"It was in Guadalajara, and he was the son of the guy who ownedthe A&W root beer stand there," reminisced Ronstadt as she relaxed inher hotel suite here with early-afternoon tea. "It must have costhim three or four weeks' salary. He brought the whole mariachi in two taxis. They played for me for about 25 minutes, and then theyset off all these firecrackers and off they went.
"He meant business, because all he had to do was wait aroundfor a couple more years. In Mexico, when you're 15, you're ready toget married."
Ronstadt never married her music-minded suitor - or anyoneelse, for that matter - but she never lost her taste for the romantic music of old Mexico. In fact, her tour insupport of her "Cancionces de Mi Padre" album ("Songs of My Father")carries the subtitle "A Romantic Evening in Old Mexico." Ambitiouslyconceived, impressively staged and beautifully choreographed, thesame show that ran for three weeks on Broadway will play Poplar CreekMusic Theatre in Hoffman Estates next Saturday and Sunday.
Fans shouldn't expect to hear anything from her rock period, orher standards period, or from the traditionally country "Trio"project that she recorded with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. Incostume and in character throughout the two-act revue, Ronstadtdoesn't even speak a word of English. The program sold at mostconcerts is simply a glossy souvenir, but Ronstadt's provides fulltranslations of the songs, a history of the mariachi, and biographiesof the principals within the 21-person cast of singers, dancers andactors.
"It's little pieces of traditional life in Mexico," explainedRonstadt of the staging. It represents an attempt to place themusic in context, from its courtship rituals to its songs ofrevolution, from the traditional "La Bamba" and familiar hat dance tothe heartbreak balladry of the most gorgeous vocal music in LatinAmerica.
"I wanted to bring this music with all the dirt around itsroots," continued Ronstadt, though the production is definitely moreglossy than rootsy. "People have too long associated it withsomething that is background noise in a restaurant, while they'regetting drunk on margaritas. And that's not what it is. InMexico, people live and die by this music; they really feel it.It's in every restaurant, in the street, it's in every wedding, everyfuneral, every baptism, or any other excuse for a party."
As the title of her album indicates, Ronstadt's own associationwith the music is deeply familial. "We sang Mexican music as afamily, together," she explained. Her father's ancestors lived inthe Tucson, Ariz., area, where Ronstadt later was raised, before itbecame part of the United States. "People ask when my family movedfrom Mexico, and I say that we didn't. The border moved. We'vebeen there forever. Tucson was still much more Mexican than Anglountil after World War II."
Ronstadt enjoyed her biggest success in the '70s as acountry-rock singer, but she maintains that Mexican music is more apart of her than rock ever was. While remaining in characterthroughout the "Canciones de Mi Padre" production, she appears farmore comfortable and natural than she did during her rock tours.Her singing style remains distinctively full-voiced, perfectly suitedto the dramatic, romantic narratives of her Mexican selections.
"It's a role, but it's closer to my true identity," she said."I always used to say that I borrowed my mother's personality for theNelson Riddle music (on the three albums of standards that sherecorded), and borrowed my father's personality for the Mexicanmusic, but it really is my very integrated personality that singsthis music.
"Rock 'n' roll was a part of my personality, but it was thatpart of my personality that was a lot more competitive andaggressive. It was a smaller splinter of my personality than thisis, or the Nelson stuff was. And it's a lot healthier for me to dothis than to splinter myself off.
"The character up there is me," she continued, "but she's alsoa character that's based on all the impressions that I received as achild: stories from my grandfather, my grandmother and my father,trips that we took, stories about the revolution that my father andgrandfather personally witnessed, and things about the traditionsthat they taught me."
Whatever her affinity for Mexican tradition, Ronstadt admittedthat it wasn't easy to master these songs on a professional level.Far from fluent in Spanish, she needed to have the materialtranslated and explained, and then she had to memorize it. Toperform with the best mariachi musicians, she had to make herphrasing and timing much tighter than it was for family singalongs.
"I had to spend 15 to 30 hours on each song, just to be able toget through it without stumbling," she said. "When you're singingwith a full mariachi, there's only one right way to do it. Theyknew I was serious, and they really showed me the subtleties. . . .I know what every little article and adjective and tiny littleconjunction means, 'cause otherwise you can't really sing it with theright kind of emotion."
Backing Ronstadt in concert is the 13-member Mariachi Vargas deTecalitan, an orchestra that boasts 90 years of tradition andcontinuity. The band is currently led by violinist Jose "Pepe"Martinez, whose grandfather was part of its original violin sectionin 1898, and whose father was its harp player in the 1940s. Therichness of the group's string arrangements transcends all barriersof language and culture, and the audience response to Mariachi Vargasgenerally rivals the reception accorded Ronstadt herself.
Her supporting cast also includes Danny Valdez - a veteranactor, singer, musician and co-producer of the 1987 film "La Bamba"(directed by his brother, Luis Valdez). Six dancers are featuredprominently, performing traditional dances as well as original dancesby Michael Smuin. The show's director and choreographer, Smuinformerly worked for the San Francisco Ballet.
Though Ronstadt maintains that the production requires notranslation, she admits that audience reponse has been most wildlyenthusiastic in the heavily Mexican areas of the Southwest. "Theyreally understand the songs and the jokes, and they do a lot ofshrieking and carrying on," she said.
"Mexicans are very funny, and there are tons and tons of doubleentendres. In agrarian music, the whole thing is fertility andreproduction, getting the crops to bloom and the animals to reproduceand the people to have babies so you have somebody to work thefields. The songs are charged with spring fever.
"An agrarian culture just has a whole different set ofpriorities, and I'm very attracted to that," she continued. "Becausethis is music of an agrarian society rather than a consumer society,which is what we have here, it is music about the kind of values thatwe're losing here. The idea that if you have something you have tomaintain it, and take care of it, as opposed to throwing it awaybecause it's out of style six months later. The songs are really aliving representation of that, because they've saved the songs overhundreds of years."
By contrast, contemporary American music seems like an exampleof cultural disposability to Ronstadt. For all of her rock 'n' rollsuccess, she never identified with the music's rebellion againsttradition.
"I grew up in the country, and I grew up with people who valuetradition," she explained. "During the '60s, when everybody hatedtheir parents, I didn't. My dad was a real good singer, and he hadgreat taste in music and he had great ideas. And my mother was anextremely well-educated, nice person, and there was no reason in theworld for me to hate her.
"Rock 'n' roll was a valid expression, when you're in your 20sand you have an identity crisis and you're trying to establishyourself as an independent module from your parents, but I justdidn't fit that mold."
Since her recent projects have been surprisingly successfulcommercially - "Canciones de Mi Padre" earned gold records both inMexico and the States - Ronstadt doesn't feel any pressure torestrict her musical possibilities. With no plans to return to thecontemporary-music mainstream, she plans to follow "Canciones" with acouple of dissimilar musical challenges.
One is "Voces" ("Voices," in English), which is a revue-stylealbum based on Cuban music written by jazz trombonist Barry Rodgers."It's more like a musical, with a cast, and it'll probably eventuallygo onstage," said Ronstadt, who plans to limit her participation torecording the album.
The other project is an album of labor-of-love duets with AaronNeville, the honey-throated warbler of the Neville Brothers. "We'vesung everything from Schubert to Stephen Foster to New Orleans rhythmand blues," she said. "I think he's one of the best singers in thecountry. I love singing with him, and I learn a lot about singingfrom him."
And then?
"Well, I want to do lots more Mexican records, because thereare a lot more songs that I want to do and styles I want to explore,"she said. "As a singer, Mexican music is just so much more satisfyingthan contemporary American music. It's music with melody, ideas,poetry - not a two-note riff that's designed to take up room over theguitar player playing a lot of hot licks.
"You couldn't pry me loose from this stuff with a crowbar," shecontinued. "I don't care if anybody buys it or not. I'm just happyas a pig singing it."
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