Simple Dreams

Ronstadt, Linda. Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir. New York: Simon & Schuster. 2013. Print

First Sentences:

On her way to the hospital the day I was born, my mother wanted to stop and eat a hamburger.

Description:

I think this opening sentence reflects the simple, charming style of LInda Ronstadt's new autobiography, Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir. Charming, humble reflections that paint her portrait as a woman who loves life, people, and singing.

If you are looking for a tell-all revelation about rock musicians, drug parties, and sexual scorecards, move on to another book. Ronstadt chooses to narrate only her own personal journey to find her voice and style in music. There are only warm references to other musicians and her many, many friends in the profession who offer support and help her understand different musical directions she can pursue.

Her gentle, quiet narration tells of her growing up in the desert near Tuscon, Arizona, listening to the songs of her family and the locals in Spanish and English. I also loved the incidental stories, including those about Ronstadt's childhood pony who occasionally escapes and is returned in the back seat of Ronstadt mother's huge car, hanging her head out the window all the way home looking for better clover spots for her next escape.

After dropping out of high school and armed with her grandfather's guitar, Ronstadt moves to Los Angeles, to pursue more performance opportunities. She and her first band, the Stone Poneys, land at the Troubadour, a small West Hollywood nightclub that is the first stop for many new musical artists trying out their music and developing their style, hoping to be noticed and pick up another performance opportunity or a record deal.

Often we forget that musical giants were once just kids looking to sing, have fun, and make ends meet. Ronstadt relates the thrill of hearing the Stone Poneys' first hit, "Different Drum," playing on a local radio station. She continually captures that simplicity, enthusiasm, and dedication of ordinary singers breaking into the music industry, washing their clothes in the bathtub at night, wearing on stage whatever they found in a thrift store or that her mother sewed for them. This is the consistent charm and winning personality of Simple Dreams.

When her band breaks up Ronstadt, now under contract with Capitol Records, slowly searches for the a diferent kind of song to reflect her soul, and collects fellow musicians who have a "shared sensibility ... how loud or soft to play a note, exactly where to place it rhythmically, what kind of textural or melodic embellishment to incorporate, where to add a harmony, how to voice a chord -- all done in a split second."

She meets and plays with everyone on the music scene at that time: Neil Young, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Aaron Neville, Jerry Jeff Walker, Warren Zevon, Don Henley, and Bob Dylan, and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Her work branches out from rock and torch songs to Gilbert and Sullivan and opera with Joe Papp, lush Tin Pan Alley songs with Nelson Riddle, and Spanish love songs and lullabies with Ruben Fuentes.

Her maintains her original love of Mexican music throughout her career, revealing the power is holds for her:

The Mexicans have a fervent appreciate of poetry and make regular use of it. It occupies a high and ancient seat in the Mexican culture. The Aztecs call it "a scattering of jades," jade being what they valued most, far more than the gold for which they were murdered in great numbers by invading Spaniards. They felt that the more profound aspects of certain concepts, whether emotional, philosophical, political or artistic, could be expressed only in poetry. Mexican song lyrics, from sophisticated city cultures to the most basic rural settlements, are rich in poetic imagery. 

When she gives her first concert promoting her all-Spanish song album, advance ticket sales were very slow. At the concert, however, she sees the arena is packed with darker faces. From this, she learns, 

Mexican audiences generally don't buy tickets in advance but come out the night of the performance and purchase their tickets at the box office. They also bring the whole family, with grandmothers and small children in attendance. The Canciones show had attracted a completely different audience... they knew the songs and sang along, especially the grandparents who had courted to many of the songs.

Simple Dreams keeps her private life private. There are stories of Ronstadt's friendship and relationships with California Governor Jerry Brown and several other companions, but nothing is revealed beyond a couple of off-handedly remarks about her daughter and son. Simple Dreams is about the music, the artists, and her passion, period. 

I grew up playing Ronstadt's music on vinyl records (yes, I am that old) until they wore out. Her lovely voice, whether singing rock, rhythm and blues, operettas, or Spanish love songs, captivated me and made me a music lover. In her philosophy,

[Music allows people to] process their feelings in a private setting. This is the fundamental value of music, and I feel sorry for a culture that depends too much on delegating its musical expression to professionals. It is fine to have heroes, but we should do our own singing first, even if it is never heard beyond the shower curtain.

Simple Dreams is the print equivalent of her voice and her music: quiet, pure, soaring, and genuine. A worthy read for anyone who loves Ronstadt and the music and artists of the 60's and 70's.

Happy reading. 


Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

Comments

Previous posts

____________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Young, Neil. Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream  

Extensive, fascinating details about the life of the foremost composer and performer of rock music. While intentionally rambling in style, Young faithfully recounts the people, events, and musical influences from his life in detail using a voice "that is real as the day is long" [from his song, "Tonight's the Night"].