Maps of Music

Hand Sown … Home Grown (1969)

Where the lyrics of Hand Sown … Home Grown take you, and where it was really made.

Ronstadt's first album credited only to her was built on the country music of her childhood and on covers of Bob Dylan and Randy Newman.

Place unknown

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Ronstadt had been successful in the folk trio the Stone Poneys with Bob Kimmel and Kenny Edwards
The Stone Poneys had a top 20 single in 1967 with 'Different Drum'
Edwards and Kimmel left the group for other professional opportunities
Ronstadt decided to pursue a solo career, and Capitol Records wanted to invest in it
She was unsure what to record, since Kimmel had composed the songs she sang as part of the Stone Poneys
She remembered the country music of her childhood and began experimenting with it
Her country origins became the center of the album
She was told she was too country for rock radio stations and too rock for country radio stations

Producer Chip Douglas had previously worked with The Monkees and The Turtles
Douglas helped her mix the two genres together for the project
Covers included two Bob Dylan songs, Randy Newman's 'Bet No One Ever Hurt This Bad', and the John D. Loudermilk country song 'Break My Mind'
Ronstadt sought musicians who could play songs that had come out of Nashville but with a California twist

1	Baby, You've Been on My Mind	2:33
2	Silver Threads and Golden Needles	2:20
3	Bet No One Ever Hurt This Bad	2:42
4	A Number and a Name	3:03
5	The Only Mama That'll Walk the Line	2:22
6	The Long Way Around	2:17
7	Break My Mind	2:51
8	I'll Be Your Baby Tonight	3:43
9	It's About Time	3:05
10	We Need a Whole Lot More of Jesus (and a Lot Less Rock & Roll)	2:30
11	The Dolphins	4:07

Born July 15, 1946 in Tucson, Arizona; American singer across rock, folk, pop, country, and soul.
In the mid-1960s joined the folk-rock trio the Stone Poneys as lead singer, releasing three albums in 1967–68.
Solo debut Hand Sown ... Home Grown (1969), described as the first alternative country record by a female recording artist.
Became the first female "arena class" rock star; top-grossing concert artist of the decade.
Voted Top Female Pop Singer of the 1970s; "You're No Good" reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Worked with producer Nelson Riddle on the Great American Songbook trilogy What's New, Lush Life, and For Sentimental Reasons.
Recorded Canciones de Mi Padre (1987), the best-selling non-English-language album in US music history.
Retired in 2011 after losing the ability to sing; later diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014; Kennedy Center Honoree in 2019.

Billboard reviewed the album and said Ronstadt had lost none of the excitement she generated with the Stone Poneys
Rolling Stone called it a distinctive, if not unique, approach to country music as rock
AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it three stars
Erlewine wrote that it might not quite hit the mark, with one foot in L.A. and one in Nashville, and with Stone Poneys folk habits still present
He still found it often entertaining to hear her stretch out and find her own voice
He added that its best moments pointed toward her future
The album received a positive response from critics after its release

Two singles were released from the album: 'Baby You've Been on My Mind' and 'The Long Way Around'
Issued by Capitol Records in March 1969 as a vinyl LP and 8-track

Chip Douglas, who had worked with The Monkees and The Turtles, produced the album, which was credited to him as producer
The Bob Dylan cover 'Baby, You've Been on My Mind' was reworked for the album and became one of its two singles
'Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line' was reworked by a Nashville publishing company as 'Only Mama That'll Walk the Line' so Ronstadt could sing it from a woman's perspective
Randy Newman's 'Bet No One Ever Hurt This Bad' was initially on Newman's self-titled album
Ronstadt later re-recorded 'Silver Threads and Golden Needles' for a separate album
Ed Caraeff is credited with photography and Jerry Hopkins with liner notes