Prisoner in Disguise

Personnel: Linda Ronstadt (vocals); Emmylou Harris (vocals, guitar); Andrew Gold (acoustic & electric guitars, musette, piano, organ, drums, percussion, background vocals); Peter Asher (acoustic guitar, musette, percussion, background vocals); J.D. Souther (acoustic guitar, background vocals); Eddie Black, Danny Kortchmar (electric guitars); Lowell George (slide guitar); Dan Dugmore (steel guitar); Herb Pedersen (banjo, background vocals); David Lindley (fiddle); David Grisman (mandolin); Jim Connor (harmonica); Glen D. Hardin (piano); Kenny Edwards (bass, background vocals); Nigel Olsson, David Kemper, Russell Kunkel (drums); Maria Muldaur, Don Francisco, Pat Henderson (background vocals).
Recorded at The Sound Factory, Los Angeles, California between February and June 1975.
Also available with "Simple Dreams" on 1 cassette.
Audio Mixer: Val Garay.
Recording information: The Sound Factory, L.A. (02/1975-06/1975).
Photographer: Ethan A. Russell.
After the chart-topping success of HEART LIKE A WHEEL, Linda Ronstadt released PRISONER IN DISGUISE in 1975, an extremely successful follow-up effort which bolstered her standing as one of America's most popular singers. Opting not to fiddle with a formula that was working, Ronstadt delivered another collection of well-crafted, carefully arranged rock, pop and country songs that showed off her talent for covering good tunes and rendering them in a way that allowed the melodies to soar on the strength of her graceful voice.
The album yielded two strong singles: an exuberant version of the Motown classic "Heat Wave" and a silky-smooth rendition of Smokey Robinson's "Ooh Baby Baby," featuring lyrical alto saxophone touches by veteran session man David Sanborn. Ms. Ronstadt makes great use of the poignant ache in her voice on elegaic ballads like James Taylor's "Hey Mister, That's Me Up on the Jukebox" and Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," which she sings with considerably less vocal histrionics than Whitney Houston would in her remake of the tune some 20 years later.