Linda Ronstadt: The Sound Of My Voice

During a recent State Department reception for Kennedy Center honorees, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo referenced Linda Ronstadt's 1975 hit "When Will I Be Loved?"

"As I travel the world, I wonder when will I be loved?" he asked.

She replied, "I'd like to say to Mr. Pompeo, who wonders when he'll be loved, it's when he stops enabling Donald Trump."

Ronstadt has been speaking and singing her mind for over five decades, and her remarkable career and commitment is chronicled in Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman's bittersweet, heartwarming documentary "Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice."

Narrated by Ronstadt, and featuring a plethora of admiring luminaries among a myriad of archival concert and talk show clips, the film recounts her life from a humble childhood in Tucson, Arizona, to ten Grammys, 26 nominations, 11 platinum albums (some multi-platinum), and more than 100 million albums sold worldwide. 

With a mom from Michigan and a father from Mexico, she, her brother, and her sister grew up on the remaining ten acres of her grandfather's cattle ranch. Their house was filled with music, including standards, classical, Hank Williams, and Spanish songs, which she sang, but couldn't speak. She learned vibrato from her brother's boys choir experience. The three siblings formed a family band, then Ronstadt moved to LA in 1964 and performed with her group, the Stone Poneys. Her first hit was Michael Nesmith's "Different Drum." 

She became part of the burgeoning music scene, and says her outlook changed after she saw The Byrds combine rock and folk. Industry execs wanted her to pursue a solo career, and she was originally backed up by Don Henley and Glenn Fry, who soon left to form the Eagles, a move fully supported by Ronstadt. She sang backup on Neil Young's "Heart of Gold," then opened for him on a big tour. 

Her star ascended quickly due to her range and interpretation of the songs she carefully selected to cover. She blended rock, pop, country, R&B with an intense work ethic and perfectionism. 

Even though she was selling out the country's major venues, she was still worried about not being good enough. She inspired the few women in the male-dominated industry, like Bonnie Raitt, and became friends with Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton. They later recorded together as Trio, what Parton calls "like injecting a serum into your veins, like getting on an eagle," and Harris notes that "their biggest disagreements were whether we should use autoharp or dulcimer."

But Ronstadt was tired of performing arena rock. She didn't like the sound, so she branched out, performing on "The Muppet Show" and earning a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut in "The Pirates of Penzance." Her co-nominated co-star Kevin Kline called her voice "gorgeous... a celestial yet earthy bel canto." She then turned to the great American songbook in "What's New" and subsequent albums with arrangements by Nelson Riddle, because she wanted "to get those songs out of the elevator." Actor Harry Dean Stanton, a neighbor, inspired her to record "Canciones di Mi Padre," a Mexican Mariachi album, also followed by more in that genre. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, and her last concert was in November 2009. She had been diagnosed with Parkinson's, disease which also took her grandmother, and is no longer able to control her exquisite singing voice. 

But she can still talk, and expresses her gratitude throughout the doc, for her gift, her range, her opportunities and the best musicians in the world with whom she was able to collaborate. She always prioritized the music over celebrity, and now the music has left her. But not her voice. 

Special Features include the theatrical trailer and an additional interview.

Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice

Blu-ray

$14.00

https://www.lindaronstadtmovie.com

https://www.edgemedianetwork.com/entertainment/movies//285273/linda_ronstadt:_the_sound_of_my_voice