Linda and the Mockingbirds (2020)

Linda Ronstadt: Self

Quotes 

• Linda Ronstadt : Because I was light skinned and with a German surname, people didn't suspect that I was Mexican, and they'd make some kind of anti-Mexican remark, they'd go, "Well, these greasers coming in here, you know," and I'd always get pretty hot about it.

• Linda Ronstadt : You can be proud of the culture you came from - and feel good to identify yourself that way. I was always very proud of being Mexican.

• Linda Ronstadt : Maybe it's genetic memory, but, I feel very at home when I go to Mexico. When I'm in Mexico, I have a better understanding of who I am and who my family is, you know. I feel great pride in it and I always have. I hope it makes the kids feel like that. They have more of an understanding of where they came from, the culture they came from, who they are, why they're important, why they should never be rendered invisible or without their dignity.

• Linda Ronstadt : You can play music right, you can play it well, you can play it in a very accomplished way, none of it makes any difference if you're not playing it for the right reasons. And the reason we play music is to celebrate our sorrows and joys and try to help make sense of something that depresses you or celebrates something that lifts you up.

• Linda Ronstadt : Culturally I've always felt Mexican. And I feel great pride in it and I always have. My Grandmother, who identified as Mexican, was born in Arizona when half of the western territory of the United States used to be Mexico. So, whose the newcomer? Mexico went all the way up through Nevada and Utah and all the way up to Wyoming. We didn't migrate, the border migrated.

• Linda Ronstadt : Jackson and I used to tour together. When we were on the road, somebody would be hung over in the corner and somebody else would be playing some Rolling Stone song or something on the guitar. But, this time, it was these kids. They were playing these really great grooves, you know, and singing really great together. It was really a thrill for me. I wish I could sing with them.

• Linda Ronstadt : Music will find its way, it always does. It carries as much of the truth as it can hold. But, it has to resonate in the zeitgeist. We have to have people - out there - to hear it.