Long, Long Time by Linda Ronstadt

Album: Silk Purse (1970)

Charted: 25

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Here, Linda Ronstadt sings of her unrequited passion for a man. She tried everything she knew to make him fall for her, but he showed no interest. Ronstadt laments the love she will never experience, but will continue to love him for a "long long time."
"Long, Long Time" was Ronstadt's first hit as a solo artist, although she did have a hit in 1967 with "Different Drum," attributed to her group The Stone Poneys.

Despite her obvious talent, Ronstadt struggled early on, partly because of her choice of material. Her first solo album, Hand Sown... Home Grown, was released in 1969 and went nowhere. "Long, Long Time" was part of her second album, Silk Purse, and it rose to #25 in the US. But her next two albums also underperformed. It wasn't until she teamed with producer Peter Asher for her fifth album, Heart Like A Wheel, that her chart success started to synch with her talent. Hits like "You're No Good" and "When Will I Be Loved" followed.
The song was written by a Texas musician named Gary White. As detailed in her memoir Simple Dreams, Ronstadt found it through a friend, the guitarist David Bromberg. He took her to see White, who was playing a show at the Cafe Au Go-Go in New York City as a backing musician for Paul Siebel. After the show, she went backstage to meet White and ask about the song. He pulled out his guitar, played it for her on the spot, and Ronstadt loved it. She ended up recording it for her Silk Purse album along with another song by White called "Nobody's."
This was an early foray into country-style ballads for Ronstadt. She recorded it in Nashville with a group of seasoned session musicians, including Weldon Myrick on steel guitar, Buddy Spicher on violin, and Norbert Putnam on bass. It was produced by Elliot Mazer.
When this song was released, Ronstadt's touring band included Don Henley and Glenn Frey, who would later form the nucleus of the Eagles.
Artists who have covered the song include:

1976 American singer-songwriter Larry Santos. Released as a single, it reached #109 in the US

1976 Country singer Lynn Anderson for her All The King's Horses album

1989 Country singer Jerry Jeff Walker for his Live at Gruene Hall album

1997 Country singer Mindy McCready for her If I Don't Stay the Night album

1998 Canadian singer-songwriter Alannah Myles for her compilation album The Very Best Of Alannah Myles
"Long, Long Time" is the title of the third episode of the 2023 post-apocalyptic HBO series The Last of Us. The song serves as a motif for the love story between the Bill and Frank characters, who come together when each plays the song on a piano, Bill far more intimately.

Craig Mazin, who wrote the episode and co-created the show, found the song after texting his friend, Sirius XM host Seth Rudetsky, for suggestions. According to Indiewire, Mazin said he was looking for a song that wasn't totally obvious but was an "incredibly sad song about yearning for love, and never getting love, and just making your peace with the fact that you will always be alone." The character Bill is a survivalist who had long given up on love.
Linda Ronstadt won't make any money from the Last Of Us synch. In March 2021, Ronstadt transferred ownership of her recorded music, including royalty rights from her master recordings and partial ownership of other masters, to Iconic Artist Group, a company managed by entertainment executive Irving Azof.

Comments: 37

Craig from Spring, TxLove this song. I just listen to a stirring cover by a contestant on “The Voice” and the lyrics brought tears and emotional memories. I’ve been a big fan of Linda Ronstandt since I first heard her with Stone Pony in the ‘60s. She made this song a hit in 1970 on “Silk Purse”.
Tony Bittner-collins from EdinburghAn absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking song. It makes me cry every time. I remember having listened to it when I was a kid and now as an adult, it brings back painful memories of a love that never was in 2017. I fell in love with an English writer, Cliff James, who visited Chile while I was living there. He broke my heart, but I still think of him as the soulmate with whom I would've liked to spend the rest of my life.

Another equally soul-wrenching song is 'The False True Love' by Shirly Collins.
Terrie Robinson from California2/3/23 I didn't even watch the show, just heard about Nick Offerman's cover of the song, and I pulled it up on YouTube. I'm so glad this song has had a rebirth. It truly is a gift and probably Ronstadt's best song, and that's saying a lot. Simply, heart-wrenchingly, achingly beautiful. Songwriting at its best.
Ignacio Varga from AlbuquerqueI'm a pretty macho guy, but this one brings a tear to my eye.
Obbop from Ozark PlateauI wish I could personally thank Mr. White for writing what is, to me, the loveliest ballad about a love never attained. Mr. White, if you should ever happen to visit this Web page and read these comments I am shouting out to you:

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

And a huge thanks to the wonderful Linda Ronstadt for doing that lovely song the singing it deserves.

We can't forget the musicians performing in the background!!!!
Sake Queeg from BostonI think that I have located the Linda Rinstadt song for Leonard Cohen. Nice song and beautiful sentiment.
Anonymous from San Antonio, Texas Thank you, Rich from Land O Lakes, Fl! Never heard Long long Time with a male vocalist! I think David Hobson would fit Linda’s version better.
Aranhas from Santa CruzI was in the military in Asia when "Long, Long Time" came out. It was one of the most terrible and wonderful songs I ever heard. Along with Patsy Cline, Linda was the source of some bad-ass fights in the barracks on Friday and Saturday nights. Young, single guys on the other side of the world getting "Dear Johns". I'm 79 now, but those days and those songs are burned into my soul. Just heard "Long, Long Time" a few minutes ago while my wife is sleeping next to me. It jerked me back to being a kid again. She'll never understand those times and those feelings. Lonely? Linda spoke to loneliness.
Acehall from Palm Desert, CaWhat an absolute goddess. I was just about midway through puberty when Linda showed up on the scene, and I would cry myself to sleep with the desperate crush that I had on her. This song just made me want to hug her and hold her and tell her that everything would be all right. Also, EVERY boy whom I knew was just as in love with her as was I. I remember fights breaking out from boys arguing over who was more likely to win her heart and who deserved her more. Wow. Combine puberty with the impossibility of ever being with the most gorgeous, sweet, innocent looking, girl-next-door woman who could--as Neil Diamond put it--"...sing it with a cry in her voice...", and the one with whom you were completely, madly, obsessively in love, and you have the recipe for years of heartache and heartbreak. And that is how I entered my teen years; in love with a woman whom I could never have...ever. I was also an undiagnosed OCD, so it nearly sent me off the rails completely. She was just everything that I could ever imagine wanting in a woman...and all of my friends agreed. Those were some painful years, I can assure you.
AnonymousI never got into celebrity gossip but every small but I know about Ronstadt, shed not only one of the greatest voices all time but a pretty cool person too. Makes me SAD she's hot Parkinsons. Esp kudos for her priority her kids!
Mj from IndianaI first heard this song by Claudine Longet in 1970. She wasn't powerful, like Linda, but hers was a soft, haunting rendition. At the time, I hadn't yet heard Linda's version, which I think is better vocally, but I've always had a soft spot for Claudine's.
Lynda Faye from Simi Valley, CaliforniaI've been trying to locate Gary White ever since Byron Walls introduced us at a party in Hollywood in the 70's- I was with Chick Rains at the time, but I wanted to pick up on ANNIE'S concerns about music for children, as at the time she was working at the LA Public Library Children's Dept, but there was some talk about "moving back to Texas?" I think it was Texas-been a long long time, can't quite remember that ! Think I may have the right Gary B. White at SoundCloud, but still not sure. Anyone have an email for Gary or Annie ? Thanks, Sincerely, LyndaFaye's music at Gmail.com.
Ruben from San Antonio, Texas, UsaRe: Claudia - Munich, Germany, I also remember a male voice sing Long Long Time sometime in 1971. I would hear it while jogging on the inside track at the downtown YMCA. They played smooth FM music while we woked out. This version of the song had the female voice do the first verse, then this strong beautiful male voice did the next verse -it sounded fantastic. It could have been Linda with some guy duet. Has anyone heard it this way?
Rich from Land O Lakes FlRod McKuen is a male vocalist who recorded it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1huDQv13gng

Jerry Jeff Walker is another male vocalist who recorded it
https://www.song365.co/track/jerry-jeff-walker-long,-long-time-290093.html

And David Hobson is another male vocalist who recorded it
http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/ABC%2BClassics/ABC4766934

Going back in history, it was recorded by Andy Williams back in 1971
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Impossible_Dream_%28Andy_Williams_album%29
Stu from ArkansasI agree, Linda's best. She sings it with so much feeling, like she wrote it
Dawn from Toronto, OnFor those asking about songwriter Gary White: he's a funny, outspoken guy, still living in the L.A. area. He is active in the live steam garden railway hobby, attending various annual gatherings of small-scale steam train enthusiasts (which is how I know him). He and I sang "Long Long Time", tipsy, in Diamondhead Mississippi in the parking lot of a yacht club which was wiped off the face of the earth later that year by hurricane Katrina.
Claudia from Munich, GermanyDoes anyone know who else sang "Long, long Time"??? .... I recorded this song from the radio in 1977/78 - and it was sung by a male singer - in my opinion even better than the original by Linda Ronstadt... greetings from Germany and thanks for your reply -
Alon from Forest Hills, NyDuring this period when the song was beginning to get airplay, I was visiting my uncle in his apt in Greenwich Village. He asked me if I knew the song and I told him I play on guitar all the time. He got on the phone to someone in the building named Gary and told him to come down to his apt. My uncle then asked me to play the song for this guy named Gary...I did......and then they Casually informed me who I had been playing for...none other than the writer of the song...Gary White...wow, will never forget that....
Thomas from South Bend, InLR may have performed it on Ed Sullivan, but the two clips on the internet are from the Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour and the Darin Explosion (with Bobby Darin). Best I can figure, the latter was a special. Bobby later had a series called The Bobby Darin Amusement Company. Her performance just makes my heart ache. I want to give her a hug and assure that it'll be OK.
Llani Smarzo from Syracuse, NyI was wrong about Gary having written "Love Has No Pride." The song was written by Eric Kaz and Libby Titus.
Llani Smarzo from Syracuse, NyI think Gary wrote "Love Has No Pride" as well.
Llani Smarzo from Syracuse, NyGary was originally from Texas. He and his wife, Annie, were good friends of mine in the sixties. We lived in Greenwich Village and used to hang out at The Kettle of Fish on Macdougal Street. It was next to The Gaslight Cafe, a mecca of the Folk Music scene. Just about everyone got their start there. Gary is a great singer-songwriter who played bass, guitar and piano, He used to belong to a band called Circus Maximus with Jerry Jeff Walker. Gary wrote a lot of other beautiful tunes. Linda was on the "scene" back then, and also a good friend of Gary's. They all three moved to California, Laurel Canyon. They asked me to go with them. How different my life would have been if I had. I never saw him again, but sometimes think about them and wonder how they are. Some people you just never forget! They were great people. :)
Rick from Belfast, MeThis song is sooooooo "haunting"......in a good way....definitely Lindas best by far!!!!!!!!!
Marla from Clarkston, Gabtw.....i wish the double album "a retrospective" was on cd.
Marla from Clarkston, Gathis singer has so much soul. i don't know if this is true but a woman told me that she was friends with her and that linda is a devout atheist and trashes religion. i was thinking....a woman after my own heart. lol!
Denise from Lakeland, Flthis is a very beautiful song, sad but beautiful.it always makes me think of lost love. but then iam very romantic. denise esposito.
Beth from Charleston, WvI believe this is the song she did in her bare feet on Ed Sullivan.
Stuart Moore from Norwich, EnglandI love this song. I play it out sometimes but don't feel that i do it justice! How could anyone ever match that performance?! Does anybody know anything about the songwriter (Gary White)?
Fred from Laurel, MdWhen this was out, the (AM) top-40 radio stations only ever played the first two verses, so I used to think that's all there were. I really, really dug this song, and when, a few years later, I heard the alternative (FM) stations pick it up and play all three, I fell in love with it all over again. *** I could almost have sworn to having heard it in '68 or '69, but all the sources I consult have it being released in 1970. I do remember seeing her perform it on TV, possibly pre-release. I forget what show, but I'm thinking it had to be 1969. Anybody out there with a memory better than mine on this? *** One of the very greatest female voices of our time. Now, I know that everyone has their own taste/preferences when it comes to music, so what I'm about to say is only my own opinion. But many of the songs she has recorded, I consider to have been a waste of her (enormous) vocal talents--these are songs I don't care for, no matter who does them. I.e., when I don't like one of her songs, it's because of the song, not because of her. But of the many recordings of hers that I do like, I can think of only one where I think she has been bested (even though LR's version is truly great!), and that's "Love Has No Pride." IMHO, Bonnie Raitt's recording on the 'Give It Up' album just blows away all other versions. *** I think my personal all-time favorite of all her recorded songs is Roy Orbison's "Blue Bayou." Hearing it is like dying and going to heaven. Kill the lights and close the stage, boys--nothing better is ever gonna come through that mike! *** When I think 'best torch song ever' the first things that come to mind, and all simultaneouly, are this song, Bonnie Raitt's "Love Has No Pride," and Emmylou Harris doing Bill Danoff's song, "Boulder to Birmingham." OK, maybe also Janis doing "Piece of My Heart." It's hard to imagine a torchier song than that!
Ezra from Rio, TxAgree with all and would like to add the anguish and desperation in her voice of an unrequited love!
Eric from Melville, NyI listen to "The Bridge" on Sirius satellite. My favorite musician is Jackson Browne. When I first heard this song, my thought was "Wow, that was amazing, how come I didn't know that song". The song is a timeless classic.
Thom from La, CaThis is = to or greater than " Meatloaf's" 2 out of 3 ain't bad....it dosen't get any better!
Michael from San Diego, CaThis is truly one of the sweetest songs ever recorded! If I were dating Linda Ronstadt, I'd have her sing this to me. It reminds me of a very special time in my life.
Chellee from Lake Stevens, WaSuch pain, aching, and longing! I may be exagerating, but one of closest recordings i can come up with is "Layla", by Clapton. High praise, indeed.
Dave from Pomeroy, OhWoW what a song and performance
Howard from St. Louis Park, MnI really enjoy the instrumental track. The string section is fabulous.
Frank from Westminster, ScThe instruments (strings, harpsichord, etc.), the insightful songwriting, the lush arrangement, LR's flawless vocals - all come together to make this song pop-perfection. It knocks me out every time I hear it!

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