About 25 minutes into the Sugar Bowl between Georgia and Baylor, I realized the Linda Ronstadt documentary was on CNN — and I realized I wasn’t recording it. Football could wait; I had to watch “The Sound Of My Voice.”
I had to watch because I grew up loving Linda Ronstadt, and what little I knew of her as a kiddo I had grown to appreciate as an adult.
Her time with the Stone Poneys.
Her impact on the West Coast sound.
Her influence on the creation of the band, Eagles.
For anybody under 40, I’d love to offer up somebody who’s like Linda today but I can’t really think of anybody. There’s damn sure nobody vocally who can hang with her, especially not across the multiple genres Ronstadt had mastered.
The only person who comes to mind (don’t laugh) was Trisha Yearwood, and while I thought I was crazy, it turns out that Yearwood performed “You’re No Good” at the 2019 Kennedy Center Honors.
Anyway, watching “The Sound Of My Voice” was like a reinforcement of Linda’s greatness. I wanted to share my five favorite Linda Ronstadt songs of all time in no particular order and with the caveat that I love all of them.
“Willin'”
“When Will I Be Loved?”
“I Knew You When”
“Easy For You To Say”
“Still Within The Sound Of My Voice”
One note about this tune. Oklahoman Jimmy Webb wrote this, and the late great Glen Campbell recorded it many years before Linda did. I think it’s one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
