The Stone Poneys were a folk-rock trio formed in Los Angeles, consisting of Linda Ronstadt on vocals, Bobby Kimmel on rhythm guitar and vocals, and the late Kenny Edwards on lead guitar. Their recordings include Ronstadt’s first hit song, a cover of Mike Nesmith’s “Different Drum”. Even at this early stage, Ronstadt was already showcasing her performances of an eclectic mix of songs, often from under-appreciated songwriters, requiring a wide array of backing musicians. (More from Wikipedia)
Linda Ronstadt never seems to get enough credit as a ground-breaking female performer if you ask me. Her career started as a bandmember in the Stone Poneys, which was a sort of electric Peter, Paul and Mary. Kenny Edwards would later work with her again beginning in the mid-1970’s, while Linda eventually performed background vocals on a song on a 2007 CD by the other bandmember in the Stone Poneys, Bob Kimmel.
Everyone knows their 1967 hit song “Different Drum” – written by Michael Nesmith of the Monkees – which appeared on their second album, Evergreen, Volume 2. By then, Linda was singing virtually all of the vocals solo (except on the album’s surprising psychedelic-flavored title track, “Evergreen (Part One)” which was sung by Kenny Edwards), but it wasn’t always like that. Many critics think that their first album, The Stone Poneys is even better; on that album, Linda Ronstadt sang solos on only three songs plus one verse of a fourth.
By the time their third album came out, Kenny Edwards had left the band; and in spite of pressure on Ronstadt from Capitol Records to become a solo act, the Stone Poneys managed to score another fine album, Linda Ronstadt, Stone Poneys and Friends, Volume III. The album included another Michael Nesmith song, “Some of Shelly’s Blues”, plus “Let’s Get Together” and “Stoney End” – several years before those songs became big hits for the Youngbloods and Barbra Streisand, respectively. And Linda Ronstadt was already showing her gift for spotting excellent songwriting by including no less than three songs by Tim Buckley, including “Hobo” (which Buckley called “Morning Glory”), which might be my very favorite Linda Ronstadt song of them all.
(October 2013)
