Posted on 10/16/2017 2:26:55 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Hi, Linda. It has been 40 years since the release of your hugely successful album Simple Dreams (1). Do you have happy memories of it?
Well, I don’t ever listen to my stuff once I’ve finished it, and I don’t really know what’s on it. I’m not saying it’s a bad record, I’m just saying I can’t remember it. When I listen to all my old stuff, I tend to be horrified.
What do you feel is horrifying about your old stuff?
I feel as if I really started learning how to sing in around 1980. I sang in an operetta on Broadway (2) and I sang American standards – the material just allowed me to extend my range.
So you don’t have a favourite out of the 28 studio albums you have recorded?
I don’t like any of them, but there are moments on some records that I like. The one with Nelson Riddle; the Trio records (3) I did with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. I made a record with Ann Savoy, the Cajun singer, after I got Parkinson’s disease, and I could barely sing. I had to whisper everything, but that was a really successful record for us – artistically successful (4).
You were diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2012. How has it felt to have the thing that defined you taken away?
Singing was certainly a part of my identity, but it was never the whole thing. It was something I did, but I always felt defined more by where I was from, who my parents were, who my family were and how I interacted with them. Being a successful singer was only a fraction of it.
‘I could call up Emmylou Harris and we would sing together over the phone.’
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
“Or the best accordion player in Harlem.”
—
Heh.
>>Too me that would be the equivalent of being the best brain surgeon in all of Dogpatch.<<
You haven’t heard really good mariachi. The great ones are classically trained opera singers and musicians.
neither do I
Shame on you How racist. Mariachi music has roots in myriad places. Accordians. Violins, trumpets. Amazing lyrics. And voices to lift your soul.
I saw here in the early 80s at the University of Wyoming Field House. The thing I remember most is her singing the Eagles Desperado - she nailed it big time. Standing ovation for about 5 minutes.
Great point about Karla Bonoff. I have a few songs of hers on my iPod (Loving you, Isn’t it always love, Someone to lay down beside, I can’t hold on). She may not have the vocal range Linda Rondstadt had, but you are right about the passion.
She did an album with Emmylou Harris back in the 90s that I thought was real good. Prior to that, I hadn’t paid much attention to her.
“And when I grow to old to dream, your love will live in my heart.”
I love that song.
It was my break-up song for years.
“Canciones de Mi Padre,” 1987, was really good with Mariachi, Ranchera, Latin & Mexican music and influences. It was a global smash hit, 2½ million US sales, Double-Platinum, and is the biggest selling non-English language album in American record history. Ronstadt won the Grammy Award for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album at the 31st Grammy Awards.
They were personal, heartfelt songs, too — These canciones were a big part of Ronstadt’s family tradition and musical roots. The title Canciones De Mi Padre refers to a booklet that the University of Arizona published in 1946 for Ronstadt’s deceased aunt, Luisa Espinel, who had been an international singer in the 1920s. The songs come from Sonora and Ronstadt included her favorites on the album. Ronstadt has credited the late Mexican singer Lola Beltrán as an influence in her own singing style, and she recalls how a frequent guest to the Ronstadt home, Eduardo “Lalo” Guerrero, father of Chicano music, would often serenade her as child with these songs.
It’s hilarious to hear Dolly talk about working with her.
Loved her version of “All that you Dream.”
The Nelson Riddle one is good and the only one I have of hers.
That song. Still hurts after all these years.
That was a great album. I saw her on her album tour when she came to New Orleans. The band was excellent. The follow up album Màs Canciones wasn’t as good.
That makes two of us
We were all better looking 40 years ago.
She is highly rated by her music industry peers, as a singer.
She was considered “country” at the start of country rock, including The Eagles, etc.
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