Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice

When you get down to it, Linda Ronstadt is one of the most versatile entertainers to have ever walked the planet. Country music, pop, rock, opera, Mexican folk music … her resume is crazily full of wide-ranging, bold leaps into all corners of the musical landscape. This documentary, with her full participation, covers her career from her Tucson, Arizona, roots through her band The Stone Poneys, and on through her amazing solo career. Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, Don Henley, Jackson Browne and many more sit down for interviews, and it slowly hits you that, dammit, this is one amazing entertainer, perhaps more amazing than was realized during her main heyday. Ronstadt is basically retired, having been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, but that doesn’t even stop her from offering up a jewel at the end of this movie: a short but very sweet moment of her singing with friends. This documentary is nothing unusual from a filmmaking standpoint, but it is a treasure trove of Ronstadt performances, and a consistently enjoyable historical study of one great gift to the music world.