Linda Ronstadt Album: “Evergreen, Vol. 2”

The Stone Poneys emerged with the Michael Nesmith tune "Different Drum" in late 1967, but was not even the tip of the iceberg of the tunes I was about to hear on the album that spawned the hit single. The opening track, "December Dream" sets the mood of the album perfectly, with a string quartet and harpsichord backdrop and a young Linda Ronstadt singing in her classic lullabye syle. The magic continues in tracks such as "Song About The Rain" and the title cut "Evergreen" in two parts. I've always felt the two parts should always be enjoyed as a whole and have programmed it as such in my music library. Of corse, more commercial tracks ("I'd Like To Know" and "New Hard Times") at first may sound intrusive, but on repeated listenings, I grew accustumed to them. This is one of those albums that, to my mind, stands with Pet Sounds and Rubber Soul. Listen to the music clips and you'll be glad to fork over a small fortune for used copies of this disc. Seriously, though, I do hope they put the three Stone Poneys CDs out again for those who missed them the first time. This is by far the best one of the three, but the other two have some great tracks as well. That said, they serve as a nice prelude to the first four solo albums on Capitol by Linda.

I have been searching for these on vinyl but I failed to find them. By the way they are very expensive. Now I am happy to have find them on CD.

It is great to see this back in print; I still have my scratched up vinyl copy from November, 1965 when Different Drum was one of the defining sounds of free form FM radio (and a terrific party dance record). The other knockout track is Back in the Street Again which I have been unable to find for years (funny it never made it onto any of Ronstadt's numerous greatest hits collections). Ordinarily, I would rate this four stars (there is some dross) but for a record of its time it was groundbreaking and I am delighted to see it back in print. Kudos to Raven Records from down under. They provide high quality access to artists who should not be out of print (check out the great Willy DeVille/Mink DeVille re-issues and compilations. They actually seem to be done by people who listen to, and actually dig what is good or unique about an artist). Anyway, this is more than worth your time and money.

If you purchase only one album this year make sure it's this one! Linda Ronstadt's beginning here shows why she was destined for stardom.

these are among my all time favorite recordings. her early work with stone poneys is amazing. this was a great band and now two albums on one disk. a must for ronstadt fans or any folk music fans