Movie Review - Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice

Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice **** (out of 5) (PG-13) If you’re a fan of this beloved singer, or even vaguely familiar with her multi-dimensional talents, you’ll find this documentary entertaining and informative. It’s also admirably efficient in covering her life and the stages of her stellar career. You’ll see plenty of evidence that her offstage nature was as genuinely fine and attractive as the voice that delighted every existing demographic group. She succeeded in rock, pop, country, r&b, and Latin styles - often topping the charts of more than one with a single song - and even mastered Gilbert and Sullivan. She also paved the way for female singers to shape their own destinies in a male-dominated industry.

We hear Ronstadt’s own narration, along with comments from many of her contemporaries between performance clips, adding just enough biographic information for perspective on the paths she chose before retiring in 2009, when Parkinson’s Disease removed the nuances from her vocal abilities. In only 95 minutes we learn much, and are reminded of just how many songs that remain part of our culture came from her unique voice and persona. (9/13/19)