By Classic Oldies 
In 1965, Linda Ronstadt was still finding her voice as a performer when she teamed up with Kenny Edwards and Bobby Kimmel to form The Stone Poneys. Only two years later, the group hit the top 20 with a song Ronstadt admitted left her “shocked” by its success.
In an interview with NPR, Ronstadt admitted she thought the song “Different Drum” was a hit from the moment she heard it. But she wanted to record a version similar to a bluegrass song written by The Monkees’ Mike Nesmith.
“I thought it was a hit. But I wanted to record it in a folky way,” she admitted. “So we recorded it with a guitar and a mandolin. And of course, you know, the record company didn’t like it.”
The singer and songwriter added, “And they said, ‘Well, we want to do it again, but we’re going to get a different arrangement.’ I had no idea there was going to be all these musicians.”
“So I was just shocked. And they played the arrangement. I didn’t know how to fit the phrasing in.”
She admitted that the new version greatly differed from the song she initially fell in love with, claiming it “really knocked me off my stride.” Adding, “I think we went through it twice, and it was a hit.”
“What was I supposed to know? I mean, I was just shocked,” she concluded. “I didn’t want them to use it because I felt like I was struggling so with the singing, and I thought that showed, you know, so clearly.”
“But it was a hit. So when they put it out, that was a lucky thing they didn’t listen to me.”
In 2022, Ronstadt told Parade, “I didn’t know Mike Nesmith had written it. In fact, I didn’t know who he was. I don’t think the Monkees were happening yet.”
Nesmith later discussed the success of “Different Drum” and its impact on his life in an interview with Rebeat Magazine. He called the song’s original version a “real kind of mountain music.”
“That’s home-style backyard, a hot Saturday afternoon. Fruit jars full of ice tea; that’s where that comes from,” he said of the song.
“I sang ‘Different Drum’ for John Herald of the Greenbriar Boys. He took it home and turned it into the ballad that it became. Linda heard the ballad and made us all rich. So it was great, fantastic,” he concluded.
The Stone Poneys version of “Different Drum” reached number 13 on the Billboard Charts. In 1969, Ronstadt became a solo artist and eventually sold over 100 million records worldwide.