Linda Ronstadt - LIVE IN HOLLYWOOD

Linda Ronstadt - I Can't Let Go

Live at Television Center Studios, Hollywood, Ca. April 24,1980

"Legendary" is stretching it.

Linda Ronstadt - Party Girl

She looks cute. I thought she was going to look like a total mess from all of the reports about her health I've been hearing here in the Bay Area.

She's no Connie Francis, that's for sure.

That loud drunk threw a fishbone at me at Citrus restaurant on Melrose.

Dreadful creature.

Linda Ronstadt - Faithless Love

Our love was retired, now I am too.

Linda Ronstadt - Just One Look (Live In Hollywood 1980)

Bad Hair day. No medical condition can excuse that. What happened to those beautiful tresses?

What the hell happened to her? Is this normal aging!? Good god I hope not.

It looks like a wig.

you're no GOOD

R7, because of her Parkinson's she can't raise her arms over her head, so it looks she got her hair cut to be as low maintenance as possible

The less I know about her, the better I like her music, so I won't be watching.

Linda Ronstadt - You're No Good (Live In Hollywood 1980)

She was so gorgeous when she was young. Different Drum is always one of my favorites

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (LIVE) @ 6:25

She’s the voice of her generation. Incredible instrument, incredible technique.

I tried to tell Linda that her anger management issues were nothing a fun trip to Dollywood couldn't cure, but she done stood me up and look at her now, still seething with rage!

Thank you, OP.

Sally Field with a blue rinse.

she's ready for the retirement home

"I'm afraid of suffering, but I'm not afraid of dying"

R 11

She's 72 years old and has Parkinson's.

Dreams to Dream

The Pirates of Penzance

Absolutely the worst live performer I've ever seen. Zero stage presence or charisma. The voice was good, but there are lots of singers who sing just as well as her, but with real emotion and feeling.

Maybe she was better when she was younger and thinner, but after her Nelson Riddle phase, she was just going though the motions. From what I've heard, she is a very difficult person to get along with. When even a sweetheart like Dolly Parton thinks you're an impossible bitch, then there's something wrong with you.

"Absolutely the worst live performer I've ever seen. Zero stage presence or charisma."

That is true. One critic said she acted like a "dumb kitten" onstage. All she could do was stand there and sing. But with that kind of voice, I guess it was enough. Plus, she WAS good looking at one time.

R27 beautiful, love Phoebe, thank you

She opened for the Carpenters in 1970 and did nothing but yell into the microphone. Terrible.

Never heard she was difficult. She was a big champion of a lot of artists back in the day. (Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, Nicolette, Karla Bonoff, Wendy Waldman). Warren Zevon credited her with boosting his career. The Eagles said they owe their careers to her. She's not a diva in the slightest.

[quote]When even a sweetheart like Dolly Parton thinks you're an impossible bitch, then there's something wrong with you.

Dolly is a sweetheart, but Dolly herself admitted that she was at fault for the way the whole Trio 2 album situation went down, and apologized to Linda and Emmy for badmouthing them in public. They're close friends.

She lacks stage presence and too often offers little emotional heft to the material.

But she is, or was, a wonderful singer with a sense of adventure and deep commitment to her work. I am sorry she has Parkinson’s, for her and for myself, because I think she might have had a fascinating final act drawing on various genres, perhaps with a better sense of interpretation that sometimes comes with age.

Love Blue Train.

Ronstadt was a singer, not a performer and that's why her concerts fell flat. When she did slightly reinterpret a number, like the piano accompanied Desperado, the results were sublime.

R4, so what are you hearing about her health up in the Bay Area?

@R10 - She changed her 'look' to keep up with me -

I saw her in concert years ago in LA, and her back was out. She performed sitting on a stool the entire show. Great voice, but not a drop of personality. Fortunately, the ticked were comped.

She has never not been my favorite singer since I first heard her in 1976.

I believe it was in People that Carly stated Linda had "the best white pipes" in the business.

Her voice was "pretty" but her range was very limited. She tried a lot of different musical styles and she really wasn't suited to much besides ballads and country music. She was no rock singer, and certainly no "new wave" singer. Her remakes of songs like "That'll Be The Day" and "Back in the U.S. A." and "Tumbling Dice" were really lame. She did versions of songs by Elvis Costello, "Girls Talk" and "Alison" and they were both ridiculous. She had no idea what those songs were about; she said she liked "Alison" because she had a friend named Alison. Elvis Costello hated her versions of his songs but he said if he made money from her cover versions, hey, it was ok with him. Later she did standards and Mexican music. But she was at her best singing heartbreak songs. That was her forte.

Oh, fuck off, Elvis.

I love her early stuff but the Nelson Riddle phase lost me. The. That horrible album where she sang Latino music dressed like a worker at the Mexican ride at Epcot was the last straw.

"Live In Hollywood" has been available on eBay in a bootleg version for years. The boot has more songs, too.

So either somebody somewhere finally decided it warranted an "official" release, or the vultures at Warner/Elektra/Atlantic/Rhino are cashing in on a phenomenal singer who can no longer sing, prior to her departing this mortal coil.

Linda, Dolly, Emmylou

This is what Ronstadt's voice was made for.

And something like this. . .

In the 80's I met this great guy who was my total opposite. He was so outrageous and I was not at all. We had a few months of incredible sex and probably fell a little bit in love with each other. I was looking for a relationship and he was not. We decided one night to get stoned and play all of our favorite tearjerking music for each other and get stoned. After our 3rd bong, he played this for me. Then we had mindblowing, romantic sex for about 4 hours. Crushingly beautiful memory for me. It's one of the reasons why I love Linda.

To me, the Nelson Riddle album was my all-time favorite. After all these years, I still listen to it fairly often.

She looked like Miss Piggy.

"Linda Ronstadt can no longer sing. But there is still so much music left in her life." - Miami Herald

"To hear Parton tell it, the sessions could have been titled 'The Three Tempers': Parton, who can nail a song 'just as good the first time as the hundredth'; Harris, the 'sweet' country purist who painstakingly researched material; and Ronstadt, the perfectionist diva who 'loves to live in the studio and works so slow, it drives me nuts. I wanted to say, "Wake up, bitch, I got stuff to do."'"

The article that R38 posted had a link to an excerpt from article about Dolly Parton (Ladies' Home Journal, 1995). That quote's from the article. Dolly did not sound very apologetic. It sounded like Linda was hard to work with, for Dolly.

R53. Nice story about the man that got away.

What does Parkinson's disease do to a person? I thought it just caused trembling.

R31 God, what a voice. Say what you will about her stage presence, the woman could sing just about anything.

R54 In case you didn't know, there's actually 3 Ronstadt/Nelson Riddle albums: "What's New", "Lush Life" and "For Sentimental Reasons". The "Round Midnight" compilation collects them into a single release.

See you at 9, r61. Gonna nap now.

A bootleg of Linda with the Folger's Coffee lady on Saturday Night Live.

She's half-forgotten these days. The younger generation has no idea who she is.

Is anyone watching CBS This Morning? I’m equally excited about the peanut allergy story and the frau who just said something like a jar of peanuts is like a jar of poison.

I came to Linda relatively late. As a young gayling in the 80’s, it seemed like she won every Grammy and it was during her Nelson Riddle / Spanish language stuff. I didn’t connect to it at all. Then came her late 80s pop comeback with Cry Like a Rainstorm which seemed big, and I had the 45 of Somewhere Out There (Mary!). But in my late 30s, I went deep on her catalogue and became obsessed. Heart Like a Wheel is a perfect album. I also love Simple Dreams. Winter Light is also fantastic. LOVE HER.

At r63, she shows more onstage energy and enthusiasm than she did in entire concerts.

Maybe she should’ve had Phoebe Snow tour with her.

Phoebe Snow was so underrated. She had a pretty hard life and then died relatively young.

R59, you’re a bit of a dolt. It’s a progressive nervous system disorder. It’s starts with tremors, but often ends with complete loss of motor control. It’s a slow, agonizing way to die.

R69 You can see at the beginning of the clip her head is shaking and her voice is also starting to quiver. It looks like the disease is really progressing on her.

Ronstadt is forgotten because she disappeared. No performances on Ellen or Rosie or Oprah or anywhere. These little interviews don't make her more known. Others, like Ann Wilson or Stevie Nicks are still performing which is why the oldies stations keep playing their songs. So yes, she is kinda like Connie Francis in that regard.

I am listening to her now. 583 songs. 1.3 days worth of music. Yes, lots of repeats. I bought all the remasters.

Here's a live version of "Blue Bayou":

So sad to see her not in a good way healthwise. I met her 47 years ago after a concert she did at a college when I was visiting a friend. She and her band performed in the field house arena. After the concert my friend needed to go down to the lower level to fetch his running shoes he'd left in his locker. We're walking down the hallway and pass an open door into a locker area and there she was, sitting on a bench putting on her tennis shoes. We boldly stuck our heads in and said hello and complimented her on the concert and she said "hi guys, come on in". We sat and talked with her for about 10 minutes. She was such a sweetheart

She can't walk without help now and mentioned a wheelchair. She first noticed that something was wrong in 2000 so she's a strong woman.

A lovely humble caring person and one of the greats.

One of my favorites, c. 1995.

No, no, no. She needs a live album from her post -"Winter Light"period. She was fat so unconcerned with being sexy and focused strictly on singing. And her voice was on FIRE. This was a critical period in her career. See 2:44 at video.

R74, was that at USC? I was there, if it was.

You know, I always loved her music and give her all the credit for her talent (the voice, if not the "charisma") but I absolutely HATED the Nelson Riddle stuff. It just offended my ears. As a huge fan of the American Songbook and all those lush, wonderful voices from the 30's, 40's and 50's, I always felt (still do) that Ronstadt's voice was a pale imitation, without the pathos, the gravitas, the inner-understanding of those songs to really sing them well. She serviced them. She sang them. But she never felt them. And there is a huge difference.

OTOH, r80, as a baby boomer, I was hearing those songs for the first time in versions I liked. Linda IS the Great American Songbook to me.

I only wish she'd included "The Way You Look Tonight" in the Nelson Riddle albums.

Do geeze on, though.

My uncle has Parkinson's and it's terrible. His life is now the same as Linda described in that interview. He can't leave the house without being pushed in a wheelchair, so he spends a lot of time at home watching tv and reading. Standing and even sitting for long periods is uncomfortable. He's been having trouble swallowing food, his meals have to be pureed now. It's a fucking AWFUL disease that destroys a person's quality of life. I feel sorry for anyone who has to go through it.

[quote]The problem was that Emmy and I always agreed about material. And that would be like two ganging up against one. Unfortunately, Dolly's taste often didn't jive with ours; she has different ideas of what's pretty, and fancy, and impressive. For us, it was uncomfortable often to sort of get around her taste without hurting her feelings, or making her feel like we thought we were better than she was, or hipper than she was. And I thought we did a masterful job with it. There were never any fights. Dolly is as nice as all get out, especially when she gets her way, but on some level she is just a stupid, tacky hick.

R81, you do realize you’re a philistine, right?

In your opinion, r84. I could not care less.

Who are you, r84, Michael Feinstein?

Way to win converts, r84.

No, sorry R79. It was the other side of the country.

[quote]We decided one night to get stoned and play all of our favorite tearjerking music for each other and get stoned. After our 3rd bong, he played this for me. Then we had mindblowing, romantic sex for about 4 hours. Crushingly beautiful memory for me. It's one of the reasons why I love Dorothy Zbornak.

Fixed it for you.

With Nicolette.....

Taco platters for all!

Yeah Dolly wasn't a fan and I trust Dolly's opinion. Robin Quivers hates her too.

Yippee!

Wake up, bitch! I got stuff to do!

R30, that’s stupid! Look at that stupid look on her face! 😆

R89, that's my favorite episode of Golden Girls, seriously. Blanche drags Dorothy to the Rusty Anchor bar (Dorothy's staying home too much) and Dorothy becomes more popular than Blanche.

This is the start of the rather uncomfortable moment with Linda and Robin Quivers. The crowd really seemed to be on Robin’s side.

That came after Howard made the remarks about Selena, which he later apologized for.

How many chins did Linda have in that clip?

Linda gives two fucks what people think about her.

Poor thing

She looks like Chucky.

Can we talk about all the famous dick she must've gotten back in her 1970's hey day? She was gorgeous & mixing it up with the rock stars of that era.

"Can we talk about all the famous dick she must've gotten back in her 1970's hey day?"

Here's a partial list of some of her "boyfriends":

Jackson Browne

Assorted members of the Eagles

J. D. Souther

Albert Brooks

Brett Hudson

Bill Murray

Moon Martin

Jim Carrey

George Lucas

Mick Jagger

Jerry Brown

I am a fan of Ronstadt and also a fan of the American songbook and rancheras, and I can say that while I appreciate her commitment to both genres, she lacks the nuance and passion in her interprations necessary to make them succeed. She doesn’t have a feel for them in the same way she does for the country rock she did in the seventies.

She should get credit on both counts for introducing American standards and ranchera classics to a wider audience, though, and If other people like that work, all the better, and I hope they got to explore older recordings by Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Lucha Villa, or Lola Beltrán.

NB: Everybody derides The Mad Love album for similar reasons, but it’s one of my favorites. I could listen to Can’t let Go on a loop until Tuesday.

No singer of her generation can match the variety of her music catalog. She was such a perfectionist in the studio and put so much time and energy into crafting her albums. I saw her live about 6 times in the 90s and 00s and even up to her sudden retirement she delivered vocally. Her intelligence always always showed through her work.

I've always felt Ronstadt's problem as a vocalist was her lack of finesse and agility in switching notes and chords. She was slow and deliberate and it made her sound too obvious. It especially hurt her on up tempo songs. I think her vocal tones and inflections have always been wonderful.

Blue beyou was hideous!

What do we know about her kids?

Her Mimi may not have been up to snuff, but I give her points for attempting it.

I hate public hairstyles

Her work with Nelson Riddle on those standards actually deepened her interpretive gifts. From "Cry Like A Rainstorm" onward there is a greater level of accomplishment in her singing.

Her voice sucked pre-Parkinson's. her Motown covers are unlistenable.

^ Letterman says "It's better than Tom's." 😉

[quote]"Now, everyone is a child of the Lord and I love 'em all," said Dolly Parton, "but....... there were times in that there studio that I wanted to strangle Linda so hard, her head would pop off and roll sideways into a ditch. I have asked for forgiveness for those thoughts. And, I hope, I have received it. But that is the truth."

[quote]R47 Later she did standards and Mexican music. But she was at her best singing heartbreak songs. That was her forte.

She would agree with you. She wrote in her autobiography that it was always a challenge to find “up” numbers for her records, because she really considered herself a balladeer, and that was it. Her heart isn’t in the other numbers.

"Wake up, bitch! I got stuff to do!" should be as much a DL classic as "When did I eat corn?"

BTW, the on-stage interview shown in OP's clip can be seen here.

I Think It's Gonna Work Out Fine (with James Taylor)

Carole King's "It's Gonna Work Out Fine"

This is the version of My Blue Tears mentioned in those Trio articles. The best track recorded by the three, it got me to the record store first thing in the morning the day Trio was released.

r124 That's an entirely different song. Linda's version was originally recorded by Ike and Tina Turner.

"Wake up, bitch, I got stuff to do."

Is this real? It doesn't sound like Dolly, it doesn't sound like something a celebrity would have said in 1995, and it SURE doesn't sound like something ANYONE would say in Ladies' Home Journal, of all places.

But having said that, I do agree that it should be our new DL slogan now that Carol is gone.

R126 Carole King's versions was an homage to the Ike and Tina version.

The quotation was actually, "Linda, little darlin', bet your finger out of my lady ham, I got me places to go!"

r128 Link, please.

GET your finger.

Lady CLAM.

^ I know it's not. But it's funny.

R130 "SongsCaroleKingDidInHomageToOtherBeatUpHos Dot Com"

"Get your tongue out of my lady ham. I got me a limo to catch."

R127, It's true. I remember reading about their feud when the Trio 2 album came out. Emmylou said It got pretty tense between Dolly and Linda. They had a hard time finishing the album because Dolly didn't want to be in the same studio with Linda.

Linda became a sourpuss when she got fat and men no longer found her desirable.

I watched today's interview and I found her charming. The fact that she was able to joke a little about her condition was nice to see. It's a horrible way to go, but she seems to be handling it well. I wish her well.

r135 This explains Linda's (pre-Parkinson's) speech impediment.

That interview is pretty funny, as Linda, basically, says she and Emmylou thought Dolly was cheesy and had no taste.

What I admire most about Linda is that she attempted so many different styles. She was certainly not successful with all of them, but give her props for trying. Folk, country, pop, new wave, big band, Mexican mariachi ...what other artist tried so many different types of music?

I'm another one who liked the maligned "Mad Love" release. "I Can't Let Go" and "Hurts So Bad" are terrific. But her forte really were the ballads...."Adios" is a masterpiece.

Hard to believe she only had one No. 1 song (You're No Good) and one million seller (Blue Bayou).

First hit single.

How was this missed u til here?

Here’s Warren Z. Singing the song he wrote.

I also love "Hurts So Bad." Great song.

Did Linda aka The Remake Queen ever write songs, or just do covers? Dolly has written thousands of songs, besides playing instruments. Dolly is sharp AF- not cheesy or tacky.

I think Warren Z. Wrote Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me for Linda, though he also recorded it.

Linda Ronstadt is a great american artist. In many ways. Her first single-"Long, long time" is stunning. Her sound has that dangerous sob in the voice quality. It is completely felt, and perfectly vocalized. It's clear right out of the gate that she is major. She was the first woman to sell out stadiums as a solo artist. She dominated the music industry throughout the 70's and 80's. Changing styles and genres constantly.

She was very successful in The Pirates of Penzance in both the park and on Broadway. And though her Mimi in La Boheme at the Public is limited, as her voice is not truly an opera voice. But just the fact she could even touch that material at all, especially after her live concert career throughout the 70's shows just how extraordinary her voice truly is. Her music was so belted and full throughout those eras. It had balls. She shouldn't be able to remotely have the level of soprano necessary for those roles. Yet, she goes for it.

So glad to hear the love for her "Mad Love" album. I LOVE that album. She sounds incredible. "I can't let go" is the ultimate Linda song to me. Even giving us that famous over-dub moment of the 2 Linda's singing at the same time and sounding PHENOMENAL. That high note still blows me away. Her whole climb up the belt scale in that line until she reaches that top soprano note is stunning.

Ronstadt was just always about the music and singing what she loved and what she found interesting. She was not a diva at all really. In some ways this quality does make her less of a dynamic entertainer live than many others, but she knew this about herself and wasn't interested in changing. She just wanted to sing. And as simply a singer--you cannot do much better than her.

Mad Love was sold as Linda's new wave album and so was judged as such. Listen to it now and it doesn't sound like new wave at all, just great singing that continued the chain begun in (let's just say, though she had great stuff prior) Heart Like a Wheel.

No one is denying that Dolly Parton is a great songwriter. Linda didn't write her own material. For the most part, neither did Aretha. That didn't make either one less of an artist. (Linda broke Aretha's record for most number of Billboard Top 40 remakes with, I believe, Hurt So Bad.)

She did Romberg too! One of my favourite non-hit album tracks (minus the muppets, of course).

(Is this the pantsuit she wears in the HBO special? I know I've seen a concert video of her wearing this.)

I've always wondered why the volume is so low on "When I Grow Too Old to Dream," at least on CD. I have to turn the volume up when that song comes on, then turn it down for the next song. It's such a beautiful rendition, sometimes I listen to it five times in a row.

One of the standard standards of my life. And no, I never heard the Dorothy version until this thread. I did love Bea Arthur in Threepenny Opera, though.

r150 I think it's because of the wide dynamic range of the vocal. She goes from near whisper to loud belt. The final minute or so would have had mic breakup if the track had been recorded at the usual level. Those really are loud, powerful notes.

Another "THE version of this song":

"When I Grow Too Old to Dream"

Linda had a thing for Kermie.

I don't think I've heard her do "Shoop, Shoop" before.

From Kermit's hit album, Unpigged:

The ladies playing nice when promoting Trio 2.

^^^Dolly days “Wake up, girl!” to Linda in the middle of that interview...I shit you not 😅 !

That woman can bring me to tears in no time.

Anyone who would diss Dolly Parton has a screw loose. Linda had a giant, raging ego and was more difficult and more of a bitch/diva than all the post Parkinson's sympathy interviews reveal. Just a guess.

I like Linda but I never felt she had the light touch needed for standards, especially on her Nelson Riddle albums. That's not to say you have to be a great singer to do standards - lots of mediocre singers have done them - but it seems Linda had a hard time holding back her tendency to yelp. I saw her in concert with Riddle and at the end they did "Desperado" which I feel is the kind of material she is better at.

Calling Dr. Bombay. Why would someone with a disease that affects motor control use so much Botox? Wouldn't you think it would be contraindicated?

Didn't the standards stuff kind of derail her career? She never recaptured the huge popularity she had in the 70s. Of course, by then Madonna had changed everything so maybe it was inevitable no matter what Linda did.

Linda played Not My Job on Wait Wait and thought that if she won Carl would record a voicemail message for HER.

The Sweetest Gift

[quote]It doesn't sound like Dolly

Yes, it does. It sounds exactly like something she would say. And it’s hilarious.

I think Dolly genuinely appreciates Linda’s talent and doesn’t mean her any harm. But working together was clearly torture for both of them.

Linda Ronstadt.....IS A REALLY FAT TUB OF SHIT!!!!

r169 So is r169.

Linda’s career was flagging before the standards albums. She would’ve had trouble in the MTV era regardless, so she might as well done whatever the hell she wanted.

Winter Light was a gorgeous mood piece. So underrated.

True r171. Many of the big 70s acts (both male and female) had trouble in the MTV era. If they wanted to stay relevant, they had to totally re-invent their look and sound. Ann and Nancy Wilson reluctantly got makeovers into glam 80s video vixens, something they said they hated years later.

MTV = Madonna TeleVision

It started a little bit before Madonna. She definitely played a big part in it, but 80s popstars having to look a certain way in order to be successful in the business became a "thing" practically as soon as MTV began. When Madonna became a breakout star in '84, MTV had already been around for a few years.

Madonna was a whore.

You can really sense the tension between Dolly and Linda in R158's video, especially as the interview goes on. When Dolly says, "Wake up, girl" Linda noticeably bristles.

In the late 70's I made my parents buy me a pair of sneaker roller skates and skated to school on the first day of 8th grade with my best friend, a cute girl. I still remember how much my feet and calves hurt. Mary!

[quote]Didn't the standards stuff kind of derail her career?

The "What's New" album actually resuscitated her career and she became a big star again. Her previous album "Get Closer" was a big flop and she was in danger of fading away in the era of Madonna and MTV.

After the critical and commercial success of What's New, she was then able to get some big radio hits with "Somewhere Out There" and the Aaron Neville duets.

I'm a fan although not so much of her standards. But she sure could sing. It makes me sad to see this clip. Life is short and for some, even the lucky and gifted, merciless.

Granted I was very young (grade school) in the 80s but I don't really remember Linda Ronstadt being part of the pop culture scene at that time. I knew who she was, but I don't remember her being on the radio or in the media like Madonna, Cyndi Lauper or Tina Turner were back then. The "Somewhere Out There" song and the duet she did with the Neville brother are the only songs of hers I can recall from the entire decade.

r181 Her biggest pop hits were from the 70s.

[quote]The "Somewhere Out There" song and the duet she did with the Neville brother are the only songs of hers I can recall from the entire decade.

The standards albums were the majority of her output in the ‘80s. I don’t think those got much airplay. The Aaron Neville duets album from 1989 was the first time she stepped away from standards since the early ‘80s and it was a big hit. That’s when she got airplay again.

[quote]You can really sense the tension between Dolly and Linda in [R158]'s video, especially as the interview goes on. When Dolly says, "Wake up, girl" Linda noticeably bristles.

Yes, you can see Linda thinking, "I can't believe that bitch just said that."

I generally like her music, but it tends to be soooo fucking sad. Same goes for Emmylou Harris. Nearly everything she sings is so mournful. It’s not necessarily the songs, but her voice. And put the two of them together and it’s beautiful, but I feel like I need a Prozac after I listen.

And where's her Kennedy Centers Honor?

Blue bayou is awful

AND YET, with the exception of "Get Closer," ALL of her pop/rock/standards/country albums made the Top 10/Top 5 on the Billboard charts.

That's from 1974-1989. Fifteen years.

R188 a lot of people love shit.

And some might love even you r189. Not many though.

No old bitch I don’t like shit.

R190 this video is for you!

Get Closer was not a big flop. It didn't sell as well as her previous few, but it still went gold and had two lower rung top 40 hits. The video for the title track (choreographed by Toni Basil) was played regularly on MTV as well.

Lol r193 it sucked!

Sittin’ On the toilet!

I'll bet she gives a great hand job these days.

Vitriol is best served for those few deserving souls... the president, vairst letty, Mother and Mike Pence, the Senatrice, the Kuntrashians and more... not for someone as talented and interesting as Linda. She's had a long and varied career, a number of relationships which never made the tabloids (she's still close to Jerry Brown), brought American Standards to a generation of people who had not paid attention to them, ventured off into other styles of music. She did it with grace and intelligence. She's talented, she's encouraged people to explore the arts and music. She kept her Parkinson's diagnosis quiet and low-key.

She made the most of her voice (made millions of people happy listening to it) can no longer sing, except in her head; walking will soon be a thing of the past and those are still the early degeneration of her body.

I'm not saying all hail Linda, but be kind. She's done nothing to warrant the nastiness being typed out so carelessly.

Everyone knew she was fucking Jerry Brown.

She’s ugly

R197 I'll jump in and say it: ALL HAIL LINDA!

She's a cunt.

"Heart Like A Wheel" was her pinnacle musically. She never made an album after that one that was anywhere near as good. And she did so many lousy cover versions of songs by various artists. She really had no idea what to do with songs like "Heat Wave" and "Tumbling Dice" and "Tracks of My Tears." Her range was limited.

[quote]Asked if there are still tensions with Parton, Linda laughs and demurrers, “No, never. I love Dolly. Who doesn’t love circus clowns?”

So Linda's last good album was 45 years ago?

"So Linda's last good album was 45 years ago?"

Yes.

Linda was the Connie Francis of the 70s.

Dusty Springfield did the BEST cover of Heatwave. Nobody else should've bothered after that.

Wake up, bitch! I got things to do.

I've never understood the love for Dusty. On that clip, she goes out of tune and out of breath several times.

Dusty was fabulous r209.

[quote] "Wake up, bitch, I got stuff to do."

If Dolly really said that to Linda it would be legendarily epic. Can we please confirm?

[quote]r172 Winter Light was a gorgeous mood piece. So underrated.

I always thought this sounded beautiful.

You people know absolutely nothing. Linda and Dolly have been friends for decades. They recorded with each other for most of their early careers pre -Trio. EmmyLou and Linda were friends and always worked together also. Then the three of them started working together and that led to Trio. All one has to do is look at their back catalogs and you will find one or both on each of the others albums.

Does Linda's pussy stink?

Don't give no shade about Linda. She is the Baby Boomer icon.

Winter Light really was an under rated album.....

Better than both Trio albums.

r215....and dont you forget it....I saved your ass a few times Miss M

[quote] Winter Light was a gorgeous mood piece. So underrated.

Agreed. It is exquisitely produced and her vocals were beautiful. I am glad this is an anonymous board because I could only say here that she has the definitive version of "Anyone Who Had A Heart." She is appropriately forlorn and anguished. Miss Warwick is fabulous but too refined to really go there. Dusty sounds like she took a handful of Xanax. Linda gets the mood just right.

r219.....THANK YOU. I have always felt the same way.

No love loss bt those two. I think there may have been a lawsuit or threat of one surrounding release date or touring. Can't remember the details but there definitely was some bad blood. Dolly is an American icon. Linda Ronstadt doesn't have much of a legacy. If you asked young people today I doubt anyone has even heard of Linda. And Robin should've punched the bitch.

"Wake up, bitch, I got stuff to do!" is an actual, verifiable quote from Parton re: Ronstadt's habits as a "recording studio rat," R211.

Goldmine magazine and/or Ladies' Home Journal. Early- or mid-1990s - ???.

"Corn? When did I eat corn? is dead. Long live "Wake up, bitch, I got stuff to do!"

R222 It's a verifiable quote of what Dolly wanted to say, not what she actually said.

Dolly called Linda a "fat tub of shit" during one of their fights while recording Trio 2.

Emmylou was inspired by that fight to record her haunting solo album "The Fat Tub of Shit Sessions"

You Linda Dolly feud embellishment fantasists are wacky and unamusing so you should cut the crap already.

R163 I can help you with that question, unfortunately. With some neurological diseases where you experience constant tremors, botox can be used to stop the non stop nerve twitching. The. Injections are a bitch, but it beats the hell out of looking like Krusty The Klown.

I am going to make "Wake up, bitch! I got stuff to do!" a thing. Please join me.

i like her cover of that song r219.

i love r192.

[quote]I am going to make "Wake up, bitch! I got stuff to do!" a thing. Please join me.

Please don't. It just isn't that funny.

my pussy itches.

Great talent, that’s all I can say.

[quote]You Linda Dolly feud embellishment fantasists are wacky and unamusing so you should cut the crap already.

Agree on that, or I’ll cut a bitch if this continues.

As a former Mexican American male model, I personally love her Spanish stuff…obviously.

I love her Spanish stuff also......

I like her album Mad Love. It's the only album I like by her.

Didn’t she say something cringeworthy on Letterman with Robin Quivers there, and Robin just owned her right on TV?

it was on the tonight show.

[quote] Does Linda's pussy stink?

You have no idea!!

I’ve ordered my cd.

Her Traditional Mexican is exceptional.

I dont care what anyone says, LR is one of the best vocalists of the modern era, she covered a lot of genera, but did so authentically and to much acclaim. Her catalog is very diverse and aside from her mainstream "hits" you truly dont get a sense of how exceptional she is unless you allow yourself to go there. Theres a reason she has albums in the Library of Congress. Heart like a Wheel is a masterpiece from start to finish.

Heart like a Wheel is my least favorite of her "good" albums. I like Hasten down the Wind, Prisoner in Disguise, Simple Dreams more.

Linda became controversial and lost ticket sales attacking Bush when he was president. Did your beloved Dolly do that? Or just act like a stupid bimbo saying everyone should just get along and she just loves everyone like Jesus does? I seriously don't get the love for the seriously closeted and acts like a dipshit Dolly. The most conservative Repugs lover her. Does that not tell you something about her and her being two faced?

I love classic Country Linda....with Emmylou....YEARS before Trio

Trio...

....

More Linda and EmmyLou years before trio....they did it with Dolly as a trio on Dollys early 70s tv show.

With Dolly....mid 70s

Linda hasn't been relevant in decades.

Linda and Dolly....

Legends are never irrelevant.....the ones who will be irrelevant in a few decades will be Beyonce, Katy Perry, Rhianna, Britney and their ilk.

Linda is half-forgotten today, and I'm a fan. Younger people have no idea who she is.

[quote] Younger people have no idea who she is.

There are young people who appreciate, seek out and get exposure to old music though.

Since "younger people have no idea who she is," she obviously must never have existed.

I'm just saying that she hasn't translated to younger generations like others have. i.e. Stevie Nicks. You don't really hear her music anymore either, and she was a major star in her day.

I’m watching Linda live in Germany, 1976. She is amazing.

So the fuck what, r257?

Well, if a person doesn't translate to successive generations, they're eventually forgotten. How many people know who Jo Stafford was?

[quote]How many people know who Jo Stafford was?

I do, I do.

I saw her open a show for Neil Young....he had just put out his Harvest album. I have nothing negative to say about either of them

[quote]Well, if a person doesn't translate to successive generations, they're eventually forgotten.

Well, then I guess she'll just have to be forgotten. This does not diminish by one iota the joy I have received listening to her music all these years. Maybe she'll become some Generation AA niche artist for the hipsters of that era.

Shes due for a resurgence....it might not happen for another generation, but she will have one. People assume a vision of her career based on her "hits", but her talent is much deeper than that and is totally unappreciated by many. She has collaborated with the best of the best in the business and they respect her. She also put a spotlight on many an unknown talent by recording their material and launched their careers. Shes also extremely knowledgeable about music and has even testified for Congress and sat on advisory boards. Thats what sets her apart. When other artists attempt to go out of their lane, they usually fail miserably. She succeeded because she didnt just record a different genera, she dove into it, understood, and kept it authentic instead of a stunt. She opened many an eye to different things. She has hardcore Country fans and respect in the industry, She has hardcore pop/rock fans and respect in the industry, and its the same in whatever category her talent took her. History will look kindly on her legacy.

I remember Patti Page, too.

[quote]People assume a vision of her career based on her "hits", but her talent is much deeper than that and is totally unappreciated by many.

This is probably the most important thing anyone has said in this entire thread. Her "hits" are the least important part of her catalog.

I saw her live in her hometown on 8 May 1968 at my high school gym... Palo Verde Gym, Tucson, Arizona - Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys, The People 7.30 PM Tickets: $2.25, $3.00 and $3.75

This was the last concert with the original members of The Stone Poneys,.... her label Capitol wanted t promote her as a solo act due to the success of hit single A DIfferent Drum released in 1967.

I went with my buddy from middle school Johnny Ball, who later passed away from complications of HIV. 50 years gone by in a flash.

She is a very heavy and has a bad haircut and her voice is not legendary. Linda Ronstadt? More like Linda BadHaircutAverageVoiceFatstadt.

I couldnt believe it when Kenny Edwards died in 2010....that had to devastate Linda...he formed the Stone Poneys and stayed close to Linda through her entire career and he played on a lot of her recordings and was a member of her band.

r268...What are you, 12 ?

Her last decent album was 45 years ago.

I prefer her later albums.

not true r271

More Jo Stafford. This was my imprint version.

People forget that Linda took herself out of the game in the 90's. She stopped doing big tours, she did minimal promotion for her albums and she stopped doing some of her big rock hits because she felt she had outgrown them. She adopted kids, relocated to Tuscon and just wanted out of the celebrity fishbowl. She kind of pulled the plug on her own career, with no regrets.

[quote]Shes due for a resurgence

If she wasn't done with her rock and roll output by then, one wonders if she would have gotten the same treatment from MTV that the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac got in the mid 90's when they did specials that were huge hits and really introduced them to a younger generation,. Or even an Unplugged set like Neil Young and KISS did. That would have been perfect for her. But Linda was so tired of it all by that point that it wasn't remotely a possibility.

Linda was first to record this Dolly song with full-on belt. Whitney took it further and stripped it of all subtlety.

Yes, she was pretty much done with the music biz by the late 80s.

Linda in 1993

Linda in 1995

Linda in 1998

Linda in 1995

It's a shame that her collaboration with Mike Nesmith was a one-off thing, guess audiences just weren't ready for "Papa Nez and Shrilly The Fat Ass".

Her last solo album was a collection of jazz standards (and much better than the Nelson Riddle albums, IMO).

I loved the Winter Light and Feels Like Home albums. They’re a little frauey/mug cradly though, but she sings the hell out of the songs, “Heartbeats Accelerating” in particular.

R271: And Elvis stopped making good music 60 years ago, so we should stop listening?

R244, well maybe people love Dolly bc she never forgot where she came from. Never was embarrassed about her humble upbringing and never forgot where she came from. So much so that she went back home to help the community and built Dollywood which created jobs for that area. Does that explain why people love her.

And to the other poster who commented about being irrelevant if younger generations didn't know who LR was. Yes, that's true. You are no longer relevant if you are forgotten. Meaning once this older generation dies off and the few remaining LR fans die, she will become irrelevant by definition. DP is iconic and younger generations still know who she is and her contribution to music.

[quote] Linda was first to record this Dolly song with full-on belt. Whitney took it further and stripped it of all subtlety.

Umm...well, that's because I don't do "subtlety"! But I tell you what. I stripped it of all those raggedy-ass, moaning background singers, those banjos, added an orchestra and made it all about ME...my story...my song...my VOICE! Biggest selling single of all time! I made Dolly a shit-ton of money and that bitch has never had a cross word to say about me. Unlike Miss Linda, who I understand she called a fat tub of shit! Ha ha! Miss Linda should have called my mama, Cissy, if she wanted to know how to do it right.

But don't get me wrong, I love Miss Linda. Really I do.

You didn't die with subtlety either. Good for you.

Linda went esoteric with Philip Glass, singing on his 1986 album Songs from Liquid Days.

R287:

I'm alive.

You're dead.

Sucks to be you. Or, more correctly, sucks to have BEEN you.

[quote]r242 I dont care what anyone says, LR is one of the best vocalists of the modern era

No one has ever said otherwise - except here, of course.

[italic]But you know how bitchy fags can be.

[quote]Hasten Down the Wind was the last LR album I bought and I'm a BIG fan

Not really. Get out there and buy Simple Dreams, at least. There are days when I think it's even better than Hasten down the Wind. You can't call yourself "a BIG fan" if you don't have all of "the BIG four" albums, Heart like a Wheel, Prisoner in Disguise, Hasten down the Wind, and Simple Dreams. That's like being "a BIG Joni Mitchell fan" but stopping buying her albums before Court and Spark. Or the Beatles before Sgt. Pepper.

We must be quiet, and listen

Several straight guys my age, at the mention of Linda Ronstadt, have told me they jerked off to the cover of Hasten Down the Wind. I believe Bill Maher has publicly said the same.

Bill Maher? Ewwwwwww.

Thanks, r293. She can take that belt really high. She doesn't mix, she doesn't gulp for air, she just goes for it.

[quote]r297 She can take that belt really high. She doesn't mix, she doesn't gulp for air, she just goes for it.

She also needs no recovery or transition time - she simply goes on with the song, and wraps up the line all on the same breath she just climaxed on.

She and Carly Simon hate Olivia, Karen and Anne.

I hate Olivia and Karen, too. Love Carly. Anne either never figured much in my experience of music, or I never hated her. Though, as with Olivia and Karen, I bought exactly zero of her records.

I love her 70s stuff, especially, because it unabashedly yet purely dives deep into the depths of drama queen territory.

Another proud MARY! cut -

This song also has such a beautiful, emotional bridge, that's musically surprising and yet melds seamlessly with the rest of the song

[quote]If I could buy your love, then I'd surely try my friend / And if I could pray, my prayers would never end / If you want me to beg, I'll fall down on my knees / And ask you to come back, I'd be pleading for you to come back / I'd beg for you to come back to me

Thanks, R293. I've always loved this song but hadn't seen this particular performance of it. Great record. Great voice.

I also love Carly and Karen.

But not more than two, r303. Karen, take to her own thread. There is a current one.

Hasten Down the Wind is one of the most beautiful album covers ever, Rolling Stone included it on their list of bests years ago. To me the lighting is just perfect, it says 70s California to me somehow- like symbol of the free and easy sexy spirit of the era. The crescent moon is very California too, that weird mystic period- Stevie Nicks and her moons and all that. The horse was a happy coincidence, it came by while they were taking the photos and they loved it.

The picture was taken in front of her house in Malibu Colony, r305. It cost her either $325,000 or $375,000. I don't remember which.

I didn't start buying Linda Ronstadt records until "Mad Love." My only real exposure to the albums described upthread as the "Big Four" was through the two Greatest Hits collections. I bought "Hasten Down the Wind" and "Prisoner In Disguise" in the late 80s but neither really made an impression. On the earlier records her belting was so harsh. "Easy For You To Say" from 'Get Closer' is probably one of her best ballads and nothing on those prior albums really made a bigger impression than that one. I still think "Cry Like A Rainstorm" and "Winter Light" are the quintessential Ronstadt albums.

Well, R292, I should have said I WAS a big fan until Time Magazine revealed what a poor, poor pitiful woman she was. I still have that issue somewhere. I know I should separate the art from the artist, but I was so disappointed to discover how fucked up she was that I stopped buying her stuff. I was really broken-hearted. I do have Napster, so I will listen to those albums (at no extra charge!). I did like the stuff she did with Ann Savoy. Don't remember how I found it.

I don't know what you're talking about, r308, with this: "Time Magazine revealed what a poor, poor pitiful woman she was."

R309: Time ran a cover story where she revealed her cocaine habit, her self-doubt, her love life, etc. It came out during her peak. I really don't want to read it again (but I probably will, if I find it).

This one, r310?

Here's the article.

I read the article, and searched for "cocaine." It appeared zero times.

[quote]r307 On the earlier records her belting was so harsh.

I do know she wrote in her autobiography that she felt miscast in rock songs, and compensated by "yelling" her vocals in them.

She's not proud of this, but her record label wanted her to alternate her preference for ballads with contemporary numbers that appealed to a broader audience.

She also wrote an interesting thing: that her heart went out of the commercial trajectory of her career as she was booked into huge stadiums on tour where the aucustics were terrible. She and the band couldn't hear themselves onstage, and the music reaching the audience was delayed, and reverberating. That's when she started dreaming of performing classical music she was more in tune with in beautiful, intimate spaces ... and it lead her to pursue doing stage shows like The Pirates of Penzance, and then La Bohem.

[quote]"I sang 'La Boheme,' but not succesfully. I was hired as a pop singer to sing it in a pop style, which is impossible. I did my best to learn it the way Puccini wrote it, and there was a precedent for it. Italian opera was written as pop, it was the popular music of its time. But you really have to know how to sing Italian opera in order to sing something by Puccini. However, I had a great time doing it. I just enjoyed myself to death, and I loved the fact that I got to intimately know that opera because it increases my ability to listen to it enormously and appreciate it when I got to see it. Now I feel like I'm greeting old friends." (2015)

She acknowledges she wasn't a great Mimi, but that at least she wanted better for herself, musically.

[quote]r313 I read the article, and searched for "cocaine." It appeared zero times.

r308 and r310 are g-damn Joni Mitchell.

My Mexican-born husband says her mariachi songs are extremely authentic sounding. Not bad for someone who admits she’s not fluent in Spanish.

[quote]r317 My Mexican-born husband says her mariachi songs are extremely authentic sounding.

Too bad you're married to a lying whore.

From the NY Times review of her autobiography:

The subtitle “Musical Memoir” signals what Ms. Ronstadt’s book is about, but also what it’s not about — the hedonistic excesses of the pop star’s life. She sidesteps the rampant drug use, though in conversation she acknowledged, “I tried everything,” including cocaine, which she did to such excess that she needed to have her nose cauterized, twice.

Here's what genuine ranchera sounds like, current super star Ana Gabriel. And she's a homo!

[quote]Didn’t she say something cringeworthy on Letterman with Robin Quivers there, and Robin just owned her right on TV?

Robin is trash enabling trash.

Linda was unwise to call her out on TV, but she wasn't wrong.

[quote]She and Carly Simon hate Olivia, Karen and Anne.

Carly and Linda also now hate each other, ever since Linda threw a fishbone at Carly at an LA restaurant when Carly said of Linda, seated at another table: "Does that goddamn drunk EVER shut up?"

I like Linda Ronstadt but often wish she wouldn’t bellow. It’s an odd tick but it seems for no reason she suddenly bellows.

Say what?

Stevie Nicks says she never met Linda. Doesn’t that seem odd? They were both big deals in the 70s bad 80s with connections to the Eagles, sharing touring band members, and both living in Arizona at varying times. They have Waddy Wachtel in common!

Then Stevie Nicks is out of her mind.....they lightweight hung out together in the 70s and 80s.....Ive seen them backstage at shows together.

I was surprised during the CBS Sunday interview it was revealed Linda lives in the Sea Cliff neighborhood of San Francisco Very nice area with expensive homes (Sharon Stone lived there during her marriage, Robin Williams, Barbara Eden) but its pretty quiet and foggy

r325....I think she said she didnt "know" her.....meeting someone, even repeatedly is not the same as "knowing" them.

Right in the vagina bone.

Jack Dorsey lives in Sea Cliff, too. Or he did (article is from 2012).

Hart Avenue is a one-block street right near the beach in Ocean Park.

Sea Cliff is magnificently Hitchcockian at night. Dark and foggy.

J'adore the home Ronstadt had in Arzona. Alas, heat is hard on individuals with neurological disease which may account for the move.

Linda can watch on TV and seethe while I'm honored at the Grammys this Sunday.

r314 To be fair (to Linda, especially), she was the first female artist to be booked in those huge stadiums. And she consistently sold them out. All female artists who followed owe her a debt for paving the way, whether they realize it or not.

Her "legit" soprano (head voice) was woolly and so unlike her crystalline pop belt (chest voice) that singing classical just didn't work very well. This is especially true in works that require switching between registers, like Pirates. (Her two tracks for the Philip Glass album are interesting because she sang in her pop voice on lead vocal overdubbed with her legit soprano on backup vocal.)

r320 Good Lord, that voice is awful. If that's what authentic sounds like, I'll take Linda in any form.

r328 Does Stevie not know Linda the way Mariah doesn't know Jennifer?

R335, I think that’s what it is. “I don’t know her” is probably a diss. Maybe Stevie had her sights on George Lucas and Linda snatched him first. Or maybe they were competing for Don Henley or Joe Walsh.

Linda's best-sounding album, Cry Like a Rainstorm, was recorded at George's Skywalker Ranch. Were they still dating as late as 1989?

I don’t think so, but I think they’re still friends. I wonder who is richer, Lucas or Ronstadt. She didn’t write any of her hits, so she probably isn’t as rich.

I love her music, and I'm Canadian, but Joni Mitchell is a cunt.

Lucas is a BILLIONAIRE.....multiple times over.

LR net worth....130-150 million.

"Heart LIke A Wheel" was her only album to get universally good reviews. The rest of them tended to get mediocre reviews. I bought several of her albums after HLAW and the critics were right; they were mediocre. I never had any interest in hearing her do old standards or Mexican music. I still do on occasion listen to a song interpreted by Linda Ronstadt. I listen to her versions of country music songs. like "I Fall To Pieces" and "Crazy Arms." She really knew how to sing songs like that; she sang them beautifully.

Linda's Arizona house is very pretty.

Save me

Free me

From my heart

This time

Come on. Watch the interview. She can't stand too much anymore and cant sit upright too much. She was undeniably hot when she became famous. Linda and Stevie Nicks were soaked in sex back in the 70's. She says that she's not scared of death but she's scared of suffering.

Te amo, r345.

Linda's and Stevie's worlds collide at 9:25.

Linda knew everyone. She's was a whore, darlin'.

Whose pussy got the most traffic in the 70s: Linda's, Stevie's or Joni's?

I know, it's a tough call.

R335 I think you missed the point re Ranchera music. It has to be sung with great emotion and as already pointed out by others LR doesn't sing hot. Great voice. Low temp.

[quote]r320 Here's what genuine ranchera sounds like, current super star Ana Gabriel. And she's a homo!

What does one call the style of singing /material done in the attached clip?

A little trivia about this singer: Rebekah Del Rio was sent to audition for David Lynch when he was planning MULHOLLAND DRIVE (2001), and he put her in a recording booth to see what she could do, and have a tape for reference, later ... and this 1 audition take is what they used in the film. He immediately loved it!

[quote]r325 They have Waddy Wachtel in common!

[italic]I'll [/italic]waddy your watchel - -

For someone who is supposedly no longer relevant, I have a sneaking suspicion this bitch is going to max out at 600 replies.

r350 Stop pontificating like your opinion is fact. You've already said that once before. Move along.

[quote]LR net worth....130-150 million.

Have you lost your mind? Linda is lucky if she has $10 million in the bank. She was never a big album seller or concert act. She always played smaller venues while touring, never arenas. And she didn't write her own songs, so she didn't make the millions that Stevie Nicks or Dolly Parton did from writing their songs.

Bwaahaaa r354 you ignorant slut. Perhaps you'll learn something here, gringa.

R351. That is beautiful. I'd never heard it before. I guess the genre would be Latin Pop as its a cover of .the song Crying written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson, recorded by Orbison.

r355....youre high....she was THE top female singer throughout the 70s and into the 80s....every one of her albums went platinum and she sold out everywhere she played...even arenas. Learn something before you speak.

r355...With the release of chart-topping albums such as Heart Like a Wheel, Simple Dreams, and Living in the USA, Ronstadt became the first female "arena class" rock star. She set records as one of the top-grossing concert artists of the decade. Referred to as the "First Lady of Rock" and the "Queen of Rock", Ronstadt was voted the Top Female Pop Singer of the 1970s. Her rock-and-roll image was as famous as her music; she appeared six times on the cover of Rolling Stone and on the covers of Newsweek and Time.

r355...In the 1980s, Ronstadt went to Broadway and garnered a Tony nomination for her performance in The Pirates of Penzance, teamed with the composer Philip Glass, recorded traditional music, and collaborated with the conductor Nelson Riddle, an event at that time viewed as an original and unorthodox move for a rock-and-roll artist. This venture paid off, and Ronstadt remained one of the music industry's best-selling acts throughout the 1980s, with multi-platinum-selling albums such as What's New, Canciones de Mi Padre, and Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind. She continued to tour, collaborate, and record celebrated albums, such as Winter Light and Hummin' to Myself, until her retirement in 2011. Most of Ronstadt's albums are certified gold, platinum, or multi-platinum. Having sold in excess of 100 million records worldwide and setting records as one of the top-grossing concert performers for over a decade, Ronstadt was the most successful female singer of the 1970s and stands as one of the most successful female recording artists in U.S. history. Ronstadt opened many doors for women in rock and roll and other musical genres by championing songwriters and musicians, pioneering her chart success onto the concert circuit, and being at the vanguard of many musical movements.

Her career really slowed down in the 80s. She wasn't really a big part of the 80s music scene.

r355...By the end of 1978, Ronstadt had solidified her role as one of rock and pop's most successful solo female acts, and owing to her consistent platinum album success, and her ability as the first woman to sell out concerts in arenas and stadiums hosting tens of thousands of fans, Ronstadt became the "highest paid woman in rock". She had six platinum-certified albums, three of which were number 1 on the Billboard album chart, and numerous charted pop singles. In 1978 alone, she made over $12 million (equivalent to $44,000,000 in 2016 dollars) and in the same year her albums sales were reported to be 17 million – grossing over $60 million (equivalent to a gross of over $220,000,000, in 2016 dollars).

r360....Yes, she was....just not on the rock charts....Not only was she starring on Broadway, but her Nelson Riddle albums were huge hits, and so were her Mexican and Spanish albums. She even had a pop/rock comeback with Aaron Neville.....all in the 80s

[quote]r360 Her career really slowed down in the 80s. She wasn't really a big part of the 80s music scene.

Give it a rest, Joni.

[quote]r356 That is beautiful. I'd never heard it before. I guess the genre would be Latin Pop as its a cover of .the song Crying written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson, recorded by Orbison.

Thank you for mentioning the song's English title. That adds a dimension to that scene I hadn't picked up on before - since it's called "Crying," that is why the singer has a silver teardrop incorporated into her makeup. And the two female characters who are watching her perform begin to cry - - which ushers in a major transition in the plot at that point.

MULLHOLLAND DRIVE is a beautiful but very challenging film. It's good to see it once with no knowledge of what's going on ... then to read a bit about what's going on in the (baffling) storytelling, and then watch it again with all that in mind. Once you know why the seemingly incomprehinsible events unfold the way they do, and what's really going on in the bigger picture of the plot, it becomes incredibly moving.

It' features a great breakout performance by Naomi Watts as a doomed Hollywood hopeful, and its musical love theme is moody and gorgeous, perfectly suited to the dark, strange story. It's a movie I first found incredibly frustrating, but now I love it.

Ronstadt had moved into being more or less a niche artist in the 80s. She wasn't part of the pop music dialogue, the MTV era etc. at all in that decade.

Ohhh...pop music was having a dialogue.

r365....You have no idea of what youre talking about....Her Nelson Riddle albums in the 80s were HUGE....and they were considered pop.

The Nelson Riddle stuff sold well, but you didn't really hear those songs anywhere. She didn't get a lot of press and wasn't really on tv much in the 80s. I just don't remember Linda Ronstadt being around like Madonna or Tina Turner or Bruce Springsteen etc. were in that decade.

Linda had mostly removed herself from that world by then, R370.

She turned 40 when she finished her trio of American Standards albums. She was rich, and had seen it all. It was natural to stick with work that was closer to her heart and not as commercially driven at that point.

The thing that comes through in her memoir is that she's a musician first who happened to became a star. It was her love of music that kept her invested in the business, not fame.

One thing I loved in her book was she said people are too hard on themselves about if they have a "good" voice or not, and stop themselves from singing because they feel unworthy. She was raised in a house with music, and feels singing is one of life's joys, and that everyone should do it without worrying how they sound. Just singing in the shower, in the car, before the fire with friends ... wherever they want. She said that personally she's done her "best" singing in the shower.

I love that. It's so natural, and democratic.

During her Nelson Riddle stage she was parodied on Saturday Night Live. Julia Louis-Dreyfus played her, singing a SNL version of "What's New." In her poufy pink cocktail dress, she ended the song thus: 'I do old songs for you...because I can't do...what's new!"

Julia Louis Dreyfus’ skit was boring, I remember that. It was like a boring actress imitating a boring singer. Dreyfus hadn’t realized her comedic potential yet.

Blue Bayou - live in Hollywood 1980

Just One Look - Live in Hollywood 1980

You're No Good - Live in Hollywood 1980

Linda and Smokey Robinson

I Can't Let Go - Live in Hollywood 1980

Yeah, we get it. Fucking troll posting endless links. JFC.

Linda Ronstadt and Chuck Berry and others

Read the fucking thread title, asshole. "JFC," indeed.

RRHoF Induction part 1

RRHoF Induction part 2

Faithless Love - Live in Hollywood 1980

Hurt So Bad - Live in Hollywood 1980

[quote][R355]....youre high....she was THE top female singer throughout the 70s and into the 80s.

You need to go wash your face and go to bed, because Barbra Streisand was by far the biggest female singer throughout the 70s. Madonna and Whitney were the biggest in the 80s.

a favorite from Mad Love, Billy Steinberg's "How Do I Make You?"

Please take your Streisand adoration to one of your Streisand threads, r387.

I heard she needs money and thus the new LIVE CD. It's true that as a non-writer, one makes considerably less money in the music biz and Linda confessed she would hate to add to the increasing pile of bad songs. I loved her since I saw her perform on tv barefoot. I watched her career build and become a super success. So sad to see her interviewed now. She really is a talented and decent human being.

She does not need money, so dont worry your pretty little head over it.

People forget that there used to be big money in record sales, even with the companies stealing.

That's evaporated now. You have to tour.

she toured constantly and for every album she ever released. it must be a relief to sit at home now.

"She does not need money, so dont worry your pretty little head over it.:"

How would you know?

I don't care enough to do research, but you can get a pretty good idea by digging around online.

r394....see r361 and go from there.

People don't realize now how HUGE Linda Ronstadt was in the '70s.

She was constantly on the radio.

When I started college in 1976 even the straight guys were crazy about her and played her albums all the time.

She was the biggest thing in pop music.

[quote] When I started college in 1976 even the straight guys were crazy about her and played her albums all the time.

Her fan base was mostly straight guys. She's that rare hugely successful female artist that doesn't have a huge gay following. In the 70s, she sold way more records than ONJ, Ross, Cher and Bette. Maybe only Donna Summer came close to Linda in album sales. You wouldn't know it today, given how little notoriety Linda has in popular (gay) culture.

There is truth to what r398 says. Though I was introduced to Linda (in 1976) by my ex-boyfriend, most gays were interested in disco music, or Bette or Liza and Judy. Cher had yet to happen among the gays as far as I can recall. Diana Ross was very gay-popular: "Love Hangover" was a gay anthem. ONJ never made any impression on me. In any case, I felt as if I were listening to something beyond the gay mainstream when Linda became my favorite singer.

New Rolling Stone article:

I don’t think she wasted her money on coke and didn’t live large with flashy designer clothing and jewelry. She probably lives in a gated community somewhere and not a Kardashian sized mansion.

I don't think she's hard-up for money, but she doesn't have the kind of money that allows her to live extravagantly. She hasn't made a cent in over 10 years, and her back catalog is not a big seller. Stevie Nicks could buy and sell her many times over.

I think she probably lives an upper middle class life, not a millionaires life.

She lives a simple life by her own choosing...mostly out of necessity....read the interview at r400.....she does not need money and hasnt for a very long time.

I noticed at her last concerts she did in NYC how gay her audience was - never noticed it in the 70s when I saw the Heart Like a Wheel Tour in Burlington VT

I think her crown was mostly country rock dudes. Any old guy I know who was into that music in the 70s (Eagles, Kansas, Skynard) seems to dig her old stuff. Even if she didn’t have much of a stage show, for a short while she looked sexy as hell in those little Boy Scout uniforms.

She lives in Seacliff. Being a millionaire is the basic cost of admission.

Cost Of Love

He Was Mine · Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris

She has a round head like a ball.

Randy Newman, Ry Cooder, Linda.

Randy and Linda, Texas Girl at the Funeral of Her Father.

Well, she swiftly morphed into easy listening hell and that's about it in a nutshell.

R398 lol I got a lot of crap in those days over my music: Ronstadt, Traffic, Pink Floyd. Not all gay men were disco bunnies.

I wasn't either, r414. My favorite musicians were Linda, Bruce Springsteen, Warren Zevon, and Jackson Browne.

R415 A guy I fell for got me into Springsteen in ‘81. Definitely life changing.

Springsteen in '81. Did The River come first?

Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Ronstadt and Pink Floyd? Such radical tastes. No. Linda had a very pretty, powerful and often blaring voice - she was too often a choppy singer with poor transitions who conveyed zero emotion. Long before my time. She does sound great on the difficult Anyone Who Had A Heart and Patsy Cline covers, but there is a tiring quality to her belting and she can't sustain the notes gentler phrases. Choppy. You can see her relief here at the end, to have sung the song so well. No doubt she really cared about the music and was very much a perfectionist. To her credit, she was a technically better singer in her forties than she was when younger. So were Diana Ross and Gladys Knight. Still that's pretty rare in pop music. My dad liked her. And Springsteen and Pink Floyd. Didn't everybody in the 70s?

I never liked Pink Floyd. I wasn't trying to be "radical."

Her singing may have ended, but she gives a hell of a handjob!

Linda sang the songbook far too reverentially and wore those dumb dresses. She made some great songs popular again, but she didn't do many of them justice and neither did she reinvent them. She hadn't the right voice to try to emulate the classic band style OR saloon singing. Better to add some jazz chords and vocal runs, as seen here with the soulful, unique and trained voice of Sara Bareilles, singing one of the simplest and most beautiful songs popular songs ever written.

Linda did blare out an effective but clumsy My Funny Valentine and a pretty When You Wish Upon A Star. Not the greatest melodies ever written. (My funny Valentine is like singing the scales.) She had excellent voice placement and quite the range and of course wonderful dynamics...but her songs too often sound double or triple jointed. It's (mostly) all good singing, just doesn't go together. She should have relaxed a bit.

Linda had no rhythmic playfulness or passion to her singing style. She was very on the beat and never improvised vocally. I know some of the older generation prefer that but I think her lack of soulfulness is why her music is no longer played. She's just a pretty voice with a cupie doll face. Give me Bonnie Raitt or Bareilles or Trisha Yearwood. None of them have Ronstadt's crystalline purity, but they're all great voices who know how to SING. Linda sang many styles and had exceptional gifts, but she sounded best on honky tonk tunes and soft rock ballads. Go figure.

When Lush Life first came out I played it for my father, who was a huge music buff. He probably had every record from the 30's and 40's. I though the album was beautiful but he vehemently disagreed. He hated how she interpreted the standards; not because she was young, but because she simply did not have the chops for that kind of music. He enjoyed her country rock stuff, though, so it was just the big band stuff.

Your father was correct R422. This is the one best suited to her long notes and short phrasing and it's just weird. Many less stellar voices could interpret the song with more tenderness and true feeling. The cello is great though.

[quote]the soulful, unique and trained voice of Sara Bareilles

Bleahhhhhhhhhh

r407: She doesn't live in Seacliff, she lives in Laurel Heights which is near Seacliff. There's a big difference between the two and that CBS interview got it wrong.

Oh, okay. Thanks, R425.

R421 I am so jealous. "The Way You Look Tonight" is my very favorite standard, and I always hoped Linda would record it. It's one of those songs that is actually better than anyone's recorded version of it.

r416 1981 was a very, very good year to get into Springsteen—though any year will do, really.

Attack of the Killer Bubbles at 34:05.

The quartets are fun.

[quote]1981 was a very, very good year to get into Springsteen—though any year will do, really.

The year Prisoner in Disguise came out is the year I got into Springsteen.

Dude bitches about Linda but loves Sara Bareilles and Bonnie Raitt?

Um, okay. Remind me never to listen to you again.

r431 I know. Sara Bareilles, right?

Not that Bonnie Raitt's a bad singer, she's quite good, but to say she's great and Linda isn't all that is pretty odd.

Ronstadt is embarrassing - coyly warbling Lover Man in her lil prom dress. What the fuck were they thinking? She is degrading to the material. People are spinning in their graves while she makes doll eyes and blows kisses. Other than some country rock numbers and pretty ballads of little importance, she has no memorable songs. A cover artist of some renown. Pretty chick, good voice. Got around. Now forgotten. Randy Newman much prefered Bonnie Raitt too. What composer and musician wouldn't?

Ronstadt is embarrassing - coyly warbling Lover Man in her lil prom dress. What the fuck were they thinking? She is degrading to the material. People are spinning in their graves while she makes doll eyes and blows kisses. Other than some country rock numbers and pretty ballads of little importance, she has no memorable songs. A cover artist of some renown. Pretty chick, good voice. Got around. Now forgotten. Randy Newman much prefered Bonnie Raitt too. What composer and musician wouldn't?

r430 I'm almost sure that Prisoner in Disguise and Born to Run were released within weeks of each other.

Oh, go back to your Sara Bareilles Songbook, r435. YOU are embarrassing.

Yes, r436. That was my point. Summer of 1975.

[quote]Randy Newman much prefered Bonnie Raitt too.

Link, please.

[quote]trained voice of Sara Bareilles

Link, please.

[quote]Randy Newman much prefered Bonnie Raitt too.

If so, I'm glad Bonnie turned down "Faust."

[quote]Stevie Nicks could buy and sell her many times over.

Who the fuck, outside of Datalounge, even remembers Stevie Nicks, much less is streaming her music?

"In My Hour of Darkness," with Gram and Emmy.

r441 Actually, Bonnie was in Faust. She sang Feels Like Home. But Linda sang Gretchen/Margaret, the female lead.

Oh, thank you, r444. I'm glad she didn't sing "Gainesville" then.

r445 I'll take Linda's version of Feels Like Home any day anyway.

Linda's version.

Stevie Nicks "not rememberee?" What parallel universe do you live in?

I have never not liked Bonnie Raitt, but of all the "California sound" musicians from the '70s, she is the one I bought the fewest albums by. Her version of "Feels Like Home" is good, but it doesn't feel like home the way Linda's does. Of course, this is the very first time I'm hearing it, as well as realizing it's from Faust.

The irony is that Linda would probably agree with all the negative criticism on here about her singing. Her ego about her own talent is very slight.

R418. I was a basic white boy in 501s and tight t-shirts. He started me with Born to Run of course, and I worked back to his ‘73 and then forward to catch up. It was good camouflage. At the time, nobody though Springsteen and Ronstadt would be blaring out of a gay man’s barracks room.

R418 - I don't know why she let the backup singers drown her out at the climax of the song when I just wanted to hear her.

Linda was at the Dolly Parton tribute last night, along with Emmylou.

Ronstadt didn't even show up for her own induction into the Rock and Roll HOF. For her to do that for Parton is very big.

Makes you wonder which bitch had stuff to do.

Aw, that photo of r453 made me tear up a little.

MARY Chapin Carpenter, I know.

r453 Sorry to hijack, but Springsteen's Musicares tribute was really, really excellent. Patti Smith (Because the Night), John Legend (Dancing in the Dark), Mavis Staples (My City of Ruins), Neil Young (Born in the USA), Emmylou (My Hometown). These are just the ones I can rattle off. Adam Raised a Cain by Alabama Shakes was FRIGHTENING in the best possible way. Will Dolly's be broadcast?

This Instagram account has a few snippets.

I can never make Instagram links work. If this doesn't, just go to @lyndseyparker

Thanks, r457. I just ordered the Musicares Springsteen Tribute video.

There is no other version - except the longer one on her album. No one does achy plaintive ballads like Bonnie Raitt. Linda never gets past little girl emotions when she sings. Her voice is like Streisand's - it projects only outward. She sings AT people. Bonnie is an artist and a woman who lets the listener in.

r442 doesn't keep up with cultural icons, obviously.

r459 Yay! Hope you like it.

r460 Get back to us when you have proof that Sara Bareilles had vocal training and that Randy Newman preferred Bonnie Raitt over Linda.

Everyone who knows anything about singing knows that Bareilles has a trained voice. I'm not here to argue with 75 years olds.

No proof of either claim. Got it.

And you're at least 75. Got it. Enjoy this classic.

I'm listening now, r466. She's a good singer, but she does nothing to replace Linda in my musical affections. I don't like GBYBR, though, no matter who's singing it.

Why does this have to be Bareilles v. Ronstadt, anyway? There is room in the world for both of them. Not zero-sum.

All this sweeping emotion and gorgeous singing....Sara is a fine composer and singer.

Well, she's better than Tori Amos or Zach Hanson, r468 (two artists insistent fellow DLers convinced me to listen to, neither of whom I liked at all).

I don't know if I will buy any of her music, but am I expected to nowadays?

Play more, r468. Impress me (no more Elton John, though, please).

For someone who hated being a sex symbol, she sure knew how to pose and eye fuck the camera.

OK, settle down. Constant is uniquely gifted. When she is in her niche she is compelling and soulful and deserving of her acclaim.

OK, so let's see here.

After the "Trio II" debacle, Ronstadt and Parton end up hating each other's guts. "Wake up, bitch! I got stuff to do!"

Ronstadt gets Parkinson's disease, loses the ability to sing, and is pretty much immobilized, finding it difficult to stand, much less walk, much less travel.

AND YET, there she is Friday at a Musicares tribute to a woman she "hates," and standing - STANDING - at a podium to speak glowingly of Dolly.

Ronstadt sounds like a class act to me. Triple love her.

Oka r470. Listen to this p e r f e c t pop vocal performance by Kelly C. Live. She adds and removes rasp, propels a lyric heavy song forward with distinction and musicality, trills and traverses many parts of her register AND delivers the song dynamically without ever "weakening her vocal". Not easy for most, including Linda. Kelly interacts instinctively with her band and background. It's an acoustic performance - so that shine and trademark shimmer you hear in her voice is the result of natural talent and perfect vocal placement. She's in control of shaping the notes and phrases but we only here the words and melody - her emotion. Kelly Clarkson is the best female pop singer in the game. She doesn't care about sounding perfect. this just happens to be a perfect vocal. Something more raw to follow.

No, r474, I meant by Sara Bareilles. I already know about Kelly Clarkson.

Kelly at the Troubadour, singing her heart out. I was there this night. She was herself - no shoes, band shirt, not fazed by many execs - just ready to sing. I understand Ronstadt was once that way. Kelly's emotional daring and vocal confidence doesn't always create perfect singing. Her voice is stellar and her heart is in the song.

You should listen to Kelly at R474 and R476 anyways. You don't already know about Kelly Clarkson or what makes her gift greater than another's. Loving a certain tone of voice is completely subjective and a visceral response. Saying Linda Ronstadt has the greatest voice of all time and arguing that she is not forgotten tells me you have more to learn. I can show y'all more of Sara Bareilles. She's not new and it's not all good. My point was that she can sing American Songbook songs in a beautiful voice with modern interpretation. Something Ronstadt could not master. Listen to Kelly C. She can sing anything.

Okay, r477, I took your Kelly Clarkson challenge. I didn't like "Mr. Know It All" AT ALL. Screamy, shrieky, melisma-y, even. No thank you. And "I Know You Won't" reaffirms how much I don't like the sound of her voice.

I wonder whether any of my fellow Linda fans enjoyed either of these videos.

Talented Trio reunited on Friday, any past problems patched up.

Emmylou looks awesome at 71!

Emmylou looks fantastic. She's aged very well.

Rosemary Clooney was such an effortless lyric interpreter.

A deep, cleansing breath after that Kelly Clarkson anschluss.

with J D Souther.....

with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

the people who keep posting Linda's songs missed a key part of the CBS interview where she answers the question what do you do when people come up and tell you they hated your music. She says that she's not going to argue with them to try to get them to like it and that it's okay. "I don't believe in God I believe in rehearsal.." She is an outspoken atheist who rehearsed sometimes 5 hours daily. Her concert renditions were often better than her recorded ones. She also says she learned more from her failures than successes. Like La Boheme for which she was panned for not having operatic training. She says this was due to using her chest voice for years to be heard above rock bands. She hadn't learned to use her head voice. This is all in her book Simple Dreams.

s

Posting Linda songs in a Linda thread seems like a truly logical thing to do.

Here's an article about Linda and her live album from today's LA Times. If no one objects to my posting that in a thread about Linda and her new album, that is.

The concert in r429 is missing the encore for some reason. Found it.

She's the rare celeb artist who seems to have never taken a false step. She is virtually faultless. She has dignity, and I've always been impressed by that.

The exception would be that she got a lot of bad press for performing in South Africa when apartheid was very in the news (1983). But other artists had/have performed there before, and since, including Elton John, Sinatra, Tina Turner, Liza, Queen &etc. And she pointed out in an interview that she got to experience a lot of incredible music there, and she shouldn't be denied experiencing music because she disagrees with a country's government.

I seen her in concert in the 70's in Boston.

But you never seen no English teacher.

R491. Y’all shush, now.

I say shut it, Mary Warren!

Bump.

Alright, girls - - we haven't completely forgotten you.

OMG. Dolly singing "After The Gold Rush" on the Grammys with Miley and that other chick hurt my ears and my heart.

The sound mixing on the Grammys was awful, but Dolly's voice is shot.

A YouTube find. Live, from the late 90's. Anyone Who Had a Heart starts at 36:44.

Live, Budokan 1979. (This has/had been widely available on discs for years.) At 57:06, she starts with a high-drama version of My Blue Tears (this was three years before Get Closer), then after just the first verse segues into Poor Poor Pitiful Me. What?!

"She's the rare celeb artist who seems to have never taken a false step. She is virtually faultless. "

Oh, please. She's done a lot of mediocre music and she's done a lot of music that she was ill-suited for. Hardly "faultless."

Linda's new live album is a hit - it's been selling well. Good - she deserves it.

R500 She acknowledges she’s recorded a fair amount of crap, too. That was refreshing.

Linda va a Mexico.