Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Linda Ronstadt: The Arts And Humanities


A lot has been written about this singer and particular box set. I counted more than a dozen of the cover album (left) under Google Images.  It's one by Linda Ronstadt and owned by those who are her real fans.  

Queen of Rock? Yes, but I was fascinated by this lady, who has one of the sexiest voices on earth. 

She came to fame in the 1970s and hit the world with her classics, It's So Easy and You're No Good.  Have you listened to her rendition of Someone To Watch Over Me and When I Fall in Love?  You should.

Falling in Love Again, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, I Love You For Sentimental Reasons, Straighten Up and Fly Right are some of the covers she made her own. Watch it, Nat.
She has 11 Grammys and had worked with many 70s stars. So without more ado, here's the latest about Linda Ronstadt.  

She received her National Medal of Arts at the White House recently from US President Barack Obama who whispered that he had a *little crush on her when he was a young man. But with his usual and expressive self, he said something that struck me when he gave out the rest of the medals. 

"The arts and humanities aren't just there to be consumed when we have a moment... we need them."

The *box set has: I've Got a Crush on You.
Images: Google.

16 comments:

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

MOE took away our Literature lessons in the 1990s when not many students were passing it for O Levels. True?

TC Lai said...

We should view it a problem if our students are not passing Lit. What does it say about their critical thinking and world view? Sure, teachers are to blame too, thinking no one should ever get 10/10 for lit, which to me is bullshit. The score is there for you to give, not withhold to give to that person who give you, what, Nobel Prize worthy work? Come on, get real. Full marks should be given to kids who can dissect, contextualize, and give insight about a story. A big problem with literature studies is that kids are not taught the basics of Philosophy. They will understand works of other authors (and their culture) if their understanding of philo was better, or least the variations of it (esp the Western concept of self vs the Eastern concept of society). Finally I can't think of a better school subject than literature that can help make our students wiser in the shortest time possible! Wisdom and eloquence.

HA LEE said...

They din take it away. But lots of schools didn't want to offer it cos As were hard to get and they wanted to keep their school's ranking numbers up.

What moe did was to ignore grammar. And we are feeling the consequences now.

Bazwalker1@gmail.com said...

Saw her perform with the Eagles many years ago, she sang a Buddy Holly song It Dosn't Matter Any More which I do recall was written by Paul Anka, her own backing band were quite brilliant.

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Thank you all for response. Linda Ronstadt and English Literature are two of my favourite topics.

TC, it's sad. Great at Mathematics, Science and Computer Studies but how many of our students even understand the basics of Philosophy. I have been told by some, even today, that reading Literature is a waste of time.

Ms Hoe, thank you for correction but that's how they put it. It's your choice, but...

Barry, That's a concert I could have remembered for life. Her with the Eagles. Oh wow!

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Thank you Dick Yip, Hui Shi and Doris Lim, Todd Lesley, Lim Kuan Min, Erwin Maisch and Yu-chien Kuo from FB.

chakap chakap said...

'Round Midnight is a two-disc box set that compiles all three of the traditional pop albums Linda Ronstadt recorded with Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra. Only dedicated fans will need to own all three of the albums.

anonymous said...

Hi Andy,
I just came across this cool and easy running blog. I will jus say well done man and it is good to read and catch up things that add up to what I have been through you got the groove in you and it shows in your write out. yes the Local scene in the 60s and 70s were just colourful as white rabbit (Jefferson Airplane) and Donovan's ( Mellow Yellow). I do keep in touch with some of the stars of those wonderful musical years. All the best to yu Andy and God bless

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Thank you anon for the kind words and visit. Glad you enjoy the blog.

rah760 said...

Terrible news that she can no longer sing due to Parkinsons' Disease. What a tragedy, but we have these wonderful videos and records so we'll always have her voice close at hand.

dvlaries said...

The trio of albums Rondstat did with Nelson Riddle (this is from the first), are some of the best music she's ever done, and went a long way attenuating my anger that she'd ever touched "Heat Wave." I'm not sure how many of the songs got performance videos like this, but "What'll I Do" is fantastic and so is "Skylark." Really terrific work.

Glen Koons and Delmira Herself said...

This album is really classic. Songs and singing where anyone could understand the words, music and emotions. Unlike the slush so much of modern American music is .

Linda worked at voice and perfected it as much as Frank Sinatra did. If only the singers of today had that talent, I wouldn't have to go back in years to enjoy music and talent.

andy lim said...

The four comments were taken from You Tube and just about sums up the album in question.

Unknown said...

The person in the photo with President Obama is NOT Linda Ronstadt.

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Hi Unknown,

Thanks so much.
Realized and surprised when I saw it.
Will change the picture asap.

Do excuse the mistake.


Anonymous said...

Thank you for the correction. You got it right this time! It is always nice to see tributes to Linda and yours is very nice and welcome.