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Feb 12, 2014
Wow, what an amazing life Linda Ronstadt has had! In a career that spans almost half a century, she has sung rock, opera, American standards with an orchestra, country, blues, and Mexican rancheras with a mariachi band!. Along the way she has performed, jammed, hung out and/or formed friendships with a range of musicians including Jim Morrison, the Eagles, Jackson Browne, and Rosemary Clooney - to name just a few. This memoir is not particularly well-written and it doesn't reveal much personal information (like the names and ages of her children, her significant others, etc.) Instead, it focuses almost exclusively on her experiences as a singer and the development of her vocal talents and her appreciation of an ever-expanding range of music. I appreciated the fact that it’s not a “kiss-and-tell” and that she doesn’t attempt to “settle any scores”. (In fact, she goes to pains to portray most of the people mentioned in a positive light.) At the same time, it would have improved the book if she had provided more insight into herself as a person, not just as a musician.