Friday, March 29, 2024

Review: Linda Ronstadt’s “The Sound of My Voice” Documents the Great Pop Star’s Rise to Fame

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Rock and Roll is inherently dramatic and the making of the new extraordinary documentary “Linda Ronstadt:  The Sound Of My Voice “directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, was no exception.  Linda turned down the filmmakers three times. When she finally agreed, actor and producer James Keach helped convince her and secured the funding.

But wow, how worth it the journey was.  This documentary about this courageous innovative, trailblazing rock and roll, pop, country, American Standards, classical operetta, even Mexican canciones artist with her singular stunning voice as well as her honesty and down to earthiness about her career is as extraordinary as the singer herself.

Ronstadt now has Parkinson’s, but the film doesn’t focus on that.  She is reticent about talking about her private life, but it does touch on some of her famous romances, including Governor Jerry Brown.  The film captures a trailblazing woman in a field dominated by men and the obstacles she had around that.  She’s charming, thoughtful, smart and defiant. Her close friends Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris as well as Bonnie Raitt, ex-boyfriend J.D. Souther, David Geffen, Aaron Neville, Don Henley, Jackson Browne, John Boylan and Peter Asher all speak about Linda. When she performs Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance,” it’s like what Epstein said at the premiere’s Q and A, she’s “like a butterfly being released, it’s breathtaking.”  Epstein noted: “the paradox is that she lived with this duality, of tremendous insecurity and tremendous drive.  That drive was the need to sing.”

Emmylou Harris says in the film that “there has never been nor will there ever be a voice like hers again.” Do not miss this sensational documentary about this singular singer that we will indeed never hear the likes of again.  Want to bet that her music will be streamed a zillion times over because of this brilliant doc?

“Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice,” a Greenwich Entertainment/1091/CNN film is playing in theaters now.

Leah Sydney
Leah Sydneyhttp://traffz.byethost10.com/
Leah Sydney writes from Los Angeles for Showbiz411.com. A seasoned journalist with a long history during the halcyon days of the NY Daily News, Leah is a member of the Critics Choice and Rotten Tomatoes.
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