Linda Ronstadt - Stone Poneys - Forgotten Classics

Linda Ronstadt - Tuning Up.

When people talk about the Sixties and the American Folk movements influence upon the development of music through to now, it's consistently the same names mentioned - from Pete Seeger and Joan Baez's protest songs to Bob Dylan's infamous 'plugged' performance and on and on to the Byrds, Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills and Nash (..and Young). You'll hear these influences clearly in recordings by contemporary acts such as the 'Fleet Foxes' and 'Midlake'. But what about Linda?

Linda Ronstadt's early output clearly straddles all these genres, touching on Folk, Country Rock, Pop and Rock. Her first recordings surfaced as part of the trio 'The Stone Poneys' whose three albums from 1967 to 1968 blended folk with the pop sensibility of the day. Accompanied in the group by Robert Kimmell and Kenneth M. Edwards their mix of original compositions and covers was a heady blend. Perhaps a little too scattershot for the time, listening to these today they clearly indicate the way forward. The 'Vol 3 - The Stone Poneys and Friends' version of Tim Buckley's 'Morning Glory' (here named 'Hobo') resonates with the same despair and emotion of the original. Other notable tracks from this period include Fred Neil's 'Just a Little Bit of Rain' from 'Vol 1' and Steve Gillette's 'Song About The Rain' from 'Vol 2: Evergreen' - it's not all rain though, up-tempo numbers pepper the recordings throughout, like Mike Nesmith's 'Different Drum'.

After the Stone Poney's called it a day Linda assembled a new band and began what would become an illustrious solo career, but it's principally the early releases we're concerned with here, 1969's 'Hand Sown - Home Grown' and 1970's 'Silk Purse'.

Opening with a version of Dylan's 'Mama You've Been On My Mind' (rendered here as 'Baby You've Been On My Mind' the album explores the blurring of the folk, country and rock boundaries with tracks such as Randy Newman's 'Bet No One ever Hurt So Bad' and J.D Loudermilk's 'Break My Mind'. Another great take on a Fred Neil tune, 'The Dolphins', fittingly brings the album to a close.

'Silk Purse' offers up a similar selection of country/folk tinged numbers but also includes the classic 'Long Long Time' (although only reaching number 25 on the US charts at release).

With the current scene including a multitude of young female artists it's worth looking back at others who at a similarly young age were doing the same.