Focusing largely on her career including being the first bona fide female rock star, the life of Linda Ronstadt is presented. That path from her upbringing outside of Tucson, Arizona with European and Mexican heritage to that stardom having moved to Los Angeles to pursue that singing career is shown, with commentary not only from her own lips, but that of many of her contemporaries who were also emerging at the same time. Her own sensibilities as a woman in a profession domin... (Full plot summary below)
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Focusing largely on her career including being the first bona fide female rock star, the life of Linda Ronstadt is presented. That path from her upbringing outside of Tucson, Arizona with European and Mexican heritage to that stardom having moved to Los Angeles to pursue that singing career is shown, with commentary not only from her own lips, but that of many of her contemporaries who were also emerging at the same time. Her own sensibilities as a woman in a profession dominated by men affected not only the way she acted within that environment, but also impacted the face of rock music especially as it related to women. Her move out of rock music to other genres in getting back to other types of music with which she grew up is also presented, she being told told time and time again that such moves would ruin her career, but the contrary eventually happening with she and the music with each move being met with critical acclaim and popular appeal. These genres included light operetta in the form of Gilbert and Sullivan (most specifically The Pirates of Penzanze), pop standards in collaboration with Nelson Riddle, a purely country collaboration with old friend Emmylou Harris and new friend Dolly Parton, a pop music collaboration with Aaron Neville, and a recording of traditional Spanish-language Mexican folk songs. Not being a songwriter but owning whatever song she decided to sing, and the reason for her retirement in 2009, when she gave her last concert, are also discussed. And two of her higher profile romantic relationships, to fellow musician JD Souther and then California Governor Jerry Brown, are also touched upon.
Leave your thoughts about Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice.
| San Francisco ChronicleJoel SelvinAfter watching her belt, blast and harmonize with power and precision through wildly diverse styles of music like an Amazon heroine, to see her struggle her way through this short piece is the kind of heart-string moment documentary filmmakers can only hope to catch. |
| Chicago TribuneKatie WalshThe film strongly asserts Ronstadt’s rock ’n’ roll bona fides as a trailblazing and wildly successful solo female artist in the man’s world of late ’60s and early ’70s country rock. |
| Original-CinJim SlotekIt occurs at a certain point that Ronstadt was kind of the Meryl Streep of pop music, capable of taking on any vocal role and making it sound like she was born to it. |
| The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe political intelligence and matter-of-fact feminism that emerge in this portrait are among its most intriguing aspects. Her cleareyed, down-to-earth thoughts on her profession, her family and American culture (musical and otherwise) make her someone you want to know better. |
| Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranMemories in popular music are notoriously short, and if you’ve forgotten how extraordinary a singer Linda Ronstadt is, how wide a range of material she’s explored and how deep her commitment to the art and craft of music is, Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice is a potent, mind-expanding reminder. |
| Movie NationRoger MooreFor a fan, Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice is a lot more than a quick trip through her career and her life, even if it offers few deep insights into her psyche and to others might seem just an exercise in Boomer musical nostalgia. |
| The PlaylistAsher LubertoThe beauty of Lina Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice is the sound of other voices. |
| Washington PostMichael O'SullivanIf there’s one drawback to The Sound of My Voice, it’s that Ronstadt herself declined to sit down with the film’s directors, Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperDirected in capable, straightforward fashion by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, and featuring voice-over narration from the artist herself, The Sound of My Voice is like a well-sourced and thorough video Wikipedia entry about the life and times of the now 73-year-old Ronstadt. |
| VarietyOwen GleibermanLaced with colorful stories. ... The movie is mostly content to be a portrait of Ronstadt the artist, and it’s more than satisfying on that front. |
