewhere Out There was on the soundtrack of the 1987 film An American Tail. So Linda got together with producer Peter Asher to make plans. Producer Steve Tyrell brought them a demo of Don't Know Much. They wanted that song as one of the duets with Neville. Don't Know Much was written by the husband wife team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil along with Tom Snow. Mann recorded it on his 1980 album Barry Mann. Bill Medley and Bette Midler also recorded it. Linda's recording of Don't Know Much reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Per VF Music, it's the biggest hit of her career. The album was certified 3XPlatinum. The guitar solo was by studio musician Michael Landau. Other musicians were Don Grolnick on piano, Leland Sklar on bass, Carlos Vega on drums, Michael Fisher on percussion and The Skywalker Symphony Orchestra arranged by David Campbell. This 2CD budget comp concentrates on Linda's Elektra/Asylum recordings of the 70s & 80s. If you want a comp of Linda's early Capitol recordings, I recommend the comp Icon which is available at a budget price. Linda Ronstadt retired in 2011 due to Parkinson's disease. Her memoir was published in 2022. Here's the video for Don't Know Much by Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville.