Silent Songbird

I'm sure many of my truckbuddies who are around my age are saddened, as I was, to hear that Linda Ronstadt's golden voice, part of the sound track of our lives, is now silenced by Parkinson's disease.  But though she cannot now sing a note, as she puts it, one of the greatest American voices ever heard will echo down the ages through the magic of recording technology - like a

happy melodist, unwearied,
For ever piping songs for ever new.

A commenter at the New Yorker's paean to Ronstadt's career nails the essence of her great talent:

. . . underlying the great singing was a very pure voice with a range wider than that of most of her contemporaries. She also had perfect pitch and could sing in tune. Never did she have to "slide" up to a note (unless she wanted to for style's sake) and she always nailed every interval, no matter how unusual it might have been. Finally, she understood the importance of dynamic range-- something missing in most pop music. That is, she could and did sing softly as well as loudly.

In short, she made the songs she sang into works of art.

Here are just four of my favorites by Linda from her vast repertoire - what are yours?