Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice – Worth Hearing

Question: How can you tell if a man is a music lover?  Answer: When a beautiful woman is singing in the shower he'll put his ear to the keyhole!  With Linda Ronstadt, it's a win/win either way! This is the fourth documentary I've seen this year about music stars, with "Leonard and Marianne," "David Crosby: Remember My Name," and "Echo in the Canyon" being the other three.  I didn't like this one as much as the first three because I didn't feel that I got to know Linda much, but the documentary is still worth seeing because she was a phenomenal singer and performer.  Linda was the biggest female rock star in the 1970's.  Linda eventually tired of the touring and performing in huge stadiums, so she also did operetta ("Pirates of Penzance"), a country album with a couple of close friends – Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris ("Trio," 1987) – and a Spanish album of Mexican folk songs.  Linda has won numerous Grammys.  She had amazing range and could sing any kind of music.  She could really belt out the rock numbers, but her favorite songs were ballads.  Linda grew up in Tucson hearing radio stations from Mexico.  Her Mexican father had a great voice, played guitar, and was in a band, so she grew up singing all kinds of Mexican and other cultural songs with her family. I didn't appreciate what a great singer she was in the 1970's (since I was primarily interested in singer/songwriters), but seeing clips of her performances in the film makes me realize I should have bought more of her albums.  (I saw her in concert once at the Universal Theatre when she was wearing her now-famous boy scout outfit, but that was the only time.) Linda came to L.A. in 1964, and it didn't take long for her to get noticed and land a record deal.  She worked with many fine musicians including Glenn Frey and Don Henley.  Linda and J.D. Souther lived together for a while.  She also had a relationship with Jerry Brown.  Unfortunately, we don't learn anything about either romantic relationship, except that they ended. Linda had many musician friends in addition to those mentioned above, and some of them make comments about her talent and life, including Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt.  (Apparently, it was very difficult for a female to be in charge of all-male rock bands, but there weren't many females that played guitar and drums back then.)  For a short time, Linda abused diet pills, but for the most part she avoided the perils of drugs and alcohol. Unfortunately, she developed Parkinson's disease, which stole her voice, so she stopped singing professionally in 2009.  If you don't have any of her CDs or albums, I recommend you listen to her on Apple Music or Spotify. Bottom Line: "It's So Easy" to fall in love with Linda Ronstadt!