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Post by sliderocker on Feb 12, 2013 18:02:47 GMT -5
Whatever the reasons are for Linda stopping with the recording and performing, I too would rather that she be remembered for what she did with the voice that she had at its peak rather than having her make one or two more albums with a substandard voice. While it might be nice to have her go out on another album, if the voice isn't there, then it wouldn't be so nice (IMHO).
I've always been in favor of the performer deciding on when they wanted to hang it up. If they felt like they still had something to contribute and wanted to keep recording and performing, more power to them. But, there were performers it was painful to watch or listen to as their voices were giving out yet they wanted to keep performing rather than calling it a day. I really wish Linda hadn't called it a day but listening to her in this interview, her speaking voice sounds so much different to what it used to sound like, and maybe her lovely singing voice is no longer there because of the illness(es) she has endured these past few years. And even though she is still with us, it's still sad that this is so.
What I found heartening about this audio talk is that she didn't seem as much into putting down what she did in the 70s as she has been, really talking matter-of-fact about it all, though she did (and understandably so) lament about playing in coliseums where you can still hear the screeching guitar solo from three days before, which I have always felt was what dampened her enthusiasm for rock, though she's right about this (arenas and coliseums are no place for music of any kind, including rock [IMHO]).
Maybe she is on this board as a lurker and sees what we have had to say about how her comments about her own music and how we feel about her putting her own music down, and how that might affect others who are not fans. It wouldn't surprise me if she were on here. I think an artist would have just too much of a curiousity, to want to know what their fans think about them and their music. I think a performer can take a fan's criticism far better than they could take the criticism of a self-important a** of a critic who thinks his or her's snobbery and putdowns is valid criticism.
And with respect to her favorite in-house desperados, the Eagles, again she was very matter-of-fact about how they came together around her before becoming their own unit. She seems to be reconciling her past, which I think is as rich as what she is doing in the present.
With the Eagles, I thought she sounded beautifully gracious with no hint of ego in the fact that she was the one who brought them together. No diva-styled "If it hadn't been for me...." claptrap. And I loved her recollection about "Different Drum" and what the Stone Poneys wanted to do and what was done, and how she knew the song was going to be a hit when she heard it played on KHJ. She sounds like she is becoming more at peace with her music and the realization that her music was much better than she gave herself credit for.
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MJH
A Number and a Name
Posts: 18
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Post by MJH on Feb 12, 2013 18:12:54 GMT -5
I think asthma may be one of her problems. Breathing and singing go hand in hand so if there is a breathing problem that would affect her singing for sure. But, if Linda suffered from asthma, could that be something that would've been a recent thing? Most people that I know who have asthma have had it from childhood. I guess it's possible, but I also wonder if Linda could've had a problem with her heart or some other ailment which could've caused breathing problems and which could've caused problems with her singing? I was at this interview and I have to say that I did sense that it might be asthma that has stopped her singing, it seemed like she has a bit of an asthma "wheeze" to her voice, not hugely noticeable but more slight. If I was to guess I would say this is the health issue she was talking about.
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Post by the Scribe on Feb 12, 2013 19:37:21 GMT -5
comment on Grace Cathedral facebook page= Love Linda Ronstadt (first name Maria) used to be a client of mine, long time ago. Great voice! Here we go again! I too thought her first name was Maria. Someone actually changed it on wiki but it got put back to Linda. We birthers want to know for sure. Show us the birth certificate!
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Post by Dianna on Feb 12, 2013 21:58:34 GMT -5
So we know Linda loves opera. Yes, she's mentionned that before. I approve. Nothing is better than great opera in my opinion. I've been a huge opera lover myself for decades by now. I've never realy 'properly' checked out Pink or Alicia Keys, but I like those three Brit girls. No surprise that Linda has great taste in music of course. well, there are some pieces of opera I can listen to and it depends on the singer/tone. I like lighter voices or more angelic. I prefer male singers in that genre. Funny, as Maria Callas is her favorite. with the exception of Carman.. When I listen to Maria, I hear "that old lady nasal type shreiking voice." which I don't care for or can't listen to.. lol
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Post by jhar26 on Feb 13, 2013 3:10:05 GMT -5
well, there are some pieces of opera I can listen to and it depends on the singer/tone. I like lighter voices or more angelic. I prefer male singers in that genre. Funny, as Maria Callas is her favorite. with the exception of Carman.. When I listen to Maria, I hear "that old lady nasal type shreiking voice." which I don't care for or can't listen to.. lol Well, to oversimplify it: One doesn't listen to Callas to hear a pretty voice but for the drama. Callas' voice sounded metallic and from about midway through her career she had an annoying vibrato on her high notes that got (much) worse as she got older. But the positives far outweigh the considerable negatives when it comes to Maria. As an actress she really was second to none. Not only in terms of onstage movement, gestures and facial expressions, but also in terms of vocal expression. She really could draw you into the character she was portraying. Having said all that, Callas is not my favorite soprano. I like her, but there are others I enjoy listening to more on most days. But I understand her uber-legendary status in opera, and I think it's deserved.
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Post by musicaamator on Feb 13, 2013 8:02:23 GMT -5
I was at this interview and I have to say that I did sense that it might be asthma that has stopped her singing, it seemed like she has a bit of an asthma "wheeze" to her voice, not hugely noticeable but more slight. If I was to guess I would say this is the health issue she was talking about. I thought that too about asthma being a childhood affliction, but I have a co-worker who was just diagnosed with asthma, so it can be had at any age apparently. Knowing that, it makes me more sad knowing that she cannot sing anymore. I was hoping there would be a chance of her performing one last time, but alas that is not to be. Now I am kicking myself for not discovering her a long time ago and getting the opportunity to see her live. Guess there is always youtube to fill that void. Here's hoping she does a book signing tour at least. If this happens and where it is, I will make sure I go. I don't want to regret not seeing her.
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Post by Karen Fioretti on Feb 13, 2013 11:35:08 GMT -5
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Post by Karen Fioretti on Feb 13, 2013 11:37:34 GMT -5
Sorry. I had skipped over the forum page that contained the links. Fail!
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Post by JasonKlose on Feb 13, 2013 12:09:52 GMT -5
I was at this interview and I have to say that I did sense that it might be asthma that has stopped her singing, it seemed like she has a bit of an asthma "wheeze" to her voice, not hugely noticeable but more slight. If I was to guess I would say this is the health issue she was talking about. I thought that too about asthma being a childhood affliction, but I have a co-worker who was just diagnosed with asthma, so it can be had at any age apparently. Knowing that, it makes me more sad knowing that she cannot sing anymore. I was hoping there would be a chance of her performing one last time, but alas that is not to be. Now I am kicking myself for not discovering her a long time ago and getting the opportunity to see her live. Guess there is always youtube to fill that void. Here's hoping she does a book signing tour at least. If this happens and where it is, I will make sure I go. I don't want to regret not seeing her. I feel the same way you do. I've known of Linda for many years, going back to when I was about five years old, the first time I heard her beautiful voice on the radio. But for some reason or another I never became a big fan, and I regret that so much. I thought too that maybe there was a chance she might record at least one more album and do some shows, but apparently that won't happen now. I wonder how that makes her feel, knowing that she can't sing anymore, record and perform? But she seems to accept it and be content with her life. That's what is most imortant. Her health and happiness. I think she looks amazing for her age, compared to many of her contemporaries. And no plastic surgery or anything. She's a natural beauty, and still a cutie! I hope she does a book signing tour too. If I had a chance to meet her, that in my opinion would more than make up for not seeing her in concert. It would definitely be the highlight of my life so far. She seems so sweet and gracious, very down-to-earth. I really enjoyed the interview. I love listening to her talk. She's so intelligent, witty, and very funny as well. Maybe this could be the start of a new career for her. She is great public speaker. Now that she can no longer sing professionally, there are so many great things that she can do.
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Post by the Scribe on Feb 13, 2013 12:12:29 GMT -5
I think it's good to offer multiple links when the thread gets long. The only thing that bothers me with this new board layout is getting to additional pages. Unless I am missing something you have to figure out there may be more than one page and then type in the page you want. (life could be worse...ha...)
Nevermind, I just discovered how to do it! duh
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Post by Dianna on Feb 13, 2013 15:01:15 GMT -5
well, there are some pieces of opera I can listen to and it depends on the singer/tone. I like lighter voices or more angelic. I prefer male singers in that genre. Funny, as Maria Callas is her favorite. with the exception of Carman.. When I listen to Maria, I hear "that old lady nasal type shreiking voice." which I don't care for or can't listen to.. lol Well, to oversimplify it: One doesn't listen to Callas to hear a pretty voice but for the drama. Callas' voice sounded metallic and from about midway through her career she had an annoying vibrato on her high notes that got (much) worse as she got older. But the positives far outweigh the considerable negatives when it comes to Maria. As an actress she really was second to none. Not only in terms of onstage movement, gestures and facial expressions, but also in terms of vocal expression. She really could draw you into the character she was portraying. Having said all that, Callas is not my favorite soprano. I like her, but there are others I enjoy listening to more on most days. But I understand her uber-legendary status in opera, and I think it's deserved. Yes, I get that.. and when you go to her youtubes, she has incredible fans. I've tried to keep an open mind when listening to Maria.. I do like Carman.
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Post by erik on Feb 13, 2013 15:55:15 GMT -5
Quote by dianna:
Not to be too picky about this, but I think you mean Carmen.
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Post by jhar26 on Feb 13, 2013 18:01:50 GMT -5
Perhaps Linda is exaggerating a bit when she says she can not sing anymore. Perhaps it just means that she can not sing as well anymore as ten years ago, which at her age would be only natural. Having said that, it's been 2004 since she last released an album and if it had been just a slow gradual decline in vocal powers she probably would have done another album since then. I wonder why she kept it a secret for so long that her singing voice has gone.
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Post by Dianna on Feb 13, 2013 19:25:06 GMT -5
Quote by dianna: Not to be too picky about this, but I think you mean Carmen. Well, I was gonna spell it Carmen with an "e" which is my aunt's name too.. but I had saw it spelled with an A.. so I second guessed myself.. Now, I had to go drag out my Callas La Davina 3 CD.. and yes, on the back it says track 5 Carmen. lol..
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Post by the Scribe on Feb 13, 2013 19:26:14 GMT -5
She came out many years ago and officially retired. She said she had lost the power behind her voice and then I read somewhere she was suffering from asthma (and possibly diabetes?).
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Post by erik on Feb 13, 2013 19:45:23 GMT -5
Quote by ronstadtfanaz:
She did contribute to Jimmy Webb's Just Across The River three years ago, adding her vocals to "All I Know", which, according to Jimmy himself, she wasn't sure she could do.
But one indication that Linda may have known her voice was starting to go was when one of her performances with the Mariachis in late 2009 (in San Antonio, I think it was) got rather bad reviews from the audience because they said her voice was beginning to crack on the high, dramatic notes, and not in a particularly focused way. It may have been at that point that she may have reached the end game with her singing voice.
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Post by sliderocker on Feb 13, 2013 20:42:48 GMT -5
She came out many years ago and officially retired. She said she had lost the power behind her voice and then I read somewhere she was suffering from asthma (and possibly diabetes?). I've wondered about the possibility that Linda suffers from diabetes, but there's never been much mention in the news media about her health issues, especially ongoing health issues. I don't know if diabetes could cause problems with the voice. Johnny Cash had diabetes and neuropathy, which were contributing causes to his death, but he kept singing to the end of his days. I don't know about Waylon Jennings, who also suffered from diabetes and who died as a result of complications from the disease. If Linda has diabetes and diabetic neuropathy, it's possible the neuropathy could affect her voice. Just speculation here since Linda's exact health problems are unknown
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Post by philly on Feb 13, 2013 21:10:07 GMT -5
When she moved from Arizona for the last time, she mentioned her problems (asthma I believe) with all the dust and its dormant microbes being airborne from all the development in the Tuscon area. Also Hashimoto's symptoms can include a hoarse voice, although her speaking voice isn't hoarse at all. And a few years ago she mentioned being pre-diabetic. The next year she said she had diabetes. Interesting thing about diabetes, I happpened to see an article that said a way you could tell if a cat had gotten diabetes was a sudden loss of weight. And I remembered a family friend who had adult diabetes. He would eat huuuugee amounts of food, and yet his weight remained completely normal. I forgot the reasons, whether it was insulin therapy or inabilily to metabolize food or whatever. It was all about maintaining the proper insulin level. Mary Tyler Moore said having diabetes forced her to take good care of her health, she speculated her health would not have been in as good shape (at the time) if not for the discipline diabetes forced on her.
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Post by sliderocker on Feb 13, 2013 23:23:59 GMT -5
When she moved from Arizona for the last time, she mentioned her problems (asthma I believe) with all the dust and its dormant microbes being airborne from all the development in the Tuscon area. Also Hashimoto's symptoms can include a hoarse voice, although her speaking voice isn't hoarse at all. And a few years ago she mentioned being pre-diabetic. The next year she said she had diabetes.
I didn't hear about Linda having diabetes but wonder if any of the medication she has to take for that could affect her voice? I ask that because I'm diabetic and have neuropathy, and have had some minor problems with my voice which I didn't know if it was being caused by the drugs or the neuropathy. I sometimes sound like I have laryngitis on a semi-regular basis. It comes and goes. Linda's possible asthma problems could only complicate matters for her, as could the Hashimoto disease. How much of an effect, I don't know but there are other illnesses, like the flu, which wouldn't bother a normally healthy person, but for someone with diabetes, it could prove fatal, especially if there are more things wrong with them, health wise.
Interesting thing about diabetes, I happpened to see an article that said a way you could tell if a cat had gotten diabetes was a sudden loss of weight. And I remembered a family friend who had adult diabetes. He would eat huuuugee amounts of food, and yet his weight remained completely normal.
I was kind of lucky, in a way, in that I had lost some weight over a gradual amount of time, and had assumed my diet had something to do with the loss of weight. I didn't really have any symptoms pointing to diabetes. I had a small, pinprick pain in my left foot which wasn't that much of a bother, and kept putting off going to the doctor to have it checked out because it was so insignificant. I finally went to get checked out by the doctor, figuring it'd be nothing more serious than early stage arthritis. I was shocked when the tests came back and it was diabetes. It's controlled with pills rather than shots, although taking the pills are not without their own risks of causing other ailments - not to mention death!
I say it was lucky because I almost didn't go to the doctor to get checked out. If I hadn't done that, I might not have been around today. I encourage people to go and get checked out on a regular basis as it's better to catch a disease at its earliest stages than later stages when it might be harder to fight.
I forgot the reasons, whether it was insulin therapy or inabilily to metabolize food or whatever. It was all about maintaining the proper insulin level.
Is Linda a type 1 diabetic or type 2 diabetic? I believe Type 1 requires insulin shots or an insulin pump because the body can't produce enough insulin. Type 2 (which I have) I believe doesn't metabolize the insulin produced by the body in the right way, but it can be controlled with the pills as opposed to taking shots. I know of some doctors and other diabetics who say type 2 diabetes isn't true diabetes, and some say type 2 diabetics can lose the type 2 diabetes by getting one's weight and diet under control. I'm not sure I believe that, however. I wouldn't try it without monitoring the glucose levels and having medication as backup just in case.
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Post by philly on Feb 14, 2013 4:27:27 GMT -5
slide, I never saw what type diabetes Linda had but here is a post from the old forum that I listed a couple articles mentioning her condition: Well, since it's been awhile, the best I could do is find some articles with my friend google that mention her condition... www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/arts/music/21brow.html/partner/rssnyt?_r=1&pagewanted=2 it just briefly mentions her condition: She has embarked on a mission to green the festival with seminars on traditional straw-bale construction and organic tacos, calling the prevalence of diabetes in the Latino community — she is borderline herself — a “murder machine.” and this one: sixties-l.blogspot.com/2009/10/linda-ronstadt-embraces-san-jose.html To heighten the festival's grass-roots impact, she also has programmed workshops on everything from straw-bale construction to organic farming, which she sees as a way to fight diabetes in the Latino community (she herself suffers from the disease).
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Post by the Scribe on Feb 14, 2013 10:56:39 GMT -5
If she has diabetes it may be type 2 aka adult onset diabetes which is controllable through diet and exercise, supplements, etc. Most people who have it but can't control their diets are the ones that suffer the most.
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Post by sliderocker on Feb 14, 2013 15:20:59 GMT -5
If she has diabetes it may be type 2 aka adult onset diabetes which is controllable through diet and exercise, supplements, etc. Most people who have it but can't control their diets are the ones that suffer the most.
My guess would be she's a type 2 diabetic although there are some type 2s whose diabetes eventually become type 1. Type 2 is supposed to be harder to manage as we get older, and it doesn't help that some of the medication isn't all that safe. Avandia could cause heart attacks, including fatal heart attacks, Januvia can cause pancreatic cancer after using it just a year, glipizide can cause pancreatitis, metformin - lactic acidosis. I've been on all those drugs, taken off of Avandia (which was in combination with Amaryl) and Januvia, because of the potential danger for pancreatic cancer. I was on each of those drugs for about two to three years each but I worry more about the Januvia as far as its complications are concerned. Avandia actually did a great job in keeping the blood sugar levels down but the Januvia was totally worthless. It bothers me that no drug is 100% safe, and that includes all the other drugs people take for all the various ilesses. As one of my doctors told me, there's really no such thing as a safe drug. If your illness doesn't do you in, there's a chance the drugs you take for the illness will do you in. Our bodies - especially our livers - really can't stand the drugs we take.
I don't worry so much about the diabetes as I do about getting other illnesses and then having the diabetes making those illnesses that much worse. I haven't had any other health problems since being diagnosed diabetic, other than those associated with the diabetes. I'd guess Linda is taking good care of herself, with annual visits to her doctors. But, I agree with her that the disease is a murder machine and may make both of our lives shorter than what they could be, if we don't remain on guard.
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Post by JasonKlose on Feb 19, 2013 20:07:33 GMT -5
I listened to the conversation with Linda from Feb. 10 again, and I enjoy listening to her so much. It's obvious her voice has changed over time.....maybe with age and/or the health problems she's had. But I think she still sounds very young and cute, and she certainly looks fabulous for her age.
I also noticed how young she sounds when she talks. She still talks SO FAST at times.......sort of reminds me of her appearance on The Tonight Show in 1983 when Johnny Carson was so confused by her rambling on that he lost his place. He was also very smitten with her by the way......along with all of us men.
I love Linda's personality, and she also still has a very wicked sense of humor. There was a lot of laughter and everyone seemed to enjoy Linda's joking. I loved her Dolly Parton impersonation! So funny! She sounds like a much younger woman. I think Linda is REALLY HIP! I bet she is SO MUCH FUN to hang out with.
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Post by Dianna on Feb 19, 2013 20:32:54 GMT -5
Yes, Jason.. I noticed that too. She used a few references like "hot" and some others that I can't remember right now, she does have kids who are teens/ young adults .. so I'm sure at 66 (not that that is old) she's around it a lot. When I was 21 my mother was 42 dad was 49 and I thought that was ancient.. ha ha.. .... Linda would have been my grandparents age back then !!!
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