Someone To Watch Over Me

Linda Marie Ronstadt has been giving me listening pleasure for 43+ years, often taking a leading role by giving me a soundtrack to my ups, downs, fears, & tears. Folk, Rock, Punk, Country, Traditional Folk, Broadway, Standards, Opera, Jazz, Mexican Folk, Pure Pop, Tropical Latin, even Children’s music, no matter the genre, I went along for the ride. She is the perfect artist for my eclectic tastes. She is often political, a liberal advocate, & a rabble rouser.


Linda Ronstadt writes great music & her songs have been recorded by other artists as diverse as Trisha Yearwood & Sarah Brightman. Ronstadt has collaborated with a zany list of other recording artists from Frank Zappa to Rosemary Clooney: Billy Eckstine, Emmylou Harris, The Chieftains, Dolly Parton, Neil Young, J. D. Souther, Gram Parsons, Bette Midler, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Earl Scruggs, The Eagles, Andrew Gold, Hoyt Axton, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Mark Goldenberg, Ann Savoy, Karla Bonoff, James Taylor, Warren Zevon, Maria Muldaur, Randy Newman, & Nicolette Larson.


Ronstadt has received a total of 27 Grammy Award nominations & has won 11 Grammy Awards in fields including Pop, Country, Tropical Latin, Musical Album for Children, & Mexican-American.


I admire her own compositions, but her greatest talent for me is her work as an interpretive artist.I don’t know which albums I love the most. Certainly the 3 albums with Nelson Riddle, & The Trio albums with Dolly Parton & Emmylou Harris, & Living In The USA- because it played constantly during the happiest time of my life. Her cover of Elvis Costello's Alison gave me the courage to sing the song in performances & auditions. Today in honor of her 64th birthday I am listening to What’s New with the Nelson Riddle’s arrangements. I am having a whiskey, feeling old, feeling wistful, feeling nostalgic for a better time, & crying a bit for innocence lost. I love Linda for being in my life & because like me, as she expanded her horizons, she also filled out a bit.

My favorite Gershwin song by one of my favorite singers