Original Review 9 March 2005

I am not a Mexican, but I have circulated for years in the Mexican parts of Los Angeles, and I have travelled throughout Mexico, enjoying the native musicians on street corners and in parks and cafes. I have always wondered about those who praise Lola Beltran as the "great" Mexican singer. She sounds too urbane and too international to me--in the manner of Catarina Valente. I always thought the real spirit of Mexican music was better represented by such as Las Hermanas de Alba. And now Linda Ronstadt carries on the true Mexican tradition in her later work. Whatever else she may have sung in her career, I find in Linda's Mexican singing the authentic flavor of Old Mexico.

Update 17 May 2006

Last night as I was browsing the reviews of this record, I got curious about the various comparisons to Lola Beltran. Not having listened to Lola for quite some time, I went through a stack of stuff from both Linda and Lola to refresh my ear.

My conclusion. Lola is good, but Linda is better.

Linda has a much broader emotional range. With all of her musical excelence, Lola has a dreadful sameness from song to song--even songs which should be handled quite differently. For example, It is quite disconcerting to hear Lola back to back on "Ya No" and "Me equivoque contigo"--songs which should be very different in emotional tone sound all too similar. As it happens, I heard the latter song on the radio a few days ago by a male artist. His rendition shoots Lola's down the drain.

By contrast, Linda's emotional range is both subtle and immense. For example, from her "Tata Dios," which wrenches me to tears every time I hear it, to the mock seriousness of her "El toro relajo," which is always worth a good laugh. After reviewing a batch of Lola's work this morning, I can't imagine her ever having such an effect on me. Lola still strikes me as a city person trying to sing country. Whatever else Linda may have done in her life, she somehow manages to dig her toes into the true country soil of Old Mexico.

Viva Linda!

THIS IS A WONDERFUL CD, I ALSO HAVE HER FIRST CD CALLED CANCIONES DE MI PADRE, BOTH ARE GREAT. SONGS . I AM A MARIACHI FAN. IAM ALSO MEXICAN AND LINDA SINGS GREAT IN SPANISH. I TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH ANYONE THAT SAYS ANY DIFFRENT. WE HAVE ALOT OF SPANISH (MEXICAN ) SINGERS. THAT CALL THEMSELF SINGERS AND DONT EVEN COME CLOSE TO THEY WAY LINDA SINGS. I HAVE PLAYED THIS CD AT PARTYS AND MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY WANT TO KNOW WHO SHE IS, THEY LOVE HER SINGING AND THEY LOVE THE SONGS THAT WERE SELECTED.

I don't know the first thing about the "authentic" style of this music, the native singers, or if Linda has the correct spanish phrasing... All I know is that when I play this CD, a little bit of sunshine enters my gray Philadelphia winter days, and it makes me want to do a bit of dancing! (And I'm sure my dancing isn't the least bit "authentic"...) Plain and simple, this CD is just a lot of fun.

Linda continues her wonderful tributes to her Mexican heritage. Her version of "Mi ranchito" compares favorably to that of the great Lola Beltran. I didn't like the song selection on this recording quite as much as those on "Canciones de mi padre," but it's still wonderful. Linda, yo te adoro. Por favor, cante mas en espanol.

Some critics say that this is ok but "one has not the foggiest of what she is singing" Well good music transcends language barriers. The ugly american rears his head again. This is an excellent recording in any language. This lady's voice is beautiful in any language