Linda Ronstadt: The Sound Of My Voice

It was an great 'rocumentary' with some of the icons of the era.  I went to the Goodwill the next day to rummage through the records.  You never know what you'll find.  Here's a copy of her first record with Capitol....in flawless condition...jacket too!  Heck of a deal for $3!!!  

IF you don’t want the context and understanding for her views just stick to the mainstream country rock
hits. IF you want a deeper understanding of her art and views, dig deeper. Her views on racism and the environment are not new. Alexa play me some soft jazz created by an apolitical bot with no history, context, beliefs or passion...,

OMG she brings back to when I was a teenager in Astoria ,hanging out at the local pizza place .Long ,Long Time ,is her song I remember  with joy and sorry..My first love Lisa  crushed my young heart ,but I will always love her anyway ,lol.But I love all of her albums ,I have everyone on cd .I had them most of them on Lp.But sold them .Luckily  when I got back into Albums  again ,I bough a collection from a lady and got alot of her 70s n 80s stuff in mint condition again .Her voice in my mind is Second to None.

Political opinions, which we all have and a right to, aside, Ms. Ronstadt has my vote for female vocalist of the '70's. IMO she has transcended all genre of music she has so graciously shared with us. I continue to enjoy her varied catalog of music, and yes I had a crush on her in the 60's, which continues to this day. Listen to Linda and the Stone Poneys "Different Drums" and if it does not bring memories of the believability and honesty in a vocal performance I do not know what will (IMHO). She has many songs that evokes memories and passion in us all, to include "When Will I Be Loved".

... She recently took advantage of this "airing of her life" about her to voice a political opinion: that disappointed me - not because I agree or disagree with her, but because it just cheapened my opinion of her. Sorry - but I just don't believe recent re-popularity builds credibility. We all have opinions and I am disappointed that her "last hurrah" might be a political opinion...
Why not a simple "Thank You" to fans who idolize her, her talent and the memories tied to their life by hearing her sing her music...
GREATEST SINGLE RECORDED VOCAL PERFORMANCE: WHEN WILL I BE LOVED (SO from the heart...)

Too bad Linda never collaborated with Los Lobos!

I remember that I was trying to decide if I should buy a CD player back in the dawn of history, when I went to my local Macintosh dealer for a hearing.    Her CD "Whats New"  was playing on a $400 Yamaha player and I made the decision to buy both.    I still listen to that CD and I have a copy on my computer.  She did have a great voice and thankfully we all can still enjoy her singing.

Enjoyed the documentary very much. I remarked to my wife that LR is the most skilled and versatile singer I have ever had the pleasure of listening to.

Look at the hyper diverse range from folk to country to rock to border to Mexican standards to the great American song book, big band, and broadway.... ALL of it stellar

the book is very complementary to the movie, for example the connection to Jim M of the Doors is missing in the film..

your mileage may vary

@barts the third is “Sentimental Reasons” listen to her sing the opening line of “When You Wish Upon a Star” or the closing line of “Goodbye” off “What’s New” what a talent!

No doubt, she is one of the great ones!

opinions of her best LP recording?

Simple Dreams...start there

@jw944ts SO HARD TO PICK!

As a HUGE LR fan, biggest I know anyway from day 1, I used her recordings to sell tons of Audio Research/Magneplanar systems in the ’70’s. Crystal clear recordings and female voices sound so good on the early Maggies. (Used Maria Muldaur as well...).

Saw her at the Sportatorium (South FL people will get off on that!) and sat 7 rows back from the stage. I was mesmerized--this was her Living in the USA period, and as good as any. (Thank-you, Elaine, for taking me!  ALL the ladies I went out with back then knew she was my first love.  Even dated a lady for years because she looked like Linda--we are still friends today.)

I still listen to her recordings pretty much all the time. Recorded and rewatched the Kennedy Center honor show, and read several books of the times--hers included.

Biggest surprise was that she did not enjoy the rock music, and that she stated she could listen to a singer and tell almost immediately who the singer was copying. A real musician who dated Jerry Brown--I even collected all the magazines she was interviewed in and still have them, including that wonderful Rolling Stone cover.

Since she liked the Mexican and Standards stuff best, I guess I will go for those, but I still love her Stone Pony stuff, and her Buddy Holly covers with Peter Asher were amazing.

Finally, the trio stuff was not as exciting as I thought it could be--mixing issues, I guess--but those are wonderful as well.

So, let’s just select HER ENTIRE CATALOG as my favs, OK?

Cheers,

Richard

Linda recorded a three CDs of "standards" with Nelson Riddle.
"What's New", "Lush Life" and (can't remember the third).  Great sound and great music and great voice.  Just listen to the track "What's New"
from CD of the same name. Amazing power in her voice and BTW a 
fabulous test CD.

opinions of her best LP recording?

Linda has an amazing career and voice!! I lost my Dad to Super Necular Palsy  With the Canadian health care system, it took them almost three years to figure out what he had.
This was back in 1999 It's a very rare disease 

It is not semantics. She was initially misdiagnosed with Parkinson's, but subsequently learned that it was progressive supranuclear palsy, which has many of the same symptoms.

Sorry everyone for the misinformation.  Seems funny that almost every article I've read says she has/had Parkinson's?  I would think by now that would have been corrected.  The article I linked above is about a month old.  Oh well, it's still terrible.

It is not semantics. She was initially misdiagnosed with Parkinson's, but subsequently learned that it was progressive supranuclear palsy, which has many of the same symptoms. This is a similar story to Robin Williams, whose Parkinson's diagnosis was changed to Lewy bodies disease.https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/linda-ronstadt-never-stopped-singing/2019/12/02/5...
The documentary was fantastic. I thought her book was not very good. The doc was much more revealing.

I struggle to think of another vocalist who had the same range, both technically and in terms of musical styles covered. Her work in the mid 70s from Heart like a Wheel through Simple Man, Simple Dreams is just stunningly good.

The Linda Ronstadt documentary was excellent indeed. It seems like we are living in a golden age of music documentaries.

 The recently released David Crosby documentary ("Remember My Name") was also great. I'd give the Crosby documentary a slight edge,  as he led a little more colorful and/or controversial life.

See here:

https://heavy.com/entertainment/2019/12/linda-ronstadt-illness-disease-parkinsons-health/

This article is pretty recent. Semantics?

See above

She does not have Parkinson’s disease. She has progressive supra nuclear opthalmoplegia The same disease that Dudley Moore had- a Horrible disease for which there is no treatment.

What a voice in her prime!   Looking forward to seeing the documentary.

Fantastic documentary.  Had a chance to see her live at Baker Center in Athens.  Had to say no.  Sucks being a poor student.  Regret that decision to this day.

Wonderful that she and her band mates can elicit that deep well of emotion :-)

I'll join the chorus in praising the documentary, which is informative, moving, and tells a story very much worth hearing.

Linda had so many great songs and performances over the years.  It's hard to pick out a favorite, but "Long, Long Time" is the Saddest Song I've Ever Heard.  Her performance of it is so effective that hearing it even today sweeps me up in the emotional tides of my much younger self.

The documentary gave me a much deeper appreciation of Linda, and I was in tears at the end of the film.

Right on ! The New Yorker interview is awesome and gives some insight into what she is reading. Her book is also awesome