Ronstadt, Linda – Living in the USA (LP – Used)

Living in the USA is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter and producer Linda Ronstadt, released in 1978. The album was Ronstadt’s third (and last) No. 1 on the Billboard album chart. As a measure of her impact on popular culture in this time period, the front cover photograph of a roller skating Ronstadt in an exercise outfit was noted to have increased the popularity of skating in the United States at the time. The album’s first single release was Chuck Berry’s “Back in the USA” which reached #11 on the Cash Box Top 100 and #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. (It was listed at #1 on many Album Rock playlists.) The disc’s biggest success was Ronstadt’s version of Smokey Robinson’s “Ooh Baby Baby” (featuring alto-sax work from David Sanborn) that hit #7 Pop and #2 Easy Listening as well as the Country and even the Soul chart. “Just One Look” and “Alison” later became hit singles for Ronstadt as well, while “All That You Dream” and Warren Zevon’s “Mohammed’s Radio” were popular tracks on Album-Oriented Radio stations. Although not released as a single, Ronstadt’s version of “Love Me Tender” was edited together with the original version of the song by Elvis Presley, creating a duet between the two famous singers that was played by many radio stations at the time. Elvis did the first verse alone, straight from his original recording, as Ronstadt didn’t sing this verse on her version for some reason.