I don't understand why none of the comments highlight the fact that the group is the Greenbriar Boys and that the singer is the late John Herald. Wish that he had gotten more recognition for this, and in general.

I wonder if Linda Ronstadt learned this song from listening to them.Love her version too.

Well, at least I can understand the words on THIS version!

Glad to hear the original version by the Greenbriar Boys, but to be perfectly honest it doesn't hold much against Linda Rondstat's version who really kills it. She had such a beautiful voice. Too bad she can't sing anymore.

I love this song! Sandler and Young are absolutely amazing!

RIP to Mike Nesmith of The Monkees, who wrote this song. Mike always travelled to the beat of a different drum.

There is a KZfaq video I saw earlier that interviews Bobby Kimmel from The Stone Poneys. It was interesting. He knew Linda Ronstadt from Tucson Arizona. He used to sing with Linda & her brother when they were young way before the Stone Poneys. He explains about how the Stone Poneys knew John Herald (singer on this video) and that is how they got connected with the song Different Drum. It's cool to hear how this song morphed from Michael Nesmith to Greenbriar Boys (which I like) to Linda Ronstadt (to me the best version).

Thanks so much for this !!! its great

In my Ronstadt playlist with her version and the songwriter's. Thanks for the upload!

Imaginary Channel

Imaginary Channel

Can't find this version anywhere could someone please, please email it to me

Love John Herald; grat voice and guitar player.

Came here after seeing the new Linda Ronstadt documentary. Very lucky to have heard Mike Nesmith open his concert in Boston with this song several years ago (the day before the Boston Marathon bombing). The Stone Poneys' version is also lovely. This is great!

Mike Nesmith offered a bunch of his songs to the producers of the Monkees TV show and they seemed not to like any of them. The band muddled through a couple (issued only much later on "rarities" collections) but this one didn't even make it that far. It was sot of a joke then when Mike sang it in a "talent show" segment on the program which he later said he did as a bit of a slap.

still get sad when I hear john hearld voice. to me the greatest voice in bluegrass music, rural of urban. so fortunate to have seen him a number of times. r I p, john

Doesn't have the passion of Ronstadt's version.

Does anyone know/have the chords/tab to this song? Can't find anything (even a live performance of this great song anywhere online.

Love this.

Love Linda Ronstadt's version, and really love Mike Nesmith's. Looked this up on You Tube, because in her memoir, Linda said that this was the recording where she first heard this song.

Great cover !!! Thanks a lot for sharing !

pastels different drum

Linda said this is the version she heard and wanted to record it. There's a rather cynical verse from Nesmith's original that all subsequent versions leave out.

my buddy got his truck stuck the other day. I played him this.

Man, those could guys pick and sing, John Herald especially. Ralph Rinzler Bob Yellen were great too. Great band. Later Frank Wakefield and Jim Buchanan were in the band too.

i had this record. big john herald fan (w/Ian & Sylvia).

I was amazed when I looked for this song on KZfaq to find a 1903 recording. Makes me wonder just how old it is. But, The Greenbriar Boys recording was the first and only recording for me until recently.

anyone know the translation to English??

Written by Mike Nesmith first recorded by the greenbriar boys, recorded 2 years later by Linda Ronstadt ( the stone poneys). She knocked it out of the park, and ever since.. her version is the one that gets covered.... Susanna Hoffs and Mathew Sweet did a wonderful Accoustic version. Nesmith's version is better than this one but still true to it's roots

One of my grandpa's finest songs

Thank God that Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Ponys made this wonderful story and song a hit. This is terrible in too many ways to mention. The song was stolen from me and someone else said that they wrote it, but when I hear this version, I do not even care that it was stolen from me. I am proud of the Stone Ponys version and their introduction of Linda great voice to the world audience.

Great stuff. Cheers.

its not you its me

HAD NO IDEA about this...thank you for posting it (and such great sound as well!!!).

Thanks for posting this! The Greenbriar Boys recorded another version of this same song that was maybe a bit faster. I had it on vinyl. Anyone know anything about it?

Linda R. recorded High Muddy Water which was written by the Greenbriar Boys (J. Herald) and they also recorded it. But it's NOT on KZfaq by either. Could someone please correct that short sightedness?

Holy crap - thank you for posting this. This brings me back to my teen years in the 1960s and 1970s. My father was a musicologist who exposed me to a wide variety of music very early on, and this album (and the Chicken track in particular) were some of my favorites to listen to. <3

In answer, David, it partly has to do with the fact that Nonesuch Records was their label in the 1960s (?). For some reason my father had stacks of test pressings of Nonesuch Records which were mostly ethnic or classical music, which is what Nonesuch was known for. But for some reason they also put out records for scores of bluegrass bands at the time. So we had this album, but it took me literally decades to figure out who the artists were. Glad to see it’s making a comeback on KZfaq!!

Really nice. Thanks!

This is 1966? Sounds great man

This version was recorded prior to the Stone Poneys version and mirrored the demo Mike Nesmith recorded. He couldn't get the Monkees to do his songs (several demos from 67 have since been issued on Monkees' rarities discs) which must have been very frustrating...but clearly this was not the Monkees' style back then.

Saw them in concert when I was very young and remember them singing this song. The audience loved it!

This version is amazng! Thanks for the upload

A S+Y classic! Terrific!

How come I never heard of these guys? They should have had hits on the charts!

Did not know this exist. I grew up loving this song by my all time favorite female singer, Linda Ronstadt, thinking she sang the original version. Also did not know that Michael Nesmith wrote it before he was a Monkee!! Thanks for sharing this song!

I cut my pickin' licks back in the '60's listening to these guys. John was my inspiration along with Doc Watson and still are to these days...

@3Pitous You are very welcome.

Great banjo sound of Bob Yellin.Thanks

Thanks.