Free Simple Dreams ~ A Musical Memoir by Linda Ronstadt

thought that, where clothing is concerned, they are more invested in quality, while we are more invested in glamour. This can make their tweeds and hand-knitted sweaters (things I adore) seem stodgy.
    The two of them onstage pressed whatever musical agenda they pleased and seemed completely unconcerned about the framework of a professional show. They never failed to move people, and profoundly. I remember sitting next to my pal John Rockwell at a club in New York City listening to them sing their devastating song “Talk to Me of Mendocino.” I was already blubbering into my root beer float and looked sideways at John. What I saw was a seasoned and highly discriminating music critic from The New York Times with two large tears rolling down his face.
    Their children continue what they started. The most notable among them are Martha and Rufus Wainwright, two singers who, like their mother, Kate, and their Aunt Anna, never fail to make me cry. When the extended families of McGarrigles and Wainwrights give a concert, which they will do occasionally, it is like being caught in a genetic whirlwind of talent and inspiration.
    Kate and Anna opened a door for me, and I scooted through it as fast as I could.

4
    California Country Rock

Playing the Palomino Club in Los Angeles: Ed Black on guitar, Mickey McGhee on drums.
    B ACK IN L OS A NGELES , I continued to look for musicians who would be sympathetic to the new songs I was finding. I put together a band with Bernie Leadon and Jeff Hanna, who was on hiatus from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. They called themselves the Corvettes. We played some shows around the country, but eventually Jeff went back to the Dirt Band and Bernie joined the Flying Burrito Brothers. Jeff, one of the friendliest, sweetest guys in the music business, introduced me to Steve Martin, who had the same manager as the Dirt Band, Bill McEuen. He wasthe brother of the band’s dazzling multi-instrumentalist, John McEuen. We all wound up playing various shows together, some at the Troubadour, and some at the Boarding House in San Francisco. When we weren’t onstage we would watch Steve perform his brilliant early material: Balloon Animals, The Great Flydini, The Cruel Shoes, Arrow Through the Head. No one had achieved any great success in those days. Steve was just our pal, and we thought he was hilarious.
    Bernie and I both lived north of Los Angeles in Topanga Canyon, so I spent a lot of time hanging out with him. I watched him hone his country rock guitar style by going to school on Merle Haggard. Every morning, Bernie would put on a pot of coffee, plug in his red Gibson ES-335 semi-hollow-body guitar, and drop the needle on the latest Haggard record. It was a double album called Same Train, A Different Time , and it was a tribute to Jimmie Rodgers. He learned all the guitar parts, and I learned the harmonies sung by Merle’s wife, Bonnie Owens. We learned all the other Merle Haggard records too, plus George Jones and Tammy Wynette.
    Bernie still played in my band when he had time off from the Burrito Brothers, and one night we performed on a TV show called Playboy After Dark . After we finished the show, we went to the Troubadour to see what was going on at the bar. We ran into Bernie’s Burrito bandmate Gram Parsons. He said he was going to the Chateau Marmont, a Hollywood hotel where he was in residence, to play some music. He wanted us to come along. We got in Bernie’s car, and Gram directed us up a winding road in the Hollywood Hills to a large modern house that was definitely not the Chateau Marmont. When we went inside, we were introduced to Keith Richards. The Rolling Stones were in town putting the finishing touches on Let It Bleed , and Keith and Mick Jagger had rented a house for the time they would be working in Los Angeles.
    Gram and Keith had struck up a friendship over Keith’s interest in learning about country music. We got down to business immediately and sang all the Merle Haggard songs we