Sonoran Borderlands interview song

“There has been prejudice against Mexico since the United States stole it in 1846,” says Linda Ronstad. “We forget that Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, California, they were all parts of Mexico. This is a huge tract of land and it was unfairly taken by the Americans. So the Mexicans who stayed didn’t migrate – the border migrated.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, granddaughter of Mexican immigrants and descendant of Spanish settlers, explores her family history and the complicated relationship between the US and Mexico in her new book, I Feel Like Home: A Song of the Sonoran Frontiers. Co-written with former New York Times editor Lawrence Downs, it’s filled with traditional recipes from Sonora and southern Arizona, traditional song lyrics (there’s an accompanying playlist), and emotional photos by her friend Bill Steen.

But this territory is not new for Ronstadt; it’s something she’s consistently explored since at least her groundbreaking 1987 album. Songs of my father. A collection of traditional Mexican songs was an unprecedented move for a star of her stature at the time, but it became the best-selling foreign-language album of all time and was followed by two more albums of Latin music, More songs and madness.

She wrote about her family in her 2013 memoir, Simple dreamsand following her 2019 Grammy-winning biographical documentary The sound of my voiceshe released an accompanying film, Linda and the Mockingbirdswhich tells of her trip on a bus full of schoolchildren to the small Mexican town where her grandfather was born.

All of this work, of course, came at a time of growing tension and political posturing over immigration. But Tucson native Ronstadt points out that her own roots run deep in both countries. “My family has lived very happily on both sides of the border since the early 1800s,” she says by phone from her home in San Francisco. “Actually, longer than that because the original ancestor came in the 1500s. We’ve been there longer than anyone except the native Mexicans, the Native Americans”

What you may never know from reading It feels like home is that Linda Ronstadt was one of the biggest rock stars of her time, selling more than 100 million albums and winning 12 Grammy Awards. Considered by many to be the finest pure voice of her generation, her work was staggering in its scope, covering everything from country to American standards to light opera, in addition to introducing many listeners to songwriters such as Warren Zevon and Elvis Costello.

Yet she is dismissive of her fame and even the caliber of her singing. “I’ve always had a real problem with wording,” she says. “I don’t like the way I phrase a lot of things. I listen to my records and I’m like, “Oh my God, I can’t believe I did that.” “

Ronstadt, 76, announced her retirement in 2011 and revealed shortly after that she could no longer sing as a result of Parkinson’s disease; she was later re-diagnosed with a similar condition, progressive supranuclear palsy. But what shines through in the book and in the conversation is her continued love for the music and culture she grew up with.

“I’ve been singing since I was three,” she says. “So some of these Mexican songs are deeply personal to me, sacred to my family. We had a picnic, we call it pachanga, where you cook outside and sit outside. And my family was there singing, four or five generations, and we all still sing the same songs.

“I can’t sing at all anymore, my voice has gone down. But we have many different good voices in the family, from soprano to bass. And when they sing, I have to put in a harmony – even if it’s just in my brain, I hear where it fits.

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Esquire: You’ve revisited the history of your family and the Sonora region many times. Why is it important to you to keep telling this story?

Linda Ronstadt: Because people need to know what is in Mexico. They need to know what people are like. They are unusual in this particular valley. An American cowboy who wants to be a rancher buys 1000 acres of land, but in the middle of nowhere and they are not part of a community. Their lives are lonely, the kids are bored, whatever. They don’t see other people unless they walk miles to town. But in Mexico they make a village and share the pastures. You help each other in everything you do – if your roof needs repair or you need a new house, all your neighbors will help you. It is a very cooperative society and has been kept away from other evil things. If you get a flat tire, someone will stop, help you, and take you to an appointment to buy a tire and back. But if you break down on the California freeway, you’ll get run over.

The Songs of my father The album was such a turning point in your career and your connection to your legacy. How difficult was it to make this record and what did it mean to you to make it at the time?

The record company, of course, didn’t want the record. And my manager thought I was killing myself in my career. They just couldn’t hear it, it was like birds chirping in the wind, but I could hear the music. So I decided to learn the music to a better standard.

My manager, Peter Usher, to his credit, was really supportive. He thought I was crazy, but he produced the album and did a good job. And the same with my record company. They agreed to it. I had done a bunch of hit records and the record I did with Nelson Riddle [What’s New in 1983, the first of a trilogy with the legendary arranger] it wasn’t supposed to be a hit and it was, so I had earned the right. I just went into the studio and started cutting old Mexican songs—it just made perfect sense!

In the book, you write strongly about visiting refugee centers and migrant camps. We’re back in an election season with a lot of focus on immigration issues. What do you hear in this latest version of this debate?

Well, put it this way: I’ve read a lot of German history, especially around the Weimar Republic, and when the guy who was president came down his escalator – so grandiose and so stupid – and said that Mexicans were rapists and murderers, I thought, that is the Weimar Republic, he is Hitler, and the Mexicans are the new Jews. He takes advantage of people who are ignorant and don’t know any better and convinces them that Mexico is responsible for their problems. That’s why they can’t get an appointment or they haven’t been able to go to school so they can only earn substandard wages.

You’ve seen this all your life. Is there anything new or is it just a game plan that still works?

This game plan works like a charm. But we are all just people, we have the same needs and desires, to live and develop. There was a drought in Mexico, a terrible drought like we have in California. People are desperate. No one really wants to leave home unless they live in a floodplain. They don’t want to leave their home, family and friends and come to a strange place that is hostile to them. That’s not the attraction. The attraction is that I must go north or I will starve. I have to go and pay my family back so they don’t starve.

Over the past few years there have been a number of documentaries and books about the Laurel Canyon scene where you started. Have you watched any of them?

I didn’t see the one about Laurel Canyon. I don’t know what streaming channel to put it on. I haven’t had a TV in 30 years. and finally, when President Obama was elected, I said, “I need to get a TV so I can watch his speeches without having to go over to a friend’s house to watch.” I don’t know how to work a TV – i think you should get a 13 year old for this.

Why do you think there is still such a fascination with this place and time?

I think people like their grandparents’ music. I liked my grandmother’s music. It might be genetic, I don’t know. I think there was a lot of quality that came out of the Laurel Canyon scene. Neil Young and Crosby, Stills and Nash. Joni Mitchell would put it on the map herself.

Did you see Joni perform at the Newport Folk Festival?

I watched it on YouTube. She obviously has a vocal disability, but she’s still a great singer, still a great songwriter. I liken it to a ruin, a beautiful ruin. I wouldn’t have done the same thing if I were her, but I understand why she did it. It was inspiring to see generations of kids up there with her, all influenced by her music.

In interviews and in your books, you often seem reluctant to talk about your own celebrity and success.

Work is most important. I know what I did well and what I didn’t do. The rest is just background noise.