Linda Ronstadt speaks

This past Sunday (US time), the USA’s CBS Sunday Morning programme broadcast a segment called “Linda Ronstadt speaks” (video above). They described it well on their YouTube post of the video:

In a revealing interview, the legendary singer-songwriter Linda Ronstadt opens up to Tracy Smith about her career, the loss of her singing voice, and living with Parkinson's. She also talks about the release of her first-ever live album, "Linda Ronstadt Live in Hollywood," which presents previously-unreleased recordings from her celebrated 1980 HBO special, recorded at Television Center Studios in Hollywood.

One of the things I’ve lived to regret is that I never saw her in concert. I suspect, but do not know, that the concert will eventually be released on DVD/digital download, and I’d like to watch that, maybe own it. In general, I’m not a fan of most live albums because I think they’re missing something without the visuals. Still, I’ll probably get the album.

It turns out that I’ve mentioned Linda Ronstadt several times on this blog, but not much about her as a person. In my 2016 “Ask Arthur” series, I answered a question from Roger Green where I listed Ronstadt as one of the women I found fascinating when I was younger. I remembered that when I watched the CBS video because of her dry humour, the way she was self-deprecating, her matter-of-fact acceptance of reality—the sorts of things, apart from her talent, that fascinated me back then. This video made me think I’d have liked her/would like her now if I ever met her in real life. Maybe not.

I hope that they do develop a treatment or cure for Parkinson’s that would let her sing again, even if only for herself. I think she’s earned it.

In any case, it was nice to revisit a voice that was part of the background track for my life decades ago. And it reminded me that I was glad it was.