Rediscovered
Talent:
Linda Ronstadt: The Versatile Voice
Each month, musicbizadvice.com profiles an artist from the past. Some you may have
heard of, some not, but we hope you'll take time to check out their music...especially if
it's something different than you usually listen to. This month, we rediscover vocalist
Linda Ronstadt.
Linda Ronstadt was one of less than a handful of
female rock stars in the 1970's. A precursor to artists like Sheryl Crowe, Ronstadt was
the first female artist to take the blend of rock music and country vocals that Rick
Nelson's Stone Canyon Band developed earlier in the decade and turn it into mainstream
success.
Born in Tucson, Arizona on July 15, 1946, Ronstadt got her start in music at home with her
family. Her mother liked opera, country and standards, while her father's influence was
the sounds of Mexico. Along with her brother Peter and sister Suzy, Linda recorded as a
folk group called the New Union Ramblers.
Ronstadt was discovered by a promoter at the legendary Troubadour club in Los Angeles in
1964. Her band the Stone Poneys recorded three albums and had one hit, "Different
Drum." While still with the Stone Poneys, Ronstadt sang backup for Neil Young in the
recording studio and later was the opening act on his 1973 Time Fades Away tour.
She launched her solo career in 1968. In 1969, she was the first female artist to release
an alt-country album Hand Sown Home Grown.
It wasn't until she met producer Peter Asher, who got her career moving with the album Don't
Cry Now, that Ronstadt met with solo success. The album captured the attention of
both the public and the critics, and in 1974 Ronstadt released a country album called Heart
Like a Wheel. "You're No Good" was the hit and won a Grammy for Best Female
Country Vocal Performance.
During the 1970's Ronstadt brought her country pop sound to a wide audience and became the
first female rock star since Janis Joplin. Songs such as "You're No Good,"
"When Will I Be Loved," "It's So Easy," and "Ooh Baby Baby,"
coupled with multiple TV appearances, cemented her reputation as a performer and made
Ronstadt a popular concert attraction in the '70's. In the days before top designers
courted rock stars to appear in their clothes, Ronstadt's appearance onstage in a Cub
Scout uniform garnered media attention and legions of fans who admired her gutsy but cute
style. A high profile relationship with California governor Jerry Brown garnered attention
as well.
Future Eagles members Don Henley, Glen Frey, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner sang
background on some of her albums, which at times proved difficult due to the fact that
Ronstadt was the lone female working among a crowd of men. She would later be quoted as
saying, "I was the only girl on the road so the boys always kind of took charge. They
were working for me, and yet it always seemed like I was working for them."
Never afraid to take a musical gamble, Ronstadt challenged herself in the 80's and '90's,
having success in projects as diverse as stints in The Pirates of Penzance and La
Bohème, three albums of American Pop Standards, What's New (1983), Lush
Life (1984), and For Sentimental Reasons (1986), and even a spanish language
album, Canciones de Mi Padre. She sang a duet with James Ingram ("Somewhere
Out There") from the film An American Tail, and in 1989 the duets
"Don't Know Much" and "All My Life" with Aaron Neville both won
Grammys.
Recently, Linda Ronstadt's projects have included Trio and Trio II with
Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris and Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions with just
Emmylou, and a Christmas album, Merry Little Christmas. Linda also produced a
glass instrument classical album. In 2004, she has a jazz album coming out featuring top
jazz players, Alan Broadbent, Warren Bernhardt, David "Fathead" Newman, Bob
Mann, Christian McBride, Lewis Nash, Roy Hargrove, and Joe Lovano. Some songs said to be
on this album are "Get Outta Town," "Never Will I Marry," and
"Miss Otis Regrets." Instead of a large orchestra as on the Nelson Riddle
albums, this album will feature only six or seven instruments.
Recently Linda revealed she suffers from Hashimoto's Disease, a common thyroid gland
disorder. It is caused by a reaction of the immune system against the thyroid gland. She
lives in Tucson with her two adopted children, a son 8, and a daughter, 11.
(Update 11/19/04: Linda Ronstadt's Hummin' to Myself was released on
Verve Records on November 9, 2004) Discography
Rediscovered Talent
Home |
