Post by the Scribe on Jun 10, 2020 8:00:14 GMT
If you play dirty tricks on people, it makes you weaker. And, in that sense, they've got a victim's kind of strength and I know a lot of people who maneuver and get into that position of being the victim because it gives them power.
I should have only things I need. Too much clutter in my life makes me anxious. You know, you don't always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need. Form follows function. It's just a much more efficient way to live. I'm real interested in efficiency.
The press is discouraging candor. It is encouraging people to be secretive about their lives. Just to sell copy, the press distorts and flat-out makes up things. I'm more quiet out of self-protection.
Putting anything between me and reality has never done anything but make me feel less secure and more scared and awful. It's lies. I'm not comfortable with lies . . . though I still do tell a couple now and then.
The press has nobody to check its authority, to control it. And thank God there isn't. I would sooner see us go down in the worst kind of decadence and horrible corruption than see the press be censored; but if the press is unwilling to take responsibility for its actions, then it will cause its own demise
It would be good for this society to be encouraged to be as open as possible, because when society is encouraged to be closed, then evil things develop in the dark; horrible little stunted things grow out of darkness.
There was a period when I was moderately successful when I could just walk into a party and have a good time. But I went to a party the other night and I was more embarrassed than when I was in high school - a nobody and socially screwed up. Everybody was staring at me and saying, "There's Linda Ronstadt," and people immediately took sides, for me or against me. And the sensitive people have enough respect for themselves not to be swayed by my presence and they just usually hang back. You mostly don't get to meet the nice people.
I close my eyes when I sing. I get scared when I open them and see all the people. I realized how much I close my eyes as a device because it's unnatural to have thousands of people staring at you.
If there is someone around to spark you sexually, it really does make you get up and do your best. I love that. And it doesn't have to be an ongoing sexual thing. If there is someone I like to flirt with around before I go onstage, my shows are always better. It's a good way of priming the pump.
When I came to LA. in 1964, I kind of looked around and thought that maybe the kind of career Judy Collins had was perfect. She was quietly putting out things that seemed tasteful and sold respectably. That was the kind of career I wanted: a career where you earned a nice living, your records sold well, you had the respect of other musicians and did things in good taste. I never tried to become the next big thing. It seemed that was something to be guarded against at all costs.
In the early Seventies, I was in a rut. I didn't know how to get out of it. I was on this plateau that seemed endless. I was so numb. I could hardly see or feel. In fact, it all feels now like a murky dream.Years and years on the road. I was punchy. In fact, the fluorescent lights in certain kinds of dressing rooms made me crazy. (Laughs) If anyone ever wants to brainwash me, if I'm a hostage and they put a fluorescent light on me, I'll become a Communist, anything, you name it. God. I hated those years. I tried to stay unconscious the whole time.
It's unnatural not to reach out, not to try to progress. I was going along, making country-rock albums, experimenting. I felt I was somewhat of a pioneer in that area. I felt like I was throwing some new ideas onto the pile. My records were selling OK. I thought I had arrived. That was before Heart Like A Wheel. I had no idea I was destined to be more.
There are those times when I am just plain sure, when I have that incredible right feeling; and when I have that feeling about a song and I put it on a record, it usually doesn't miss. But sometmes it works the opposite way. I didn't think I sang Different Drum or Heat Wave particularly well. I was really on the fence about those two, but the public certainly didn't respond the same way.
I have three favorite movies; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Seventh Seal and Scenes from a Marriage. Those movies tell life to me.
I remember not long ago standing in the dressing room at the Universal Amphitheater, talking to some Warner Bros. record guy who said he was looking for a girl singer like me. It made me feel so funny. I had become a trend, like when the English were a trend. I was this female who could sell records, and suddenly, female artists became cool. I hear girls singing with the same kind of inflections that I do. I remember so many times sitting down with a record when I was young, trying to copy every tiny inflection of a girl singer. I don't think I've made the kind of impact that changes the face of music like, say, The Rolling Stones or the Beatles. And not in terms of writing the book on singing style. At some point, all girl singers have to curtsy to Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. I brought together a lot of kinds of straight threads of music and put them in a little fabric that has an interesting design. I had commercial success and opened the door for girl singers.
Sometimes I need an interpreter. Waddy (Watchtel) taught me how to sing Tumbling Dice. He really understands The Rolling Stones better than anyone except Keith Richards. And if you want to know about the Beatles, you go to Andrew Gold. If you want to know about Roy Orbison, you ask J. D. Souther. If you want to know about Neil Young, you ask Dan Dugmore. And if you want to know who to ask, you ask me. I'm the expert on who to ask. There are some people who work well all by themselves. Some of those Swedish fiddlers who sit in front of the mountains and just emote this passion are wonderful. But I live in a complex society and there are a lot of people around and I just need somebody to come in and put the other parts of the puzzle together for me.
I feel it can be dangerous for me as an artist to get involved with issues and, particularly, with candidates. But at some point, I feel like I can't not take a stand. I think of pre-Hitler Germany, when it was fashionable for the Berliners not to get involved with politics and, meantime, this horrible man took power.
I feel pretty good. I didn't become a drug addict. I didn't become a compulsive liar. The thing that screws up people in my position more than anything is isolation. Because if you become isolated, then you don't get ideas; and if you don't get ideas, then you think that you can't do it anymore and you start to fall. The other thing that screws up people in my position, the idea you're not allowed to fall. It's perfectly natural to fall, especially if you get up afterward.
Part of learning how to stay sane is learning not to attach yourself to things that cannot be yours. I'm pretty good at letting go of them. Even with things I want very badly, with hindsight, there was always a real reason why I couldn't have them and it turns out for the best. That goes for songs, business, men....
i.postimg.cc/jjhmBPNC/playboy-interview-1980.jpg
Playboy Mag. April 1980 (Linda Ronstadt Interview)
www.ronstadt-linda.com/playboy80.htm
I should have only things I need. Too much clutter in my life makes me anxious. You know, you don't always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need. Form follows function. It's just a much more efficient way to live. I'm real interested in efficiency.
The press is discouraging candor. It is encouraging people to be secretive about their lives. Just to sell copy, the press distorts and flat-out makes up things. I'm more quiet out of self-protection.
Putting anything between me and reality has never done anything but make me feel less secure and more scared and awful. It's lies. I'm not comfortable with lies . . . though I still do tell a couple now and then.
The press has nobody to check its authority, to control it. And thank God there isn't. I would sooner see us go down in the worst kind of decadence and horrible corruption than see the press be censored; but if the press is unwilling to take responsibility for its actions, then it will cause its own demise
It would be good for this society to be encouraged to be as open as possible, because when society is encouraged to be closed, then evil things develop in the dark; horrible little stunted things grow out of darkness.
There was a period when I was moderately successful when I could just walk into a party and have a good time. But I went to a party the other night and I was more embarrassed than when I was in high school - a nobody and socially screwed up. Everybody was staring at me and saying, "There's Linda Ronstadt," and people immediately took sides, for me or against me. And the sensitive people have enough respect for themselves not to be swayed by my presence and they just usually hang back. You mostly don't get to meet the nice people.
I close my eyes when I sing. I get scared when I open them and see all the people. I realized how much I close my eyes as a device because it's unnatural to have thousands of people staring at you.
If there is someone around to spark you sexually, it really does make you get up and do your best. I love that. And it doesn't have to be an ongoing sexual thing. If there is someone I like to flirt with around before I go onstage, my shows are always better. It's a good way of priming the pump.
When I came to LA. in 1964, I kind of looked around and thought that maybe the kind of career Judy Collins had was perfect. She was quietly putting out things that seemed tasteful and sold respectably. That was the kind of career I wanted: a career where you earned a nice living, your records sold well, you had the respect of other musicians and did things in good taste. I never tried to become the next big thing. It seemed that was something to be guarded against at all costs.
In the early Seventies, I was in a rut. I didn't know how to get out of it. I was on this plateau that seemed endless. I was so numb. I could hardly see or feel. In fact, it all feels now like a murky dream.Years and years on the road. I was punchy. In fact, the fluorescent lights in certain kinds of dressing rooms made me crazy. (Laughs) If anyone ever wants to brainwash me, if I'm a hostage and they put a fluorescent light on me, I'll become a Communist, anything, you name it. God. I hated those years. I tried to stay unconscious the whole time.
It's unnatural not to reach out, not to try to progress. I was going along, making country-rock albums, experimenting. I felt I was somewhat of a pioneer in that area. I felt like I was throwing some new ideas onto the pile. My records were selling OK. I thought I had arrived. That was before Heart Like A Wheel. I had no idea I was destined to be more.
There are those times when I am just plain sure, when I have that incredible right feeling; and when I have that feeling about a song and I put it on a record, it usually doesn't miss. But sometmes it works the opposite way. I didn't think I sang Different Drum or Heat Wave particularly well. I was really on the fence about those two, but the public certainly didn't respond the same way.
I have three favorite movies; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Seventh Seal and Scenes from a Marriage. Those movies tell life to me.
I remember not long ago standing in the dressing room at the Universal Amphitheater, talking to some Warner Bros. record guy who said he was looking for a girl singer like me. It made me feel so funny. I had become a trend, like when the English were a trend. I was this female who could sell records, and suddenly, female artists became cool. I hear girls singing with the same kind of inflections that I do. I remember so many times sitting down with a record when I was young, trying to copy every tiny inflection of a girl singer. I don't think I've made the kind of impact that changes the face of music like, say, The Rolling Stones or the Beatles. And not in terms of writing the book on singing style. At some point, all girl singers have to curtsy to Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. I brought together a lot of kinds of straight threads of music and put them in a little fabric that has an interesting design. I had commercial success and opened the door for girl singers.
Sometimes I need an interpreter. Waddy (Watchtel) taught me how to sing Tumbling Dice. He really understands The Rolling Stones better than anyone except Keith Richards. And if you want to know about the Beatles, you go to Andrew Gold. If you want to know about Roy Orbison, you ask J. D. Souther. If you want to know about Neil Young, you ask Dan Dugmore. And if you want to know who to ask, you ask me. I'm the expert on who to ask. There are some people who work well all by themselves. Some of those Swedish fiddlers who sit in front of the mountains and just emote this passion are wonderful. But I live in a complex society and there are a lot of people around and I just need somebody to come in and put the other parts of the puzzle together for me.
I feel it can be dangerous for me as an artist to get involved with issues and, particularly, with candidates. But at some point, I feel like I can't not take a stand. I think of pre-Hitler Germany, when it was fashionable for the Berliners not to get involved with politics and, meantime, this horrible man took power.
I feel pretty good. I didn't become a drug addict. I didn't become a compulsive liar. The thing that screws up people in my position more than anything is isolation. Because if you become isolated, then you don't get ideas; and if you don't get ideas, then you think that you can't do it anymore and you start to fall. The other thing that screws up people in my position, the idea you're not allowed to fall. It's perfectly natural to fall, especially if you get up afterward.
Part of learning how to stay sane is learning not to attach yourself to things that cannot be yours. I'm pretty good at letting go of them. Even with things I want very badly, with hindsight, there was always a real reason why I couldn't have them and it turns out for the best. That goes for songs, business, men....
i.postimg.cc/jjhmBPNC/playboy-interview-1980.jpg
Playboy Mag. April 1980 (Linda Ronstadt Interview)
www.ronstadt-linda.com/playboy80.htm