Arizona-born and bred Linda Ronstadt went on to live the California dream — but she admitted she came within feet of a deep, dark nightmare. During a chat with Mojo magazine, the legendary singer revealed that she has an ugly connection to Charles Manson and his infamous Family, explaining, “They murdered my next door neighbor, Gary Hinman. We knew those girls. They used to hitchhike through the canyon all the time. After (the murder), I didn't go home for a couple of weeks. Eventually, I moved out. Topanga Canyon had a very dark undertone. A funky, dark place, with a lot of those communes; I always shied away from that stuff. And there were floods all the time. I moved to Beechwood Canyon, which was very handy for the Troubadour.”
In addition to her own string of '70s classics, Linda Ronstadt also sang backup on her friend Neil Young's 1972 Harvest album — including the era-defining tracks “Old Man” and the chart-topping “Heart Of Gold.” Ronstadt was asked what she remembers about the sessions, which also included James Taylor: “I can't remember why Neil wanted me to sing with him — I guess he just figured I was there and could do it — but we went in there and they were doing 'Heart Of Gold' and 'Old Man' and I thought they were such beautiful songs. I loved them. And I knew how to do harmonies — I'd listened to Buffalo Springfield harmonies and I knew how to get that 7th they always used. I don't think we started until midnight and it was dawn when we came out, and it was snowing. We came out to this beautiful snowstorm in the rising sun. It was really exciting. I just thought I had been part of something really wonderful.”
Linda Ronstadt has admittedly shared a microphone with the best in the business — and she says that all our secrets and personal information are audible by the sound of our voices: “I can hear their life, I can hear the state of their health, I can hear, y'know, whether they feel good about singin' that note — I mean, you can hear so much. I don't always listen with that intensity — I can hear lying, y'know? I think people in law enforcement get really good, they have a talent for it to start with. My brother was, is a good singer, but he was the chief of police in Tucson for years and you do not ever want to tell him a lie, because he's gonna know (laughs) in one word. He's gonna know halfway through the sentence, you're lying. So, you can hear that kind of stuff in a voice. I don't think we have very well trained ears in a lot of ways.”