Song:Different Drum
Album:The Very Best Of Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt would become a huge star in the 70s but her first chart hit with The Stone Poneys showed that even in 1967 she had a keen eye for quality songs that has served her very well for her entire career. She was born July 15, 1946 in Tuscon, AZ. She was perfroming with brother Peter and sister Suzi as The Three Ronstadts when she met future Stone Poney Bob Kimmel in 1960. He liked her voice and after he moved to Los Angeles in 1961, he constantly tried to convince Linda to move there. Kimmel started writing songs with Kenny Edwards. Linda moved to Los Angeles in 1964 and the three decided to start a band. The original plan was to have five members with a female lead singer and include an autoharp. But Jefferson Airplane and Lovin' Spoonful beat them to both of those things and they decided to trim it down to a folk rock trio. The name The Stone Poneys came from Charley Patton's Stone Pony Blues. They started getting attention from record companies but they wanted to change them. Manager Herb Cohen told Kimmel he could get Linda a contract but not the whole band. Linda wouldn't do that and shortly Cohen introduced them to Capitol Records producer Nick Venet. Their debut album went nowhere and Venet decided to emphaszize Linda and Capitol started billing them as Linda Ronstadt & The Stone Poneys. Different Drum rose to #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was written by Michael Nesmith before he joined The Monkees and was first recorded by The Greenbriar Boys in 1966. Kimmel & Edwards didn't play on the song. This was the beginning of the end for The Stone Poneys and Capitol started selling Linda as a solo act. Her post Stone Poneys albums with Capitol didn't sell all that well and Linda Ronstadt moved to Asylum and became a star there. This Rhino comp includes Different Drum but mostly covers the rest of her career. Here's Linda Ronstadt & The Stone Poneys performing Different Drum in 1967.
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