Post by the Scribe on Nov 25, 2023 6:09:30 GMT
LINDA RONSTADT GIFTED AS SINGER
www.nytimes.com/1972/08/02/archives/linda-ronstadt-gifted-as-singer-but-her-countrystyle-art-reveals.html
By Don Heckman
Aug. 2, 1972
LINDA RONSTADT GIFTED AS SINGER
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August 2, 1972, Page 27
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Linda Ronstadt's performance Monday night at Paul Colby's Bitter End underlined some of the contradictions in the work of this fine, country‐styled singer.
Her career begun, paradoxic ally enough, with a group called the Stone Ponies that churned out a few hasty Top 40 hits and then quickly dis appeared from sight. In the four or five years since that time Miss Ronstadt has dug back into her Texas roots to nourish a style that is rich with the sob and twang of country music.
Yet despite her superb voice, despite her glowing appearance and excellent choice of material, she seemed determined to un dercut the effectiveness of her performance. Concluding a gen uinely soul‐stirring ballad such as “Long, Long Time,” she ap peared almost embarrassed by the loving mood she had cre ated and quickly pushed it away with a feeble, and unnecessary, joke to one of her musicians.
One is first inclined to think that she simply lacks a sense of dramatic timing, but after a while it becomes clear that Miss Ronstadt is turned off by guile and theatricality, and gen uinely thinks she can be just another one of the musicians. All well and good, I suppose, but for this listener it seems ap parent that she is selling her self and her abilities short.
Filling a stage with too many musicians or bringing friends and relatives onstage for guest shots is standard practice in down‐home country music. But Miss Ronstadt, despite her pro testations to the contrary, isn't just folks. Her many natural gifts deserve better treatment than they're getting.