Women's voices: I've done everything I know

The theme of love gone wrong covers a lot of territory; let’s face it, a lot of love goes wrong. So today we’ll hear from two more Voices.

First off, Ethel Waters gives us “Stormy Weather”.

You may wonder at Waters being one of my voices. You’re right; she’s kind of before my time. But remember Voyager Summer? Just before I left to go back to school, the news came that Waters had died, and because she had a connection to Pasadena, the local newspaper needed more than the wire service story. I happen to be an excellent feature writer, so they told me to go look her up (because I’d never heard of her), and write the sidebar.

Waters was part of the Harlem Renaissance. She sang blues, jazz, swing, gospel; and she performed in films and television. Her versions of “Am I Blue”, “Taking a Chance on Love” and “Dinah” display an easy grace and a commanding voice. And she is justifiably famous for "His Eye Is on the Sparrow".

I like “Stormy Weather” because it shows that same grace—she doesn’t work the song to death like so many singers. But she’s definitely sad about the breakup with her man.

My second Voice today is Linda Ronstadt. She and I go way back; back to the Stone Poneys days. She’s always been bold, trying new genres, styles and collaborations; and not worrying particularly over the ones that flopped. Although there haven’t been that many failures; the woman has more platinum than South Africa.

Then there was that whole…thing with California Governor Jerry Brown, back when he was governor for the first time. Like I said—she’s fearless.

Folk-rock, rock, pop, country, musica ranchera, opera, jazz—she’s gone everywhere, sung everything. Her Trio collaboration with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris was one of the ten cassettes I took on my 1986 cross-country drive. She’s my idol; I bet I’ve sung into my hairbrush to more Ronstadt albums than anyone else. Even Bonnie Raitt.

I have to say that, like Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me”, Ronstadt’s “Long, Long Time” is associated with shattered love. Well, when you’re 20, there’s a lot of that. (Hell—when you’re 40 there still is a lot of that.) I swear I can feel the summer heat radiating up from the sidewalk on Colorado Boulevard and the tears running down my face from heartbreak, and hearing this coming out of Canterbury Records.

Her singing has been silenced since she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. But she’s got a body of work that can keep me going for a long, long time.