Fifty years after its release, Linda Ronstadt’s Hasten Down The Wind remains one of the defining albums of the 1970s, cementing her place as one of popular music’s most influential voices while expanding the creative boundaries of country rock.
by Paul Cashmere
Released on 9 August 1976, Hasten Down The Wind became Linda Ronstadt’s seventh studio album and established another milestone in a remarkable run of commercial and artistic success. The record became her third consecutive million-selling album, making Ronstadt the first female recording artist to achieve that feat, while also earning widespread critical acclaim and a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
By the time Hasten Down The Wind was released, Ronstadt had already become one of America’s biggest recording artists through Heart Like A Wheel (1974) and Prisoner In Disguise (1975). Rather than repeating the formula that had delivered those successes, she broadened her musical direction, placing greater emphasis on contemporary songwriters while retaining the country rock foundations that had defined her earlier recordings.
The result was an album that balanced commercial appeal with artistic ambition. It spent multiple weeks inside the top three of the Billboard album chart, became Ronstadt’s third platinum album and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, the second of four country chart-toppers she would achieve during her career.
Two of the album’s best known recordings became significant hit singles. Ronstadt’s interpretation of Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be The Day” reached No. 11 on the US pop chart and crossed over to the country chart. Her version of Willie Nelson’s “Crazy”, first made famous by Patsy Cline in 1961, became another country hit, reaching No. 6 in early 1977.
While Ronstadt remained one of the leading interpreters of classic American songwriting, Hasten Down The Wind also introduced audiences to emerging writers whose careers would soon flourish. Warren Zevon contributed the title track, while Karla Bonoff wrote three songs for the album including “Lose Again”, “If He’s Ever Near” and “Someone To Lay Down Beside Me”. Bonoff would soon establish her own successful recording career, with Ronstadt helping bring wider attention to her songwriting.
The album also reflected Ronstadt’s willingness to explore different musical traditions. “The Tattler”, originally written by Washington Phillips and reworked by Ry Cooder, sat comfortably alongside country, rock and pop influences. Ronstadt also co-wrote two songs, including “Lo Siento Mi Vida”, marking her first recorded performance in Spanish. The recording foreshadowed her exploration of Spanish-language music more than a decade later when she released the acclaimed Canciones de Mi Padre.
Producer Peter Asher again guided the sessions after his successful collaborations on Ronstadt’s previous albums. Recorded during March 1976 at Sound Factory in Hollywood, the album featured an accomplished group of musicians including Andrew Gold, Waddy Wachtel, Dan Dugmore, Kenny Edwards, Russ Kunkel and Mike Botts. String arrangements by David Campbell added further depth to several recordings, while guest vocalists included Don Henley, Karla Bonoff and Wendy Waldman.
Behind the scenes, engineer Val Garay handled recording and mixing duties before Bernie Grundman mastered the finished album at A&M Mastering Studios in Hollywood. The cover artwork was designed by John Kosh, with photography by Ethan Russell.
Looking back five decades later, Hasten Down The Wind occupies an important place within Ronstadt’s catalogue. It bridged the commercial breakthrough of Heart Like A Wheel and the continued success that followed with Greatest Hits, released later in 1976. More significantly, it demonstrated that commercially successful albums could also introduce audiences to lesser-known songwriters while embracing a broader musical palette.
Ronstadt’s influence has continued to resonate across generations of singers who followed, with Hasten Down The Wind often cited as one of the albums that demonstrated the commercial potential of artist-driven song selection rather than reliance on established hits alone. Fifty years after its release, the album remains both a commercial milestone and an enduring example of Linda Ronstadt’s ability to interpret songs across multiple genres while making each performance unmistakably her own.
Tracklisting
Lose Again
The Tattler
If He’s Ever Near
That’ll Be The Day
Lo Siento Mi Vida
Hasten Down The Wind
Rivers Of Babylon
Give One Heart
Try Me Again
Crazy
Down So Low
Someone To Lay Down Beside Me
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