STONEY END (The Stone Poneys)
“Stoney End” is a song written by Laura Nyro and first released in February 1967 on her debut album More Than a New Discovery. According to childhood friend Alan Merrill, Nyro originally intended the song, a gospel-inflected uptempo piece, to be performed at a slower pace. The best known version of the song was a hit for Barbra Streisand in 1970. The Stone Poneys, which featured Linda Ronstadt, recorded a moderated version of “Stoney End” for their album Linda Ronstadt, Stone Poneys and Friends, Vol. III in 1968.(More from Wikipedia)
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)
