FILM/ MUSIC
For A Long, Long Time
Documentary charts Linda Ronstadt’s ambitious journey
BY GARY M. KRAMER
Linda Ronstadt was for a
time the most successful
female vocalist in America.
In their fabulous documentary
“Linda Ronstadt: The
Sound of My Voice,” out gay fi lmmakers
Rob Epstein and Jeffrey
Friedman trace the singer’s life and
career from her childhood in Tucson,
Arizona, to playing stadiums
around the world. The fi lm, based
on Ronstadt’s memoir, “Simple
Dreams,” features plenty of concert
footage, interviews, and anecdotes
as it explores different phases of
her career, from rock, country, and
pop to operetta, standards, and
Mexican songs. (Spoiler: she succeeded
wildly in all genres).
In separate phone interviews,
Epstein and Friedman, whose collaborations
have included the Oscar
winning “The Times of Harvey
GREENWICH ENTERTAINMENT
Ro
A photo of a young Linda Ronstadt in Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound
of My Voice.”
Milk” and “The Celluloid Closet,”
spoke about the singer and their
new fi lm.
GARY M. KRAMER: What song
do you associate most with Linda
Ronstadt and why?
ROB EPSTEIN: For me, it’s her
fi rst hit, “Different Drum.” That
song was written by Mike Nesmith
for a man to sing about not being
tied down to any one woman and
Linda turned that on its head and
made it a story of empowerment in
1967-1968. That captures so much
of who she is and was throughout
her career. She never compromised
herself. It was also the fi rst record I
ever bought.
JEFFREY FRIEDMAN: I think
of her early songs, “Different
Drum,” that whole period. She was
always part of the soundtrack of
whatever was going on as I was
coming of age. I really started paying
attention to her as an artist
when she started branching out
into new forms and styles and trying
things she’d never done before.
That intrigued me because it was
so unusual, and she was so fabulous
at it. I loved her “Pirates” period
which included stage and fi lm
performances in Gilbert and Sullivan’s
“The Pirates of Penzance”
and “Canciones” Ronstadt’s album
of Mexican traditional Mariachi
music.
KRAMER: Ronstadt projects a
vulnerability but also a raw power
in her performances. Is there a
particular song or moment that
you think captures this best, and
why?
FRIEDMAN: The song “Long,
Long Time,” which she sings on
“The Dick Cavett Show.” There is
something about that performance
where she’s on her own, on a stage
with a microphone, singing her
heart out, and her voice is so beautiful,
and her control of her instrument
is so impressive, and there’s
such passion in the performance.
But seeing her stand up there in
her jeans, raw, putting herself out
there, it captures her vulnerability
and confi dence. She projects such
tremendous confi dence in her artistic
control, even though she expresses
doubts about herself offstage.
EPSTEIN: I’ve seen the fi lm
hundreds and hundreds of times,
and I take such joy in watching
it because of her stellar performances.
But the moment in the
studio where she is recording Karla
Bonoff’s “Lose Again,” live with
musicians, it’s just a tour de force.
KRAMER: How did you conceive
of this doc and how did you get her
to trust you to make it?
EPSTEIN: It was hearing her on
“Fresh Air” when her autobiography
came out. I was taken by her
smarts and humility and her telling
her story. I thought it would
make a great fi lm and be told in
her voice. We wanted her voice to
work both as a literary and a musical
voice. My computer repair guy
saw her book on my desk and said
she was a client. We took her out
to lunch and pitched her the idea
of adapting the book, and she said
no; she didn’t think there would
be any audience or funding — her
➤ LINDA RONSTADT, continued on p.27
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