LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE – Review

Last week filmgoers were treated to a rather nifty feature documentary, FIDDLER: A MIRACLE OF MIRACLES, all about the creation (or to borrow a term from the superheroes, an “origin” story) of the beloved stage classic “Fiddler on the Roof”. Well, let’s continue the “musical mood” with another doc about a very popular lady singer. Uh oh, the last big female singer feature docs were 2015’s AMY (Ms. Winehouse) and last year’s WHITNEY (Ms. Houston), so could this be about another songstress struck down at far too young an age? Happily, I can give a resounding “No!”. She appears in new footage and narrates several sequences. However, there’s more than a hint of tragedy at the film’s conclusion. But the journey is quite magical, as she dazzles in a wide range of musical styles and genres. All this audio delight comes courtesy of LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE.

Her screen story starts in the present day as we see Ms. R intently enjoying the performance of several local musicians at a street festival in a Mexican border town. We then get a formal introduction to her via TV clips that range from Johnny Cash and Glen Campbell to Dick Cavett and Johnny Carson. And she glows in the camera’s gaze, seeming to be a raven-haired goddess of the forest with just a hint of the large dark eyes of a 30s cartoon queen. Then we hear that voice, powerful yet still soul-seering. Before we hear too much, it’s flashback time, to her 1946 birth in Tuscon, Arizona. We get to meet her parents, who made music an integral part of the household. Linda tells of her love of radio, which picked up stations from both sides of the border. With the emergence of folk music in the mid-sixties, she became part of a trio with a sister and brother and performed in local clubs. The coast beaconed and soon she was in LA forming a band with back-up guitarist Bobby Kimmel, the Stone Poneys (and scoring a modest hit with “Different Drum”). The record labels were interested in her alone, so she quickly became a solo act. We hear from Don Henley who was part of her back-up band and teamed with another musician, Glen Frey, to form the Eagles. Linda soon becomes a sought after opening act for touring stars, first Neil Young then Jackson Browne, who says they would take turns on the bill (on camera he admits. “Who wants to open for Linda Ronstadt?”). More hit records and more sold-out arena shows follow. She talks of the brief romance with presidential hopeful Jerry Brown, and of the temptations of a rock and roll life. Eventually, she tires of the road and indulges in her love of other musical styles, stunning her record execs with a desire to play Gilbert and Sullivan in New York in the early ’80s. This was followed by a sharp turn to classic big band ballads with Nelson Riddle. Though she was on the country charts in the past, she went “full in” with the Trio album along with Emmylou Harris and idol Dolly Parton. After several hit duets, Linda paid tribute to the music of her Papa with albums filled with Mexican song standards (sung in Spanish). The filmmakers end the documentary in her retirement in the last dozen or so years, one it seems not of her desire.

Directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman tackle the arduous (hey it couldn’t have been that tough to listen to all those great tunes) task of fitting Ronstadt’s life story and decades-long career into a breezy 95-minute length. As it should, it leaves you wanting more (oh those DVD extras). The photomontages of her early Tuscon years combined with the old family audio recordings are a treasure. Sure, we get the usual doc talking heads, but their memories along with lots of gushing adoration (Cameron Crowe continues to be in awe) are most informative and touching like Kevin Kline relating how he was floored by Ronstadt’s classical range during the first run-through of their acclaimed “The Pirates of Penzance”. And we get a good sense of her work ethic, from longtime producer Peter Asher, along with her determined career goals which seem to still mystify record execs like Joe Smith and David Geffen. But for every interview, there are some incredible bits of concert footage (many from the that great NBC late-night Friday staple, “The Midnight Special”). Ronstadt belts out the raucous power anthems, making the classics fresh and electric (from icons like Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison), and moments later she’s breaking everyone’s hearts with ballads full of lost love and yearning. The filmmakers are light on her personal life. Yes, there’s Mr. Brown (and that grainy video of her singing “My Boyfriend’s Back” at a campaign rally), but no mention of the famous comic she dated in the early 80s or the more famous movie director she may have been engaged to near the end of that decade. We’re given the briefest glimpses of her life at home and how she never embraced domesticity (JD Souther tells of going to her house with the promise of a “home-cooked dinner” and sitting down to a PB&J sandwich). But this isn’t a tabloid-like tell-all, but rather a warm, foot-tapping celebration. All these great interviews and archive footage lead to Ronstadt today in a heartbreaking final (let’s hope not) act. She’s attempting to sing with a nephew and cousin, but that despicable Parkinson’s disease thwarts her efforts, then finally silences her. Ronstadt can only look on with frustration at the musicians, the desire to join them shining in those still devastating deep brown eyes, now beneath silver hair. It feels so cruel and unfair, but we can celebrate the recordings that will be enjoyed and studied forever so that many generations to come will be mesmerized and enthralled by the wonders of LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE. Who knows, perhaps some aliens are just now rocking out to her via those old radio signals bouncing about the galaxy.

3.5 Out of 4

LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE opens everywhere and screens exclusively in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas and Tivoli Theatre