The Stone Poneys were a folk-rock trio formed in Los Angeles, consisting of Linda Ronstadt on vocals, Bobby Kimmel on rhythm guitar and vocals, and Kenny Edwards on lead guitar. Their recordings include Ronstadt's first hit song, a cover of Mike Nesmith's "Different Drum". Even at this early stage, Ronstadt was already showcasing her performances of an eclectic mix of songs, often from under-appreciated songwriters, requiring a wide array of backing musicians. As a testament to enduring interest in the trio, the band's three albums: The Stone Poneys; Evergreen, Volume 2; and Linda Ronstadt, Stone Poneys and Friends, Vol. III, were released together as single CDs for the first time in the 1990s in the US (nearly 30 years after the music was recorded), with the first two albums reissued in Australia in 2008.

After the Poneys reformed, Cohen introduced Linda, Kenny, and Bobby to Nick Venet (also known as Nik Venet) at The Troubadour. Venet signed the band to Capitol Records in the summer of 1966. Ronstadt recalls of the signing: "Capitol wanted me as a solo, but Nick convinced them I wasn't ready, that I would develop. It was true." In a late 1966 article in Billboard, Venet discussed the formation of a new record label under Capitol called FolkWorld specifically to promote folk-rock artists. Although the FolkWorld concept was never realized, The Stone Poneys became the lead act in the stable of folk-rock performers that Venet was signing and producing in this time period.  The three albums by The Stone Poneys were produced by Nick Venet. The band's original songs were credited to Bob Kimmel and Kenny Edwards, although subsequent CD reissues removed Edwards' name from most of the credits. BMI's website now credits all original Kimmel-Edwards songs to Kimmel alone, resulting in "Back Home" being Edwards's lone songwriting credit with the Stone Poneys.  The first album, simply called The Stone Poneys was more folk than rock and featured relatively few lead vocals by Ronstadt; it received little notice. The band again broke up briefly between the first two albums; but, as related by Kenny Edwards, Nick Venet told the band: "'We can make another record, we can make this happen. If we're going to do anything with this, we've got to make something that sounds commercial and get on the radio."

Answer the following question by taking a quote from the article: Did they have any record deals with anyone else?