"The New Linda Ronstadt Documentary Proves Just How Underrated She Is"

Who watched? Who liked? Who has gripes?

I was surprised to hear Emmy Lou Harris say Linda was the first female rock star... I really thought she'd know better. I mean, can't people compliment without taking a chunk off of say Wanda Jackson, Brenda Lee, Mary Weiss, or somebody else possibly? Hyperbole. And yes, Linda had fantastic range, power, and precision... but Julia Cortes... better in Espanol (and I know that is saying a lot but it is true). This is not to discredit Linda at all, she was great with mariachi and Ruben Blades, and I'm sure sales were fab etc., but Julia Cortes in Los Machucambos should've been heard in the U.S. and U.K., she just mostly wasn't, so people don't know.

Waddy Wachtel is great too, great player! Nice to see Bobby Kimmel involved in this, love the first Stone Poneys LP most of all, something else people need to get into their ears! Wasn't Linda on a John Byner show circa 1969 with Poco and the Burrito Brothers? The Burritos still had Gram, and I think it had Bernie Leadon... did Poco have Randy Meisner? They can't squeeze everything into a two hour bio though I guess, but some of that might've messed up their story with Shiloh and Longbranch-Pennywhistle as being where she first met future Eagles.

I was glad to see Linda R. can still enjoy singing, she should be entitled to that like anyone else... shouldn't have to try to live up to being herself forever. I can definitely understand her not recording or performing much better now, I was worried her voice was totally stolen from her.

 

I watched the show, despite my overall feelings about Linda Ronstadt, which can be summed up as follows.

She had a great voice of course, but my problem with her has always been that once you get past "Different Drum" and "Long Long Time" (both of which I love — I bought the single of the latter), nearly ALL of her hit singles were covers of classic songs done by others.

I have no doubt she loved all of those tunes, but it seemed to me a cheap way of getting hits — relying on proven songs instead of searching for something newer and more innovative. Not that she or the musicians did them poorly or anything; it just knocked her down a bit in my estimation that this was her (and of course Peter Asher's) nearly unvarying approach.

But overall, the show tonight did give me a new measure of respect for Ronstadt. I had forgotten about her turn in Pirates of Penzance, which was pretty amazing. And while I knew of the Nelson Riddle and Mexican music projects, I gained some new insight about her determination to pursue them despite record company resistance. All of these made me appreciate the depth of her singing talent beyond the pop hits.

I found the final scene of her singing with her family members to be very moving. I'm glad I watched tonight.

 

It pretty much is. She cannot sing anymore. That wonderful moment at the end of the movie is an extremely rare one.

 

I think she chose songs she could bring something to most of the time, not just knock-off and make a hit of a hit (which in a way isn't doing much at all). Like Ike & Tina Turner with CCR's Proud Mary, they brought something. Janis Joplin was along the same lines of not being a songwriter particularly either, but could really make somebody else's song hers and fully lived in/through. I wonder if Waddy might not have suggested she look through the Bill Cowsill songbook for something that suited her. I remember the McGarrigle's first album and it was a semi-hit in Canada at least, but I never imagined Heart Like A Wheel being an actual hit of any kind, so whatever she brought to that she helped, and partly maybe the audience was more sensitive than I'd have expected.

 

She's an interpreter of songs. And, a damn good chooser of material that she can bring something unique to. Anyone who criticizes her for not being a singer/songwriter is waaaay off base in my view.

 

She is my favorite singer of all time, if not my favorite artist. This film was so
Moving and well done.....my eyes were misted over throughout....such a
Thoughtful and intelligent woman....modest too.
I think “You’re No Good” is actually my favorite song of all time!....
Well of course,... the movie reveals it is “ Beatlesque”

 

I thought most of her cover songs were hers. Classics like “Blue Bayou” and “It’s So Easy,” to me, are her originals. I heard those versions first and they are the only versions that matter. The so-called originals were too, umm, “black and white” aka ancient for my tastes lol lol....

 

I enjoyed the documentary, however, that unique guitar/drum/strings interlude in the middle of "You're No Good" really made that song something special. Although Peter Asher talked about that interlude, there is not a single mention of Andrew Gold during that discussion. The interlude was an Asher/Gold collaboration. I didn't hear even a single mention of Andrew Gold in the documentary (please correct me if I'm wrong). I realize that these kinds of docs don't focus on sidemen, but the non-mention of Gold (if only for his pivotal role in the interlude) was disappointing.

Kenny Edwards was with Linda from the beginning. The documentary touched on his importance in the Stone Poneys. Later it mentions Edwards going to India after the Stone Poneys broke up... and one would assume that he disappeared from her career. In reality, he played an important part in her albums/live shows through the entire 1970s.

It seemed that documentary stopped mentioning individual collaborators (aside from producers and record execs) once the Stone Poneys broke up.

 

Boring doc. She deserved better.

 

5/5***** Documentary.
I thoroughly enjoyed the documentary; thought it gave an in-depth look at her entire career, in a well-rounded & well-timed format w/many clips of both performances & interviews w/herself & other musicians she's worked with. Gained even more respect for her range, w/the Pirates of Penzance portion. I was also amazed at just how sensible (not only ambitious) she was @ a young age in an environment which has many temptations, which destroy those less level-headed & easily swayed. Linda R. had to be tough to survive (continues to be) & she stood firm in her convinctions of what she wanted her career to be; what she wanted to do...meeting & working w/the proper people to help bring her dreams/projects to fruition.

To quote Frank S. "she did it 'her way'". Also, a well-rounded thinker of a number of topics & well-read. Brought a tear @ the end; footage w/her brother & nephew. How devastating & heartwrenching for a singer's voice to fall victim to Parkinson's...horrid disease.

 

...so, THAT'S why she was in "Uncle Meat"...for like 2 seconds!

 

The talking heads all seemed pretty relevant this time... they didn't try to shove in a 'hot' younger face saying how she changed the world or any of that. It's So Easy by Buddy Holly, Blue Bayou by Roy Orbison, When Will I Be Loved by the Everly Brothers... c'mon, people have to respect those as stone all-time classics, it does no good to diminish the originals to try and rave about Rondstadt, and I doubt she would want that. Every music fan should know them. I really dislike it when ignorance is used as justification. You're No Good was a notable song and recording(s) long before she ever recorded it as well (Dee Dee Warwick and The Swinging Blue Jeans). This doc could've done more in terms of educating probably.

 

You make one then.

 

I'm a trained singer myself (BA in vocal performance, with 10+ years in a professional symphony chorus, and 30+ years of choral singing under my belt) -- which *doesn't* mean I'm great singer myself necessarily, but I do know something about the craft.

I saw the doc last night, and I was pretty impressed at times. Knew very little about Linda, or her output. The examples of her singing the traditional Mexican Folk Music (which I don't have any experience with), seemed incredibly well-informed and delivered, and true vocal artistry of the highest order. I heard a lot of other really great singing at other points too.

I'm a sucker for music/musician documentaries generally, and my wife and I both enjoyed this one quite a bit. I'm not going to try and get into the details of whether this or that was accurate or hyperbole or not, but it seemed clear that she was extremely talented, and brought a rich and wider background to her career than many.

 

Singer-songwriter Wendy Waldman made some of the same points in a recent email to Bob Lefsetz (reprinted in his "Mailbag" column last week):

From: WENDY WALDMAN

The glaring omission of Andrew Gold’s name and credit for creating that ground breaking version of “You’re No Good” renders this film, while interesting, as a historical document, sorely lacking.

We were there, several of us, and it was common knowledge that Andrew, with whom I grew up, and with whom I worked on and off his entire life, recorded all of the parts except the bass (played of course by Kenny Edwards, also deeply uncredited) and drums were Mike Botts. Everything else was Andrew in the course of what for him was a normal night of multi tracking.

It was something not heard before, not only the solo but the entire construction of the piece. Kudos as always to Peter Asher for recognizing that he had no better captains for Linda than Andrew Gold and Kenny Edwards. The film never mentioned Andrew’s name, let alone address this particular moment in Linda’s history, which caused her to explode.

I love Linda, we are old friends, and I doubt she was much involved here. But I have always, as you know, advocated for Kenny and Andrew, who were my brothers in arms as creators, friends, members of Bryndle, and the absolute creative backbone of those formative years for Linda, stewarded wisely by Peter. I was there, singing on the projects, being a pal, and being amazed and proud of their work. I still am, and I sing their praises to the end. Those two were geniuses, unrecognized, but not unrecognized forever.

(PS) People do not know that Linda also broke after doing a million miles on the road, a prerequisite back in those days. She already had a deep audience when the big records started coming out, and that’s why they were big.

 

Yeah, I think Wendy is very on point here. It was a Ronstadt documentary. But Gold was so pivotal to a certain timeframe of her career, he deserved at least a mention. Ronstadt was the singular vocal talent. But those records she made reflect several individuals with strong visions. Without the lot of them, there'd be no documentary today.

 

I don't criticize her for not being a songwriter. My criticism is that with few exceptions she took the very safe, tried and true route to getting hit singles — that is, remaking songs that had already proven their merit and audience appeal in their original incarnations.

A couple of the arrangements may have been OK, but there's just no way Linda, as great a singer as she is, will ever make me forget the originals by Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Smokey Robinson, Little Anthony, Martha Reeves or The Stones. I just don't hear the "unique" in any of those remakes. After such a steady and nearly unbroken string of them, it got to the point of "Oh brother, what's next?"

To me, "It's So Easy" and "You're No Good" are about the only songs where she and/or her band really brought something new and worthwhile. I can say this because Buddy's original with the corny backing vocals (his Achilles heel) was kinda lame, and it was mostly the band on the latter.

I know Linda did some good album tracks by contemporary songwriters that brought them to greater notice (Karla Bonoff in particular). But when it came to her best-known hits, that just didn't happen.

 

I caught this last night on CNN. While I think it could have been a little more in depth, I didn’t need to be convinced that Linda is a one in a million singer. Of her 70s peers, only Karen Carpenter and Ann Wilson of Heart were even in the same ballpark. I would have been happy if Linda had kept on recording pop/rock songs forever, but I thought the documentary did a good job of pointing out the real risks she took by branching out into Gilbert & Sullivan, the Great American Songbook (well before that became something that lots of rock artists did), and Mexican songs.

Love her, love her music. So sad that illness has robbed her of ability to sing, but she had a great career and appears to be handling her situation with great dignity.

 

THIS. Joan Jett did something similar on her doc.

When will people understand that acknowledging other women’s achievements only makes our history - women’s history - richer? Yeah, neither Linda or Joan were the first female rockstar, so what? They’ve accomplished so many things they don’t need that title, which in my opinion belongs to Janis Joplin.

 

I believe there was a claim in Linda’s documentary that she was the only artist ever to chart a song on pop, country, and R&B at the same time. I’m pretty sure several of Elvis’s early singles pulled that off, but, hey, it’s her documentary, I can deal with a little puffery, they also called Linda “the Beyoncé of her day,” which is pretty much true, in my opinion. A big, big star back in the 70s, even if the prejudice against interpreters of songs rather than singer/songwriters has caused Linda’s star to fade more than it should have.

 

Totally agree. And in my humble opinion, her version of "Tumblin' Dice" is better than the author's.

 

Really? I have many friends who are not fans who went to see it and loved it.

 

Actually, Andrew played drums on You’re No Good as well.

 

Well, I think we can ALL agree, the doc's producers 'lose points' for not including THIS!:

 

I think Ronstadt is still embarrassed about that time in her life.