Barbara Keith

Born in Deerfield, Massachusetts,[https://www.masslive.com/entertainment/2013/08/writer_elmore_leonard_dead_at.html "Writer Elmore Leonard dead at 87"], Mass Live, August 20, 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2020 she performed at the Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village before making her first recordings in 1968 as a singer with the band Kangaroo. The other band members were multi-instrumentalist John Hall, guitarist Teddy Speleos, and drummer/vocalist N. D. Smart (previously of the Remains).[https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kangaroo-mn0000339118 Jason Ankeny, Biography of Kangaroo], Allmusic.com. Retrieved April 2, 2019 They released a self-titled album on MGM Records, on which Keith wrote two songs, "Daydream Stallion" and "The Only Thing I Had".[https://www.discogs.com/Kangaroo-Kangaroo/release/4187362 Kangaroo, Discogs.com]. Retrieved April 13, 2019 The band split up in early 1969. Hall moved on to form the band Orleans before becoming a politician; Smart later formed Mountain with Leslie West; and Speleos formed the band Holy Moses with singer-songwriter Billy Batson.

Keith recorded her debut self-titled solo album at A & R Studios in New York in October 1969.[https://www.discogs.com/Barbara-Keith-Barbara-Keith/release/3729222 Barbara Keith], Discogs.com. Retrieved April 13, 2019 Produced by Peter Asher, it was released on the Verve Forecast label, but was a commercial failure.[https://www.allmusic.com/artist/barbara-keith-mn0000787735/biography Biography by David Jeffries], Allmusic.com. Retrieved April 13, 2019 Reviewer Richie Unterberger described the album as "slightly above-average late-'60s singer/songwriter music, with a strong country-rock flavor", and compared her singing style to that of Marianne Faithfull.[https://www.allmusic.com/album/barbara-keith-1969-mw0000840359 Richie Unterberger, "Review of Barbara Keith"], Allmusic.com. Retrieved April 13, 2019

Her second album, also self-titled, was recorded with leading session musicians including Lowell George, Spooner Oldham, Pete Kleinow, Lee Sklar and others, and was released by Reprise Records in 1972. The producer was Larry Marks, whose songwriting partner Doug Tibbles married Keith in 1973. The album contained a cover of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" – released as a single – along with self-penned songs including "Free the People", also issued as a single and later recorded by Delaney and Bonnie, Barbra Streisand, Sherbet and others;[https://secondhandsongs.com/work/122503/versions "Free the People"], Secondhand Songs. Retrieved April 13, 2019 "The Bramble and the Rose", covered by Patty Loveless;[http://www.stonecoyotes.com/band_bio/ Biography, The Stone Coyotes], Stonecoyotes.com. Retrieved April 13, 2019 and "Detroit or Buffalo", recorded by Melanie.[https://secondhandsongs.com/work/3282 "Detroit or Buffalo"], Secondhand Songs. Retrieved April 13, 2019 Reviewer Ronnie Lankford described the album as "a fine effort highlighted by great writing and solid production", performed by "an expressive, soulful singer".[https://www.allmusic.com/album/barbara-keith-1972-mw0000327009 Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., Review of Barbara Keith (second album)], Allmusic.com. Retrieved April 13, 2019 Keith later said: "Somehow, even though there were some great studio musicians on that album... it didn't feel like ME completely yet, and so we gave back the album advance money and quit."{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20190412223226/https://starsandcelebs.com/2000/11/stone-coyotes-the/ "The Stone Coyotes Interview"]}}, Stars and Celebs, November 29, 2000. Retrieved April 13, 2019 As a result, Warner/Reprise failed to promote the record and it was quickly withdrawn.

Keith and Tibbles continued to write and perform together, while withdrawing from the music scene into family life in Massachusetts. Their song "A Stone's Throw Away" from her second solo album was recorded by The Dillards in 1975, and by Valerie Carter in 1977. "Pride of Franklin County" was recorded by Tanya Tucker in 1976.

{{main|The Stone Coyotes}}

In the 1990s, Barbara Keith and Doug Tibbles formed The Stone Coyotes, with Tibbles' son (Keith's stepson) John Tibbles, and began playing occasional gigs and recording. Keith plays electric guitar and sings, Doug Tibbles plays drums, and John plays bass.[https://www.gazettenet.com/Archives/2014/09/tunedin-hg-091214.aspx "Ken Maiuri’s Tuned In: Barbara Keith and her Stone Coyotes and more musical action this week in the Valley"], Daily Hampshire Gazette, October 30, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2019 When playing at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, they were seen by writer Elmore Leonard, who used them as the model for the band in his 1999 novel Be Cool. The band has continued to perform and record.

{{See also|The Stone Coyotes discography}}

The band Kangaroo released one self-titled album on MGM Records in 1968.{{cite web |url=https://www.discogs.com/Kangaroo-Kangaroo/release/4187362 |title= Kangaroo (5) – Kangaroo |website=Discogs.com|access-date=22 July 2017}}

1. "Such a Long Long Time" (Hall) (2:15)
2. "You're Trying to Be a Woman" (Hall) (2:19)
3. "Daydream Stallion" (Keith) (3:56){{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdoneDMjKSc|title=Kangaroo - Daydream Stallion, featuring Barbara Keith, 1968|access-date=August 3, 2023|via=YouTube}}
4. "Make Some Room in Your Life" (Hall) (2:42)
5. "Frog Giggin" (Smart) (4:23)
6. "You Can't Do This to Me" (Hall) (3:47)
7. "If You Got Some Love in Mind" (Hall) (2:42)
8. "I Never Tell me Twice" (Hall) (2:25)
9. "Tweed's Chicken Inn" (Smart) (3:03)
10. "Happy Man" (Speleos) (3:07)
11. "The Only Thing I Had" (Keith) (4:05){{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7uTFNtH9lg|title=Kangaroo - The Only Thing I Had, featuring Barbara Keith, 1968|access-date=August 3, 2023|via=YouTube}}
12. "Maybe Tomorrow" (Hall) (2:15)

1969, Verve Records; produced by Peter Asher.{{cite web |url=https://www.discogs.com/Barbara-Keith-Barbara-Keith/release/3729222 |title= Barbara Keith – Barbara Keith (1969)|website=Discogs.com|access-date=22 July 2017}} All tracks written by Keith except where stated.

1. "Ferris Wheel"
2. "Walk a Little Closer" (Gutcheon)
3. "To See the Morning Gone"
4. "Stranger Song"
5. "Midnight Vow"
6. "My Easy Days"
7. "Ones who Really Care"
8. "Lullaby"
9. "As if you Were my Own"
10. "Tie Me Down"
11. "Blue Eyed Boy"
12. "Big Black Deep"

1972, Reprise Records{{cite web |url=https://www.discogs.com/Barbara-Keith-Barbara-Keith/release/4540019 |title= Barbara Keith – Barbara Keith (1973))|website=Discogs.com|access-date=22 July 2017}} All tracks written by Keith except where stated.

1. "All Along the Watchtower" (Bob Dylan) (3:23)
2. "Rolling Water" (3:09)
3. "The Bramble and the Rose" (2:49){{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIDycPLqTmE|title=Barbara Keith - The Bramble and the Rose|access-date=August 3, 2023|via=YouTube}}
4. "Burn the Midnight Oil No More" (3:03)
5. "Free the People" (3:49)
6. "Detroit or Buffalo" (4:29){{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNSo5xOUACM|title=Alison Lewis & String Of Ponies - "Detroit or Buffalo" @ The Old Miami - Detroit 7/22/2011|access-date=August 3, 2023|via=YouTube}}
7. "The Road I Took to You" (3:17)
8. "Shining All Along" (3:04)
9. "Rainy Nights Are All the Same" (3:21)
10. "A Stone's Throw Away" (Keith, Tibbles) (4:43)

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Category:1947 births

Category:Living people

Category:American women singer-songwriters

Category:Verve Forecast Records artists

Category:Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts

Category:21st-century American women