Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice

[Jersey Girl]

I never thought I would get to see this. Just spent the last less-than-an-hour listening and viewing. What a gift! Her voice is the purest female voice that ever graced my ears. So happy I found this tonight!

People. She sings near the end of this. With Parkinson's.

Linda Ronstadt Documentary Movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjZy8fGjwHQ

[MeDotOrg]

Jersey Girl, I started watching this tonight and stopped. Bought the Blu Ray on line. I will watch the whole thing on home theater. I want to get the whole experience.

I don't want to say much more until I see the whole thing, but I first saw Linda Ronstadt at the Palomino Club at the North-North End of North Hollywood:


She had an amazing musical journey.

[Jersey Girl]

MeDot, in my opinion, she is the greatest female vocalist I've ever heard. Bar none. I envy that you saw her live! I think you'll very much appreciate the story. Report back!

FYI: There is a current video on YouTube of her singing. I'll try to dig that up for you.

[Jersey Girl]

Here you are, MeDot. This is bittersweet for sure. I think it may actually be in the documentary.

Linda Ronstadt Sings Ballad in 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2t1xCcqST0

[Gunnar]

Linda Ronstadt is indeed an incredible singer. Probably no one ever sang the part of Mabel in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance better than she did. We have a DVD of that operetta, and we never get tired of watching and listening to it. Easily the most enjoyable part of that marvelous DVD recording is Linda Ronstadt's vocals. The marvelous purity and vocal range of her voice is particularly demonstrated in the song Poor Wandering One. I get chills of pleasure every time I hear her sing that!

[MeDotOrg]

I think I had every album from Heart Like a Wheel up until Canciones de mi Padre. Her voice has a special place in my heart. I fell madly in love with a girl in 1975, and we both loved Linda Ronstadt, so a lot of her music is intertwined with my feeling for that girl.

In 1976 I worked on a California Political Proposition, Yes on 15. It basically said that nuclear power plants couldn't operate until they could come up with a long term solution for spent fuel, which remains radioactive for hundreds of thousand of years. Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne and the Eagles all did Yes on 15 concerts. She did 2 dates at the Troubadour, and I got to see both of them, albeit up in the balcony. One of the biggest musical thrills of my life.

Yes on 15 got clobbered in the election, though.

One of the things I've written about is that I appreciate is people who are in service to the song. Ronstadt's life is that ethos writ large. Her life was really in service to music. Her musical landscape never stopped evolving and expanding.

My stepmother was a Big Band Singer, and when she started losing her voice it was like she lost a part of herself. I can't imagine what it must be like for Linda, whose identity was music. It's like you had a connection between your body and soul that was severed.

A strange coda to her story: One of the things that is not mentioned is that Linda adopted two children. Her son Carlos went to school with the daughter of a woman I know, and there was some sort of inappropriate behavior that Carlos was exhibiting towards her daughter. She actually met Linda and they discussed the problem. She said she was very down to earth, understood the situation and dealt with it appropriately. Her children are not mentioned in the documentary, and I would imagine she wants to keep that side of her life private. The area where she lives (Seacliff) is actually west of the Golden Gate Bridge, very secluded and private.

There's a moment where Emmylou Harris is talking about Linda losing her voice, and she stopped speaking. Her eyes well up with tears. There is nothing more to say.

[Jersey Girl]

Clementine. Her daughter's name is Clementine.

ETA: Mary Clementine. I was half right.

[Jersey Girl]

There's a moment where Emmylou Harris is talking about Linda losing her voice, and she stopped speaking. Her eyes well up with tears. There is nothing more to say.

I know. It's so profoundly sad.

p.s. I still have my Ronstadt vinyl.

[Jersey Girl]

No glitz. No gimmickry. No autotune. Just a girl, a piano, and a mic. If this doesn't give you chills, you are quite simply dead.


Linda Ronstadt - Desperado
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeQyoTIQOOM

[Jersey Girl]

MeDot where can I order a new needle for our turntable? We've got a Sansui 6500 Quad outfit doing nothing around here. I think the turntable is Pioneer or some such thing. My vinyl collection is going to waste.