“Just beautiful”: Linda Ronstadt on the power of Aaron Neville and her favourite song
Linda Ronstadt was a powerhouse from day one. However, if you were to ask her what she thought of such a label, she would likely say her artistry formed from absorbing all those who shaped the scene at the time. As she once said: “I loved popular folk music like Peter, Paul and Mary. I loved the real traditional stuff, like the Carter family. I loved Bob Dylan. And I tried to copy what I could. When I heard the Byrds doing folk rock, I thought that was what I wanted to do.”
While there are obvious similarities with Ronstadt’s approach and her influences, the singer rarely gives credit to just how much she achieved in a short space of time. And all that’s without acknowledging how her heritage impacted her art, paving the way for a specific type of authenticity that wasn’t always as easily detectable in the counterculture scene.
Ronstadt has always been a true lover of music, even growing up, which meant that by the time she was ready to go out and be somebody, she knew how to endear herself to audiences without seeming like she was chasing pretence or commercialism. At the time, she seemed like a true generational anchor, with an overarching dose of dignity that made her the ideal mentor.
For instance, finding her footing alongside the two musicians who would later form the Eagles might have pricked the skin of any other musician, but Ronstadt took it as an opportunity to nurture their craft and push them to be the best they could possibly be. To do this, however, you need a robust concoction of creative and industry know-how, of which Ronstadt had tonnes.
“It’s just beautiful…”
linda ronstadt
Again, she might not have thought it herself, but this modesty only adds to the lasting intrigue. This is why, when she collaborated with Aaron Neville in 1989 on ‘Don’t Know Much’, it seemed like a match made in heaven. It’s easy to see Ronstadt collaborating with almost anybody and pulling it off, but this particular convergence epitomised everything about her innate delicacy, highlighting her ability to adapt to any setting and enhance the emotional appeal of a song.
In fact, Ronstadt had already become endeared after detecting the same trait in Neville with his song ‘Arianne’, a composition she incidentally later described as her favourite song ever. A gentle ballad that shows Neville’s heady vocal ability, ‘Arianne’ is a dense affair, taking the usual conventions of lovelorn soul tracks and adding an almost overwhelming layer of intensity. For Ronstadt, it has everything you could ever wish for.
“There is a song called ‘Arianne’, which is my favourite song,” she said. “It’s just beautiful; I couldn’t even believe [Neville] knew who I was,” she added, recalling one special moment when he invited her to perform on stage. Unsure at first, she eventually embraced the spontaneity, sparking the beginnings of what would become a mutually respectful collaborative affair that birthed the duet ‘Don’t Know Much’.
This partnership, although unexpected for Ronstadt, proved the magic of two artists finding common ground, both exuding the kind of effortless beauty that other musicians only dream of. To Ronstadt, Neville was likely just another piece to the broader puzzle that made her who she is, but to the music world, the two voices showcased the raw power of unforced chemistry.
