Hasten Down the Wind

Hasten Down the Wind is the Grammy Award-winning seventh studio album by singer-songwriter/producer Linda Ronstadt. Released in 1976, it became her third straight million-selling album. Ronstadt was the first female artist to accomplish this feat.[6] The album earned her a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female in 1977, her second of 13 Grammys. It represented a slight departure from 1974's Heart Like a Wheel and 1975's Prisoner in Disguise in that she chose to showcase new songwriters over the traditional country rock sound she had been producing up to that point. A more serious and poignant album than its predecessors, it won critical acclaim.

This article is about the album by Linda Ronstadt. For information on the title track itself, see Hasten Down the Wind (song).

Hasten Down the Wind
Studio album by Linda Ronstadt
Released	August 1976
Recorded	March 1976
Studio	The Sound Factory, Los Angeles, California
Genre	Rock, country rock
Length	41:23
Label	Asylum
Producer	Peter Asher
Linda Ronstadt chronology
Prisoner in Disguise (1975) Hasten Down the Wind (1976) Greatest Hits (1976)
Singles from Hasten Down the Wind
"That'll Be the Day" Released: August 1976 "Someone to Lay Down Beside Me" Released: November 1976 "Crazy" Released: November 1976 "Lose Again" Released: May 1977

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	B–[2]
Rolling Stone	(average)[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]
Stereo Review	[5]

The album showcased songs from artists such as Warren Zevon ("Hasten Down the Wind") and Karla Bonoff ("Someone to Lay Down Beside Me"), both of whom would soon be making a name for themselves in the singer-songwriter world. The album included a cover of a cover: "The Tattler" by Washington Phillips, which Ry Cooder had re-arranged for his 1974 album Paradise and Lunch. A reworking of the late Patsy Cline's classic "Crazy" was a Top 10 Country hit for Ronstadt in early 1977. The album also included two songs co-written by Ronstadt, including one in Spanish (her first recorded foray into Spanish music, more than a decade before she released her first fully-Spanish album).

Her third album to go platinum, Hasten Down the Wind spent several weeks in the top three of the Billboard album charts. It was also the second of four number 1 Country albums for her.

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Lose Again"	Karla Bonoff	3:34
2.	"The Tattler"	Ry Cooder, Russ Titelman, Washington Phillips	3:56
3.	"If He's Ever Near"	Karla Bonoff	3:15
4.	"That'll Be the Day"	Jerry Allison, Buddy Holly, Norman Petty	2:32
5.	"Lo Siento Mi Vida" (I'm Sorry My Love)	Linda Ronstadt, Kenny Edwards, Gilbert Ronstadt	3:54
6.	"Hasten Down the Wind"	Warren Zevon	2:40

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Rivers of Babylon"	Brent Dowe, Trevor McNaughton	0:52
2.	"Give One Heart"	John Hall, Johanna Hall	4:07
3.	"Try Me Again"	Linda Ronstadt, Andrew Gold	3:59
4.	"Crazy"	Willie Nelson	3:58
5.	"Down So Low"	Tracy Nelson	4:08
6.	"Someone to Lay Down Beside Me"	Karla Bonoff	4:28
Total length:			41:23

Personnel

• Linda Ronstadt – lead vocals, backing vocals (2, 3, 8, 12), handclaps (4)
• Andrew Gold – acoustic piano (1, 6, 9, 11, 12), organ (1, 3), ARP String Ensemble (1, 3), acoustic guitar (1, 3, 10), finger cymbal (1, 3), backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 7, 8), electric piano (2, 8), sleigh bells (2), handclaps (2), electric guitar (4, 9), bass guitar (5), harmony vocals (5), tambourine (6), lead guitar (8), rhythm guitar (8), cowbell (8), clavinet (12)
• Clarence McDonald – acoustic piano (10)
• Dan Dugmore – electric guitar (1, 2, 11, 12), steel guitar (5, 8, 9, 10)
• Waddy Watchel – electric guitar (3, 4, 6), acoustic guitar (5), "reggae" lead guitar (8)
• Kenny Edwards – bass guitar (1–4, 6, 8–12), backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 7), mandolin (2), string arrangements (2), acoustic guitar (5), harmony vocals (5)
• Mike Botts – drums (1, 2, 4, 8–12)
• Russ Kunkel – drums (3, 5, 6)
• Peter Asher – handclaps (2), shaker (2, 8), tambourine, (2, 3), wood block (4), cowbell (8), backing vocals (8)
• David Campbell – string arrangements and conductor (1, 2, 6, 9, 12)
• Charles Veal – concertmaster (1, 9, 12), violin (2), viola (6)
• Dennis Karmazyn – cello (1, 6, 9, 12)
• Ken Yerke – violin (2)
• Richard Feves – double bass (6)
• Paul Polivnick – viola (6)
• Karla Bonoff – backing vocals (3, 12)
• Wendy Waldman – backing vocals (3, 12)
• Don Henley – harmony vocals (6)
• Herb Pedersen – backing vocals (8)
• Pat Henderson – backing vocals (9), choir vocals (11)
• Becky Louis – backing vocals (9), choir vocals (11)
• Sherlie Matthews – backing vocals (9), choir vocals (11)
• Gerald Garrett – choir vocals (11)
• Jim Gilstrap – choir vocals (11)
• Ron Hicklan – choir vocals (11)
• Clydie King – choir vocals (11)
• Bill Thedford – choir vocals (11)

Production

• Peter Asher – producer
• Val Garay – recording, mixing
• Bernie Grundman – mastering
• Mastered at A&M Mastering Studios (Hollywood, California).
• John Kosh – cover design
• Ethan Russell – photography

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: R". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 12, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
3. Rolling Stone review
4. Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City: Simon and Schuster. p. 701. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
5. Stereo Review review
6. "Bio". Linda Ronstadt. Elektra. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved June 6, 2011.