4 Female Vocalists Who Made 1974 a Special Year in Music

In 1974, many types of musical genres were battling each other for attention. You could reliably count on female vocalists being somewhere near the forefront of each of those respective scenes.

These four women came from wildly diverse backgrounds and sang disparate styles of music from each other. But they shared the fact that they greatly enhanced the overall quality of music in 1974.

Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt’s first three solo albums didn’t leave all that much of a mark on the music world at large. It was starting to look like she might not capitalize, at least commercially, on her immense talent. But then Heart Like A Wheel came along and sent Ronstadt soaring to No. 1 on the albums chart in America. The album epitomized the formula that helped her to massive success for the rest of the decade. Well-known covers like “You’re No Good” and “When Will I Be Loved” would grease the wheels at pop radio. That drew fans to the album, where they’d find Ronstadt showcasing the work of unheralded songwriters. On this album, for example, she winningly tackles the title track from Anna McGarrigle and “Faithless Love” from JD Souther.

Joni Mitchell

With Court And Spark, Joni Mitchell both reached her commercial peak and also subtly signaled that she was moving away from any pop influence on her sound. Hits like “Free Man In Paris” and “Help Me” were already pushing towards more of a jazz area, but the hooks still drew in the radio listeners. This album captures Mitchell at her most diverse. She rocks more convincingly than ever before on “Raised On Robbery”. And some of the folk-based tendencies of her earliest work still shine through on character sketches like “Peoples Parties”. Her next studio album (The Hissing Of Summer Lawns) found her pretty much leaving the pop music scene behind in favor of her more eclectic impulses.

Chaka Khan

At the start of 1974, they were known only as Rufus. By the end of the year, they were going by the moniker of Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan. That should tell you a little bit about the massive impact that Khan made in a short period of time. What a year it was for the band. They managed to squeeze in a pair of hit-laden albums (Rags To Rufus and Rufusized) in that stretch. Part of the reason they enjoyed such success is that they could stretch their musical boundaries far and wide. They managed to do that because of Khan’s versatility as a singer. Her rapid ascent in the band’s hierarchy caused issues with some frustrated band members. But you can’t argue that Rufus’ biggest success came in ’74 at the same time as Khan took her place among the elite singers of any genre.

Linda Thompson

The other three albums on this list contained hit singles aplenty. Not so for I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight. As the years passed, however, this album’s status as one of the finest ever in the folk-rock genre only grew. And Linda Thompson’s participation had a great deal to do with that. Her husband Richard snuck her onto the LP as a musical partner without his record label knowing he was doing it. (He was supposed to be a solo act at the time.) His instincts to include her were spot-on. Whether gliding through the jaunty title track, conveying abject sorrow on “Withered And Died”, or walking out onto the vocal wire with “The Great Valerio”, Linda proved utterly captivating.

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