Barbara Keith

Born in Deerfield, Massachusetts,[1] 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).[2] They released a self-titled album on MGM Records, on which Keith wrote two songs, "Daydream Stallion" and "The Only Thing I Had".[3] 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.[2]

Keith recorded her debut self-titled solo album at A & R Studios in New York in October 1969.[4] Produced by Peter Asher, it was released on the Verve Forecast label, but was a commercial failure.[5] 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.[6]

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, and others;[7] "The Bramble and the Rose", covered by Patty Loveless;[8] and "Detroit or Buffalo", recorded by Melanie.[9] Reviewer Ronnie Lankford described the album as "a fine effort highlighted by great writing and solid production", performed by "an expressive, soulful singer".[10] 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back the album advance money and quit."[11] As a result, Warner/Reprise failed to promote the record and it was quickly withdrawn.[5]

Keith and Tibbles continued to write and perform together, while withdrawing from the music scene into family life in Massachusetts.[11][8] 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.[5]

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.[12] 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.[5][8]