Post by the Scribe on Aug 6, 2021 8:16:05 GMT
“La Cigarra” (1987, “Canciones De Mi Padre” album)
As many fans know, right after the creative risk of breaking from rock and pop to sing three albums of big band-era standards, Ronstadt confounded record executives even further with her gutsy insistence on recording songs that paid tribute to her heritage and the music her father and grandfather led her to sing growing up. Mariachi music was too often dismissed casually by the American public as a punchline to a ‘Three Amigos’ style joke or as background in a Mexican restaurant. By moving it front and center for her fan base, Ronstadt helped bridge generations, particulary among Mexican-Americans, and gave this often dramatic, difficult-to-sing music its time on the main stage. “La Cigarra” is especially challenging, requiring breaks and leaps; Ronstadt’s high vault into her falsetto is thrilling, as is the way she slides the ‘cry’ in her voice into the last lines effortlessly into this song’s sad, poetic meditations on loss and coming to terms with death.
tomcendejas.medium.com/20-deep-cuts-from-linda-ronstadt-that-reveal-her-artistry-65a9470c7ee2