The 1969 song Linda Ronstadt knew never belonged on American radio: “His best stuff got driven out of him”Linda Ronstadt never felt satisfied working in one genre of music for the rest of her life. Because as much as Ronstadt liked the idea of making some of her tunes, she knew that some of the biggest pieces of her career weren’t intended for the masses. She wasn’t going to make a song that sounded authentic to the music she heard as a kid and suddenly turn it into a pop juggernaut. It was a great song when it was still in French, but it didn’t survive the American interpretation of that melody. So while the original version of the tune didn’t have what it took in either Sinatra’s or Ronstadt’s mind, it was worth it to expose Americans to this kind of melody.