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"Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice" (2019 release; 95 min.) is a documentary about Linda Ronstadt's remarkable trajectory in the music business. As the movie opens, we see her at the peak of her commercial success, performing "You're No Good" in concert as we are reminded the song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, one of just many accomplishments. We then go to "Banamichi, Mexico", where we see Linsa catching a local show. We then go back in time to how her parents met in Tuscon (her dad was Mexican, even if "Ronstadt" doesn't sound Mexican), and how Linda and her siblings grew up surrounded by music (her dad sings the Mexican traditionals, while her mom was more into Sullivan & Gilbert). No wonder then that Linda and a friend started a band, but quickly ran out of challenges in remote Tuscon. It is 1964 and Linda, then just 18, relocates to southern California. At this point we are 10 min, into the documentary.
Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from Oscar-winning co-directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman ("The Times of Harvey Milk"). Here they examine the music career of Linda Ronstadt. Typically these rockumentaries are best in the first half or first third, as we examine the roots and early successes of an artist. It is remarkable that in this case, the reverse is true: the first half of this documentary recaps Linda's hugely successful "country and rock" phase (up to the early 80s), until Linda decides that she is tried of doing the same songs over and over again, and decides to make a complete break, starting with the "Pirates of Penzance" opera and then the first of the Nelson Riddle albums (doing songs she finds in her mother's album collection). On on and on it went, taking left turns upon left turns (and I don't mean her politics). Along the way, the film makers interview all of the "big names" in the music industry, but in the end it's all about Linda and her voice (sadly she lost her singing range due to Parkinson's a decade ago). This film is a wonderful reminder and tribute to someone who had the courage and urge to go her own way in the music business, and then did it.
"Linda Ronstadt: The Sounds of My Voice" premiered at this year's Tribeca film festival to good acclaim. This weekend it opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati and I couldn't wait to see it. The Sunday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended just okay (8 people in total). If you are a fan of music history or simply a Linda Ronstadt fan, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.
score 7/10
paul-allaer 15 September 2019
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5123320/ |
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2-12-2019 21:57:10
