I tell you, Evergreen Vol 2 by the Stone Poneys is utterly brilliant. So for that alone, I'd give her classic status.
― Officer Pupp, Friday, 15 October 2010 15:00 (thirteen years ago) link
t A Wonderful World" because you're sick of James Taylor's mellow brand of folk-rock, until you finally hear Sam Cooke doing them right. Like it or not, this is the way we '70s kids first heard these songs.
Really interested in someone expanding on this – her position as gateway drug.
― raging hetero lifechill (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 15 October 2010 15:09 (thirteen years ago) link
There's an original "You're No Good?" I guess I fall into the category of a 70s kid who heard all those songs via Ronstadt (and apparently has yet to hear all the originals). Anyway, I like her but somehow have nothing by her (true of lots of 70s music I like a great deal).
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 15 October 2010 15:19 (thirteen years ago) link
can't follow the Nelson Riddle bashing.theres a time where you need this ('Lush Life' & 'Whats New')
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/5e/de/87b4e03ae7a046124e67b110.L.jpg
― meisenfek, Friday, 15 October 2010 17:30 (thirteen years ago) link
never heard her version of this until yesterday:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e08siRDkfQ
holy cow!Heart Like a Wheel is a complete classic and should be in every home
― KC & the sunshine banned (outdoor_miner), Friday, 15 October 2010 17:44 (thirteen years ago) link
There's an original "You're No Good?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S1VmqyTUBk
Yeah, there's definitely something to be said for the "gateway drug" thing. Ronstadt's covers exposed me to a bunch of things I wasn't really listening to otherwise at the time: Motown, Everly Brothers, Hank Williams and Dolly Parton for starters, as well as 70s songwriters (Eric Kaz, Karla Bonoff, Warren Zevon.)
― Taller than the president (Dan Peterson), Friday, 15 October 2010 22:07 (thirteen years ago) link
Holy cow indeed at that Playboy After Dark clip; they start soul-clapping about the 1 1/2 minute mark!
― Taller than the president (Dan Peterson), Friday, 15 October 2010 22:11 (thirteen years ago) link
one great thing about linda is that you can go to most used record stores and get ten of her records for about $10.
― tylerw, Friday, 15 October 2010 22:17 (thirteen years ago) link
even more original "you're no good"
<object width="400" height="300"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9054360&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9054360&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/9054360">Dee Dee Warwick - you're no good</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user3023043">Romagnolo</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
― fact checking cuz, Friday, 15 October 2010 23:56 (thirteen years ago) link
oops.
even more original "you're no good":
http://vimeo.com/9054360
― fact checking cuz, Friday, 15 October 2010 23:57 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRTplUpErRM&feature=player_embedded#!
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Monday, 10 January 2011 17:52 (thirteen years ago) link
This absolutely fucking kills me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD1LSxA24aU
― Mule, Sunday, 5 February 2012 15:27 (twelve years ago) link
She's 37 in this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKQss1HhYl8
― La Lechera, Sunday, 5 February 2012 15:56 (twelve years ago) link
I just heard Blue Bayou today...damn if there was ever a timemachine back to my childhood, it's her voice.
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 23:02 (eleven years ago) link
I LOVE that song.
― (✿◠‿◠) (ENBB), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 23:03 (eleven years ago) link
Ned mentioned this upthread - worth posting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbjsMGyZVDw
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 23:05 (eleven years ago) link
I heard "Hurts So Bad" on Sunday. Her voice cracks!
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 23:05 (eleven years ago) link
when her voice gets loud on Bayou I get all teary and goosebumpy
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 23:07 (eleven years ago) link
me too
― (✿◠‿◠) (ENBB), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 23:48 (eleven years ago) link
Same for me on "Long, Long Time." That one just absolutely slays me.
― Marco YOLO (Phil D.), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 01:11 (eleven years ago) link
Love her version of Love Has No Pride, just an incredible vocal (http://youtu.be/rN8YVVKPNC0). Bonnie Raitt also recorded a great version in the early 70s (http://youtu.be/S2QTdxXmd0k). I love me some Bonnie Raitt but I give the nod to Linda.
― that's not my post, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 06:50 (eleven years ago) link
lollin @ some of the comments on these vids:
Wow! That black dress, black hair, sultry lips, tight little body, and those trade-mark mesmerizing eyes. Word cannot describe how sexy she was during the early-mid 80's I would have worshiped her back then.... gladly been her slave.....Lindawatcher 3 weeks ago
― global tetrahedron, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 16:10 (eleven years ago) link
lindawatcher jfc that's creepy
― Will Chave (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 16:12 (eleven years ago) link
rondstalker
― Will Chave (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 16:13 (eleven years ago) link
er, ronstalker
name: lindawatcherjob: lindawatcherinterests: linda, lindawatchinghobbies: lindawatching
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 16:14 (eleven years ago) link
favorites:Linda's Bedroom Window at NightLinda's Bedroom Window at Night pt 2
― Will Chave (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 16:17 (eleven years ago) link
"Linda told me to shave my head today. I'm amazed at the results. After all this time, she really knows me too well."
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 16:20 (eleven years ago) link
She played Sun City, so dud.
― Jean-Luc Poncey (lpz), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 16:42 (eleven years ago) link
Snow White in South Africa
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 16:46 (eleven years ago) link
Frank Sinatra, whose eyes are apartheid blue
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 16:52 (eleven years ago) link
she has my favorite voice ever
― NASCAR, surfing, raising chickens, owning land (zachlyon), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 17:51 (eleven years ago) link
weird!http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_maau7g6ivy1qzoglfo1_500.jpg
― tylerw, Thursday, 13 September 2012 17:45 (eleven years ago) link
And that's what the late 70's were like.
― _Rudipherous_, Thursday, 13 September 2012 18:20 (eleven years ago) link
C-3PO's arms don't even bend properly, he would be a terrible drummer.
― Darren Robocopsky (Phil D.), Thursday, 13 September 2012 18:29 (eleven years ago) link
That is literally my only problem with that cover.
― Darren Robocopsky (Phil D.), Thursday, 13 September 2012 18:30 (eleven years ago) link
Suffering from Parkinson's
In a wide-ranging interview with AARP’s music writer Alanna Nash to be published on aarp.org next week, Ronstadt revealed how she discovered that “there was something wrong” with her voice.“I couldn’t sing,” she told Nash, “and I couldn’t figure out why. I knew it was mechanical. I knew it had to do with the muscles, but I thought it might have also had something to do with the tick disease that I had. And it didn’t occur to me to go to a neurologist. I think I’ve had it for seven or eight years already, because of the symptoms that I’ve had. Then I had a shoulder operation, so I thought that’s why my hands were trembling.“Parkinson’s is very hard to diagnose, so when I finally went to a neurologist and he said, ‘Oh, you have Parkinson’s disease,’ I was completely shocked. I wouldn’t have suspected that in a million, billion years.“No one can sing with Parkinson’s disease,” Ronstadt said. “No matter how hard you try.”
“I couldn’t sing,” she told Nash, “and I couldn’t figure out why. I knew it was mechanical. I knew it had to do with the muscles, but I thought it might have also had something to do with the tick disease that I had. And it didn’t occur to me to go to a neurologist. I think I’ve had it for seven or eight years already, because of the symptoms that I’ve had. Then I had a shoulder operation, so I thought that’s why my hands were trembling.
“Parkinson’s is very hard to diagnose, so when I finally went to a neurologist and he said, ‘Oh, you have Parkinson’s disease,’ I was completely shocked. I wouldn’t have suspected that in a million, billion years.
“No one can sing with Parkinson’s disease,” Ronstadt said. “No matter how hard you try.”
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 23 August 2013 22:33 (ten years ago) link
This is bringing me way down like a 40 pound soaking wet raincoat of sadness. Even though it's been years and years since I had any interest in what she was doing at the time, knowing that she's sung her last note is AWFUL.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Friday, 23 August 2013 22:44 (ten years ago) link
i just found out about this and immediately thought of my friend/choirmate who does linda in a tribute band.
― Real cyberpunks think Radio Shack sucks (get bent), Friday, 23 August 2013 22:56 (ten years ago) link
what johnny fever said. :(
― brimstead, Friday, 23 August 2013 23:56 (ten years ago) link
I revived a thread last week after the spike in Eagles interest and because she comes off so powerful, stalwart, and fascinating in Hoskyns' Hotel California. A real bummer: if she could do anything extraordinarily well it's sing.
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 24 August 2013 00:21 (ten years ago) link
Just saw this on Facebook. Her lingering significance (with Stevie Nicks and Carly Simon) as the definition of female beauty in the '70s is greater than any impact her music had on me, but that is something significant in and of itself.
― clemenza, Saturday, 24 August 2013 00:33 (ten years ago) link
I know it's from past her prime, and complete schmaltz, but I've probably listened to "Don't Know Much" about 20 times in the last two hours. The final lines of her first verse are my favorite document of her voice.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Saturday, 24 August 2013 00:36 (ten years ago) link
Man this makes me v sad
poor linda
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 24 August 2013 00:40 (ten years ago) link
This is so weird, because just two days ago I asked my wife what was up with Ronstadt and where had she been and did she drop off the face of the earth?
Basically: did I do this to her?! If so, I'm sorry, Linda.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 24 August 2013 02:46 (ten years ago) link
Rosanne Cash said on twitter that Linda told her three years ago she wasn't singing anymore, but didn't reveal to her why not. Wikipedia links to a 2011 interview with Linda's hometown newspaper where she officially announced her retirement.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Saturday, 24 August 2013 02:48 (ten years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I7GkHy5iOA
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 24 August 2013 13:50 (ten years ago) link
I know someone with Parkinson's, diagnosed about 7 years ago, who can still sing. Which makes me suspect Ronstadt's case may be relatively advanced. Although my friend isn't a professional singer, doesn't put that kind of demand on her voice. Still...
― dow, Saturday, 24 August 2013 14:32 (ten years ago) link
Not that current medications can't be pretty effective: my friend says she still doesn't have many day-to-day problems with her condition; the neurologist has her check in once a year, etc.
― dow, Saturday, 24 August 2013 14:35 (ten years ago) link
Mike Nesmith on fb:
The awful news about Linda losing her voice to Parkinson's is terrible but it can never diminish the legacy she has created for us in the songs she has sung for all of us.Because of her these songs will live as long as people listen to songs and these songs will always sing with the same power and beauty that she was and is.Like all great gifts, these songs now sing to her as they once sang with her.Listen to them. You will hear what she has done. What she has given us.Her voice is far from stilled. It lives and sings forever down the halls of time.Linda did more for Different Drum than I ever did -- or ever could have.She breathed eternal life into it.
Because of her these songs will live as long as people listen to songs and these songs will always sing with the same power and beauty that she was and is.
Like all great gifts, these songs now sing to her as they once sang with her.
Listen to them. You will hear what she has done. What she has given us.Her voice is far from stilled. It lives and sings forever down the halls of time.
Linda did more for Different Drum than I ever did -- or ever could have.
She breathed eternal life into it.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Sunday, 25 August 2013 22:16 (ten years ago) link