Linda Ronstadt followed the commercial and critical breakthrough success of Heart Like a Wheel with Prisoner in Disguise, a record that essentially repeats the formula of its predecessor. While it lacks the consistency of Heart Like a Wheel, it's thoroughly enjoyable, highlighted by sturdy remakes of the Motown classics "Tracks of My Tears" and "Heat Wave." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Prisoner In Disguise (1975) is Linda Ronstadt's sixth solo LP release and her second for the label Asylum Records. It followed Ronstadt's Multi-Platinum breakthrough album, Heart Like A Wheel, which became her first of three #1 albums on the Billboard album chart in February 1975.
"Heat Wave," a rockified re-make of the 1963 hit covered by Martha and the Vandellas, peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Its B-side, a countrified version of Neil Young's "Love Is A Rose," generated its own airplay and peaked at #5 on the Hot Country Songs chart.[4] The double-sided hits "Tracks Of My Tears," a re-make of a 1965 hit by the Miracles, and "The Sweetest Gift," an older country standard then most recently recorded by the Seldom Scene[5], also made it to the Country singles chart, peaking at Nos. 11 and 12 respectively in early 1976. "Tracks" also peaked at #25 on the Hot 100 and #4 on the Adult Contemporary songs chart.