Linda Ronstadt began performing “You’re No Good” to close her live shows in early 1973 after her band member Kenny Edwards suggested it to her. She first included it in her setlist while opening for Neil Young. Ronstadt gave an early televised performance of “You’re No Good” on an episode of The Midnight Special which was broadcast December 21, 1973.
Ronstadt recorded her Heart Like a Wheel album with producer Peter Asher in the summer of 1974 at the Sound Factory; “You’re No Good” was a last-minute choice for recording, and while the song was Ronstadt’s suggestion, Asher recalls: “It was an odd coincidence. She’d been doing the song already, and it was always a favorite song of mine…the version I fell in love with [being by] the Swinging Blue Jeans”.[5] The original backing track intended for Ronstadt’s version of “You’re No Good” was recorded July 1, 1974. According to Bob Warford, a guitarist in Ronstadt’s touring band who played on the July 1 track, “They were trying to do an R&B version of the song, which was actually closer to the way we did it live than to the released version. We played it at a faster tempo live, which we did on that recording [ie. of July 1].”[5] Ronstadt vetoed the July 1 arrangement; she recalls: “It was just the wrong groove for me. I don’t think I knew how to phrase around [the players], certainly no fault of theirs. They were fantastic.”[5]
The final recording of the Ronstadt version of “You’re No Good” was made July 5, 1974. Ronstadt would recall: “Ed Black, who played six-string guitar and pedal steel, started to play a rhythm riff on his Les Paul. Kenny Edwards…the bass player…echoed the riff in octaves. Andrew Gold added a sparse drum track, giving me a basic track to sing over. We did a few takes, picked one we liked, and then Andrew, who always played guitars and keyboards went to work with Peter [Asher]and began to work up layers of guitar, piano, and percussion tracks.” Ronstadt recalls that during a playback after several hours of work, Val Garay, the engineer, accidentally erased Andrew Gold’s guitar solo from the track, necessitating Asher and Gold’s reconstructing that solo from scratch.[6]
In late August 1974 a string arrangement – by Gregory Rose – was added to the track at AIR Studios. According to a Classic Tracks article by Mick Hurwitz at MixOnline.com: “It ends with a strong, long-held note, which Asher conceived, executed by Garay with a slow riding of the level on the string faders during the final mix.”[5]
Capitol Records was unsure whether to release “You’re No Good” or “When Will I Be Loved” as the lead single off Heart Like a Wheel, only deciding to release “You’re No Good” a week after the album’s release.
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