Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice

"Linda Ronstadt:The Sound of My Voice" is one strong doc that shows and tells the story of a folk rock music legend. From her humble start in Arizona to her travel to L.A for fame and stardom, it was clear that Linda was determined to make it big! Also family and her Mexican background would always blend her music which included country, pop, rock, and love folk ballads. Interviews from family, friends, and other acts are touching. It was clear too that Linda had a gift of a strong voice and she shined as a female in a dominated male field of singers. She was also outspoken for women and human rights, also spotlighted is her relationship with former California governor Jerry Brown. Overall well done doc of a singing legend who touched many of our hearts with her voice!

Greetings again from the darkness. This may be a conventionally-structured documentary profiling a well-known person, but that person possessed extraordinary talent, and her story deserves to be told ... or better yet, heard. Parkinson 's disease has robbed Linda Ronstadt of her celestial vocal gift, but co-directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman succeed in proving how dynamic she was as a singer, and also how she influenced so many others.

The film opens with the audio of Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, Johnny Carson and Dick Cavett introducing her on their respective TV programs, while a montage of magazine covers and album covers remind of us of her once immense and widespread popularity. We then take a journey through Ronstadt's childhood. Her grandfather invented the electric stove and electric toaster, and music played a significant role in all family gatherings. She describes how, as a young girl in Tucson, the radio was her "best friend in the world" as she listened to music from both sides of the border.

In 1964, at the age of 18 and the urging of her musician friend Bobby Kimmel, Ronstadt moved from Tucson to southern California to join a community of musicians. She rented a flat in Santa Monica for $80 per month - a price point that barely secures a meal at a decent restaurant in the area these days. Thanks to The Byrds, folk rock was exploding on the scene. Ronstadt sang back up on Neil Young's huge hit "Heart of Gold", and she, along with many others, performed regularly at The Troubadour. It's here where she crossed paths with Don Henley, Jackson Browne, and JD Souther, the latter of which became her boyfriend, songwriter, and producer.

The steady stream of interviews includes Henley, Browne, and Souther, as well as LA Times music critic Robert Hilburn, Asylum Records founder David Geffen, Bonnie Raitt, producer John Boylon, the legendary Ry Cooder, Cameron Crowe, Karla Bonoff, and (former Beatles) agent and producer Peter Asher. Most memorable are the recollections of Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris, who collaborated with Ronstadt on the 1987 Grammy winning album "Trio". Ms. Parton's segment is especially insightful as she contrasts her own instinctive singing style with that of Ronstadt's analytic and perfectionist approach. Ms. Harris is featured in a clip of herself performing at a very young age, and she's quite emotional when discussing Ronstadt's gift.

It's quite fascinating to follow the number of shifts in her career and musical style. After achieving so much as a folk and pop singer, she was incredibly successful in country music, and as a tribute to her mother's favorites with American Standards arranged by Nelson Riddle. She also mesmerized with the operatic songs in "Pirates of Penzance" and stunned the music industry with her best-selling album of Mexican standards. Although she labels herself a balladeer and harmonizer, those descriptions are far too humble, and underscore the opinionated talent she was. The clips of her performing onstage are breath-taking. Her voice combining power, texture and nuance.

Linda Ronstadt was never a songwriter. She was an expert song interpreter like Elvis and Sinatra. She claims "every song has a face", and the numerous clips of her singing provide visual proof of what she means. The film touches on her early addiction to diet pills/speed, as well as her relationship with Jerry Browne, the duets with Aaron Neville and Ruben Blades, and for bonus points mentions the influence of the late great Harry Dean Stanton. We see her 2013 Rock n Roll Hall of Fame tribute performed by five fabulous female singers ... and it's their performance that really drives home just what a pure and unique voice Ronstadt possessed. While the trip through the many genres is interesting, what really stands out are the clips of her on stage ... making yet another song all hers. Linda Ronstadt certainly sang to the beat of a different drum, and we were fortunate to hear her.

What a wonderful experience... lots of terrific concert footage. She truly could sing anything, any style. This is a must for fans and those who, for lack of age or perhaps being in a long-term coma, are unfamiliar with her delightfully outspoken character and phenomenal pipes... my only regret is that it could have easily been an extra half-hour long. Cannot get enough of her!!

The thing that should strike you most as you watch this film is the fact that Linda Ronstadt never stopped challenging herself, and she always succeeded. She changed genres several times, she challenged herself with singing a foreign language, she tried stage acting, and she revitalized lost gems that were considered "elevator music." She removed herself from her comfort zone many times, and she could have fallen straight on her face. But she did it anyway. She is one of the boldest musicians ever. As people state in the film, any one of the things that I listed could have damned her to obscurity forever because the general public also doesn't like to leave *its* comfort zone with a known performer. They want the familiar hits and a familiar genre. Familiarity bored Linda. As she stated in the film, when she played the same songs in the same arenas time after time she could practically hear the guitar solo from last week echoing in the building. Boring. A true artist wants challenges. She is a true artist, and her life is well worth researching.

"I had a galvanised voice: I could sing through a 105 fever or a flu or a root canal or anything that you could throw at me." Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice is a perfect documentary about a rock star: It's not the confessional like David Crosby: Remember My Name, not fanciful about Bruce Springsteen in Blinded by the Light, nor romantic like the Beatles' almost-tribute Yesterday.

It is authentic about the titular gifted lady, who could step into any genre easily, and who could win the audience's heart without falsification.

To hear her sing Different Drum is to be hurtled back to the '60's and '70's when a good folk-rock song could make you believe that women were empowered: "All I'm saying is I'm not ready/For any person, place, or thing to try and pull the reins in on me-e-e-e-e." When you see her, Dolly, and Emmy sing together, you want more, and you forget how tough it was to break through the male-dominated rock scene.

Directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman deftly guide the audience through the small lives of friends as well as the big musical moments that define Linda's life. As she guides herself through light opera and Mexican music, we can't help but be further curious while respecting her we'll-earned privacy. That the Mexican album sold the most for Spanish-speaking albums in history is testament to her ability to do well whatever she wanted to do.

This doc is exemplary for giving some lengthy time watching Linda sing as well as just right for the biographical information and talking-head commentary. Her acceptance of Parkinson's disease later in life is another testament to a woman of courage. In fact, there are more achieving women in this doc than in Wonder Woman.

"I miss singing every day. I can't sing anymore. My voice doesn't work. I have Parkinson's disease, and it sometimes takes my words away from me." Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice is all you need to know about her and her music. Enjoy.