Different Drum
Encyclopedia
"Different Drum" is a 1966 song written by Mike Nesmith and originally recorded by the northern bluegrass
band the Greenbriar Boys
and included on their 1966 album, Better Late than Never!. The song tells of a pair of lovers, one of whom wants to settle down, while the other wants to retain a sense of freedom and independence. Its narrator is the lover who wants to remain free, telling the other that they "will both live a lot longer" if they part ways now.
The song reached a wider audience when Nesmith rushed through a version of it in a comedy
bit while pretending to be Billy Roy Hodstetter, in the Monkees television show episode "Too Many Girls", which aired in December of 1966. Davy Jones
mentions this during the commentary track
on some DVD
s of this episode.
The song is best known for the 1967 recording performed by the Stone Poneys
featuring a young and upcoming singer named Linda Ronstadt
. The song was Ronstadt's first hit single
, reaching #13 on the Billboard Hot 100
as well as #12 on the Cash Box magazine singles chart. Ronstadt's version flips the gender references in Nesmith's original lyric, replacing "girl" with "boy" when referring to the person she's singing to. The Stone Poneys version is noted for the use of a harpsichord played in the baroque style, as well as the use of strings and guitar.
Nesmith later rerecorded the song for his 1972 LP And the Hits Just Keep on Comin'
. His version contains four verses, as opposed to the three in Ronstadt's version.
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
band the Greenbriar Boys
The Greenbriar Boys
The Greenbriar Boys were a seminal northern bluegrass music group who first got together in jam sessions in New York's Washington Square Park. Along with the New Lost City Ramblers, their urban traditional country sound inspired a generation of musicians and fans.-Biography:In 1959,...
and included on their 1966 album, Better Late than Never!. The song tells of a pair of lovers, one of whom wants to settle down, while the other wants to retain a sense of freedom and independence. Its narrator is the lover who wants to remain free, telling the other that they "will both live a lot longer" if they part ways now.
The song reached a wider audience when Nesmith rushed through a version of it in a comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
bit while pretending to be Billy Roy Hodstetter, in the Monkees television show episode "Too Many Girls", which aired in December of 1966. Davy Jones
Davy Jones (actor)
David Thomas "Davy" Jones is an English rock singer-songwriter and actor best known as a member of the Monkees.-Early life:...
mentions this during the commentary track
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
on some DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s of this episode.
The song is best known for the 1967 recording performed by the Stone Poneys
Stone Poneys
The Stone Poneys were a folk-rock trio formed in Los Angeles, consisting of Bobby Kimmel , Kenny Edwards , and Linda Ronstadt . Their recordings include Linda Ronstadt's first hit song, a cover of Mike Nesmith's "Different Drum"...
featuring a young and upcoming singer named Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
. The song was Ronstadt's first hit single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, reaching #13 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
as well as #12 on the Cash Box magazine singles chart. Ronstadt's version flips the gender references in Nesmith's original lyric, replacing "girl" with "boy" when referring to the person she's singing to. The Stone Poneys version is noted for the use of a harpsichord played in the baroque style, as well as the use of strings and guitar.
Nesmith later rerecorded the song for his 1972 LP And the Hits Just Keep on Comin'
And the Hits Just Keep on Comin'
And the Hits Just Keep on Comin' is Michael Nesmith's fifth solo album during his post-Monkees career. Recorded and released in 1972, all ten tracks had been composed by Nesmith prior to and during his time as a member of The Monkees....
. His version contains four verses, as opposed to the three in Ronstadt's version.
The song has been covered by
- Pete BurnsPete BurnsPete Burns is an English singer-songwriter, author and television personality who founded the band Dead or Alive in 1980, for which he acted as the vocalist and songwriter, and which rose to mainstream success with their 1985 single "You Spin Me Round "...
- Flying EmusFlying EmusFlying Emus were an Australian country/bluegrass band. They won the 1988 ARIA Music Award for Best Country Album for their album This Town. They won CMAA Country Music Awards in 1986 , 1987 , 1988 and 1991...
- Australian band - Susanna HoffsSusanna HoffsSusanna Lee Hoffs is an American vocalist, guitarist and actress. She is best known as a member of the all-female pop band The Bangles.-Early life:...
with Matthew SweetMatthew SweetSidney Matthew Sweet is an American alternative rock/power pop musician. He was part of the burgeoning Athens, Georgia music scene in the early and mid-1980s before gaining commercial success during the early 1990s... - The Jayhawks
- The LemonheadsThe LemonheadsThe Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band first formed in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member....
- Me First and the Gimme GimmesMe First and the Gimme GimmesMe First and the Gimme Gimmes is a punk rock supergroup and cover band that formed in 1995. The Gimmes work exclusively as a cover band. The band is named after a children's book of the same name by Gerald G. Jampolsky and Diane V. Cirincione...
- The PastelsThe PastelsThe Pastels are a group from Glasgow, Scotland, UK.Their early records for labels like Whaam!, Creation, Rough Trade, and Glass Records, had a raw and immediate sound, melodic and amateur, which seemed at odds with the time...
- Victoria ShawVictoria Shaw (singer)Victoria Lynn Shaw is an American country music artist. She has recorded four studio albums, and has charted five singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts...
- Sara WatkinsSara WatkinsSara Ullrika Watkins is an American singer-songwriter and fiddler. Watkins debuted in 1989 as the fiddler of the progressive bluegrass group Nickel Creek, which consisted of herself, her elder brother Sean, and mandolinist Chris Thile. As a band, they are notable for three wide-released albums:...
- Paul WesterbergPaul WesterbergPaul Westerberg is an American musician, best known as the former lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter of The Replacements, one of the seminal alternative rock bands of the 1980s. He launched a solo career after the dissolution of that band...
- P.P. Arnold
- The Poppy FamilyThe Poppy FamilyThe Poppy Family was a late 1960s and early 1970s Canadian pop music group, based in Vancouver, British Columbia.-Career:Seventeen year old Susan Pesklevits met Terry Jacks in the middle 1960s while she was a regular performer on a national teen TV show called Music Hop as well as many other...
with Susan JacksSusan JacksSusan Jacks is a Canadian singer–songwriter.-Career:Susan Jacks was born to a family of eight children in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Her family moved to British Columbia when she was 9...
External links
- Linda Ronstadt and The Stone Poneys Alternate take on Different Drum