Linda Ronstadt at 60 with her old friend, David Bromberg (long)
From: Steve Mencher
Length: 00:12:00
Linda Ronstadt is 60 on July 15th.
Rondstadt's voice was omnipresent in the 1970's and into the 80's. Her repertoire spanned folk, rock, American popular classics, and Mexican mariachi music as she restlessly explored every kind of sound and produced hit after hit.
But in the 1990's, she retired from music to raise two children in Tucson, Arizona.
Now she's back, touring with a vibrant and versatile band, doing her favorites from a rich catalogue of pop.
This piece is about collaboration and friendship.
Ronstadt first met David Bromberg, who also had a great love of all kinds of American music, around 1970 in New York's Greenwich Village. He introduced her to her first big hit, and turned her on to several songs that became important in her career.
In the Fall of 2005, the two performers reconnected in San Francisco, and Bromberg invited Ronstadt to join him at a concert in his new home, Wilmington, Delaware, where he has moved his violin shop, and begun to play after a 20 year sabbatical from music.
The piece begins at the end of their Wilmington concert in June - as they rock the house with an old Doc Pomus tune, A World I Never Made.
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Piece Description
Linda Ronstadt is 60 on July 15th. Rondstadt's voice was omnipresent in the 1970's and into the 80's. Her repertoire spanned folk, rock, American popular classics, and Mexican mariachi music as she restlessly explored every kind of sound and produced hit after hit. But in the 1990's, she retired from music to raise two children in Tucson, Arizona. Now she's back, touring with a vibrant and versatile band, doing her favorites from a rich catalogue of pop. This piece is about collaboration and friendship. Ronstadt first met David Bromberg, who also had a great love of all kinds of American music, around 1970 in New York's Greenwich Village. He introduced her to her first big hit, and turned her on to several songs that became important in her career. In the Fall of 2005, the two performers reconnected in San Francisco, and Bromberg invited Ronstadt to join him at a concert in his new home, Wilmington, Delaware, where he has moved his violin shop, and begun to play after a 20 year sabbatical from music. The piece begins at the end of their Wilmington concert in June - as they rock the house with an old Doc Pomus tune, A World I Never Made.
Broadcast History
This is an unusual approach for me - stations have the first shot to play this piece from PRX - you'll be debuting it on public radio. If you need a special tag or something, let me know.
Timing and Cues
Suggested intro:
Linda Ronstadt is 60 years old (July 15th), and one thing is certain. She won't be sitting around today listening to her old hits like Heat Wave, You're No Good, When Will I Be Loved... That's because she doesn't care for most of them.
The Eagles were once her backup band; she dated former California Governor Jerry Brown; and she all but retired for 10 years in the 1990s - to raise her two children, and to leave a music scene she found unwelcoming.
But Ronstadt is now back on the road - and a few weeks ago (June 13th), she visited an old friend, David Bromberg, at his home in Wilmington, Delaware. He runs a business there buying, selling, and restoring fine violins. Bromberg played with Bob Dylan and Jerry Jeff Walker, and had a career of his own as a leader in the 70s -
He took not one, but two decades off from performing... and now he, too, is drawn back to the stage, and to reconnect with old friends like Ronstadt. They first caught up with each other last year in San Francisco.
At the recent concert, her fans and his fans gave them a rapturous reception and called them back for an encore at Wilmington's 1871 landmark Grand Opera House.
(tape starts with :05 of applause, which fades up quickly - start tape under last few words of intro, Linda's first words are... "Well David and I...")
Suggested Outro: (over :15 of applause that fades)
That report on musicians Linda Ronstadt and David Bromberg was prepared for this station by independent producer Steve Mencher and came to us via PRX, the public radio exchange.
Musical Works
"Long, Long Time"
Words and Music by Gary White
Capitol ST 407 March, 1970
excerpt 1:06
World I Never Made
Doc Pomus
Live recording, Wilmington DE. 6-13-06
3:00
Catskill Serenade
David Bromberg
Live recording, Wilmington DE. 6-13-06
1:00
