Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt (b. July 15th, 1946)

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LINDA RONSTADT SETS THE STANDARDS
Coming out of the gate as a member of the Stone Poneys with the hit single “Different Drum,” singer Linda Ronstadt has ridden the rock and pop charts like an eternal cowgirl since the late 1960s. After ruling the pop scene during the 1970s, Ronstadt later delved into such genres as Broadway, Mexican traditional music, children’s songs, adult contemporary, and country, in addition to her collaborations with legendary arranger Nelson Riddle on three albums of classic standards. The Ronstadt-Riddle recordings were benchmarks from the 1980s, but now the singer again draws from the Great American Songbook. Hummin’ to Myself is filled with longtime favorites; among them is “I’ll Be Seeing You,” “I Fall in Love Too Easily,” and “Cry Me a River.” Barnes & Noble.com contributor Roberta Penn talked with Ronstadt about the new release: how it came about, how she felt working with jazz players, and her dreams for the future.

Barnes & Noble.com: Did your move to the Verve label influence the making of Hummin’ to Myself?

Linda Ronstadt: I was driving around listening to a Chet Baker record, and I had songs left over from Nelson Riddle. When he died I put them away. But the songs were haunting me, these beautiful songs that I still wanted to sing. I thought I had enough experience -- 20 years of singing standards -- so I thought I would do it.

B&N.com: Did you choose the tunes or have some help?

LR: I chose them all. A lot of them were songs I heard when I was 10 years old but didn’t have a group to sing them with. There wasn’t a context musically for me to do those songs until I got around Nelson Riddle. These songs are very sophisticated. They are songs you could use in your courting days as a young woman, but they also work for me as a 58-year-old woman, because we are cumulative versions of ourselves. These songs have more depth.

B&N.com: Betty Carter was such a daring singer; how did you decide to record her “Tell Him I Said Hello?”

LR: A friend of mine, Pete Hamill, had her record, and he said, “Listen to this.” It just haunted me. It was the first song I decided to do. I knew exactly how I wanted to do it. There is a Chopin piece I heard years ago. My pianist, Alan Broadbent, is a Chopin aficionado, so I could tell him what I wanted to do. I showed him my ideas, and he wrote me this wonderful chart, and that bit of Chopin came in.

B&N.com: And what about Cole Porter’s deep and dark “Miss Otis Regrets”?

LR: It’s a very violent song. I’m against capital punishment, and the song, told in the persona of lady’s maid who must always protect her lady’s reputation, was so strong. I had a bee in my bonnet about the cello, it putting the song in the context of chamber music. Then the double bass comes in when she pulls out a gun and goes to murder her husband. Then this violin comes in when they are going to hang her -- I suppose things go very slow when you are getting ready to die.

B&N.com: Alan Broadbent is such a great, sensitive pianist. His playing and his arrangements fit your voice perfectly. Had you worked with him before?

LR: I became an Alan Broadbent fan while doing this record. Tommy LiPuma suggested him. I’ve never had the record company suggest anything to me because I require a real custom fit, but this time I listened. I don’t write music, so I have to sing what I want. I knew exactly what I wanted, and Alan just gave me everything I wanted. And it worked out perfectly.

B&N.com: Christian McBride, David “Fathead” Newman, Lewis Nash, Roy Hargrove -- you’ve got a lot of impressive jazz players with you on this album. What was that like?

LR: [Trumpeter] Roy Hargrove is like a man without a skin. This guy comes into my recording studio, had on hat, sunglasses, and coat, and it was summer. He came over to me and I looked into his eyes, and there’s a huge pool down in there. He is such a brilliant player. I felt incredibly moved as soon as he started to play, and everyone pricked up their ears. Every player was a class-A jazz player, and I was intimidated. They are more musically sophisticated than I am. But I just took my breath and sang.

B&N.com: What is your emotional connection to standards?

LR: I loved the songs and felt I was betraying myself and that little 10-year-old girl who first heard them if I didn’t do them. I thought I might squander those feelings, but I didn’t.

B&N.com: You began recording standards some 20 years ago, and I think it was the start of a trend. Boz Scaggs and others, Rod Stewart most successfully, have recently moved in that direction. Have you heard any of their recordings?

LR: I think I got there before other people did. If you’re a singer you realize these are vehicles for singers, they stretch your voice and give you new ideas. I didn’t listen to them because I think we always listen to the original source. I didn’t listen to Diana Krall until after my record, and I think she is a great singer. There are a number of pop singers, Annie Lennox and Maria Muldaur, who can sing standards.

B&N.com: Your career has been so varied, and it seems that you are popular no matter what style you sing. Are there any that you haven’t tried that you would like to?

LR: I’ve never made a record of just traditional Mexican trios, and I’d like to do that. I’ve been doing a little bit of woodshedding with my girlfriends, working with Maria Muldaur, the bluegrass singer Laurie Lewis, and Anne Savoy, whose tribute to Cajun music, Evangeline, I sang on. We’ve just been fooling around with guitars. It’s really fun, like my family sitting around playing music. I just like to do it and see what comes up. If it’s something I want to do, I’ll do it in the future.

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