Stone Poneys
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Stone Poneys | |
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 The band's 1960's promotional poster
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| Background information | |
| Genre(s) | Folk rock Rock |
| Years active | 1964—1967 |
| Label(s) | Capitol Records |
The Stone Poneys were a Los Angeles, California folk-rock trio consisting of Bob Kimmel (rhythm guitar), Ken Edwards (lead guitar), and Linda Ronstadt (vocals). Their three albums were produced by Nik Venet, and most of the songs were written by Kimmel and Edwards (Ronstadt co-wrote "Wild About My Lovin'"). The band's misspelled name came from Charlie Patton's "The Stone Pony Blues."[citation needed]
The first album, The Stone Poneys, was released in January 1967. The album is notable for having solo vocal performances by Ronstadt on only three of the songs, plus one verse in a fourth song, with harmony vocals otherwise (a la Peter, Paul and Mary). The album was prominently reissued in 1975 following the release of her hit album Heart Like a Wheel in the previous year and was billed as "Linda Ronstadt's very first album".
The Stone Poneys are best known for a song on their second album, Evergreen, Volume 2 (released June 1967) that they did not write: Mike Nesmith's "Different Drum." Their version is similar to John Herald's vocal with the Greenbriar Boys. It hit the Billboard Magazine pop chart on December 9, 1967 and stayed in the Top 100 for 13 weeks, peaking at #13. Ronstadt was surprised when it was a hit because she was unsatisfied with its arrangements.[citation needed]
Their third album was titled Linda Ronstadt, Stone Poneys and Friends, Vol. III (released April 1968), and only her picture was on the cover. It included another Nesmith song, "Some of Shelly's Blues," and ended with the Laura Nyro song, "Stoney End," which turned out to have been aptly named (although the song was not written for the Stone Poneys). By then, Linda Ronstadt had become at least as well known as the band following the success of "Different Drum", and she was off on her solo career.
The legendary nightclub that helped launch the careers of Southside Johnny, Jon Bon Jovi, and others – The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey – was named for this band and was founded in 1974, when Linda Ronstadt's breakthrough album Heart Like a Wheel was released.
