More Linda Ronstadt

More Folk Rock

• With two seriously good Double Plus (A++) sides, this was one of the better copies we played in our shootout for these later pressings – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
• Much more folk than pop, for the most part the sound here is tubey, rich and sweet
• Re-released when HLAW hit big, this album features three great tracks with Linda singing solo
• “It doesn’t have “Different Drum,” but the first Stone Poneys album is their folkiest and best, dominated by close harmonies and strong original material by the group’s guitarists, Bob Kimmel and Ken Edwards.”
• The originals from 1967 have never impressed us much. Click on the links below for more records that sound best to us on the right reissue pressing 
• Here are some currently available Hot Stamper pressings that we think sound their best on the right reissue (the ones we sell, obviously; there are plenty of reissues that don’t have good sound, but the ones we offer handily beat the originals we’ve — and no doubt you’ve — heard)
• Here are all the titles we’ve reviewed to date that have the potential to sound their best on the right reissue

On this album the sound varies a fair amount from track to track.

The best tracks are rich, tubey and clear; the worst thin, bright and hard. Some What to Listen For advice follows.

If you are interested in digging deeper, our Listening in Depth commentaries have extensive track by track breakdowns for some of the better-known albums we’ve done multiple shootouts for.

The first track on side one rarely stayed clean when loud, but here for the most part it does. It’s a good test for whether or not you have a copy with high quality, low distortion mastering. Listen for the least amount of smear and congestion and the most resolution.

The second track is richer and tubier – it proves that side one is mastered correctly.

On side two the first track is rough, the second track better, the third richer, sweeter and smoother still.

What the best sides of this Linda Ronstadt album have to offer is not hard to hear:

• The biggest, most immediate staging in the largest acoustic space
• The most Tubey Magic, without which you have almost nothing. CDs give you clean and clear. Only the best vintage vinyl domestic pressings like this one offer the kind of Tubey Magic that was on the tapes in 1967
• Tight, note-like, rich, full-bodied bass, with the correct amount of weight down low
• Natural tonality in the midrange — with all the vocals, guitars and drums having the correct sound for this kind of recording
• Transparency and resolution, critical to hearing into the three-dimensional space of the studio

No doubt there’s more but we hope that should do for now. Playing the record is the only way to hear all of the above, and playing the best pressings against a pile of other copies under rigorously controlled conditions is the only way to find a pressing that sounds as good as this one does.

TRACK LISTING

Side One

Sweet Summer Blue and Gold 
If I Were You 
Just a Little Bit of Rain 
Bicycle Song (Soon Now) 
Orion

Side Two

Wild About My Lovin’ 
Back Home 
Meredith (On My Mind)
Train and the River 
All the Beautiful Things 
2:10 Train

AMG Rave Review!

It doesn’t have “Different Drum,” but the first Stone Poneys album is their folkiest and best, dominated by close harmonies and strong original material by the group’s guitarists, Bob Kimmel and Ken Edwards.

Original Vs. Reissue

The original pressings from 1967 are the best, right?

Not in our experience. We think it’s just another Record Myth.