Diane Hildebrand

Diane Hildebrand, a singer-songwriter whose Elektra album appeared in 1969, earned her chief recognition by co-writing "Early Morning Blues and Greens," a track the Monkees placed on their 1967 album Headquarters. Landing a Monkees LP cut carried no disgrace, yet it hardly qualified as a career summit. The record itself affirmed her standing as a minor singer/songwriter, her thin voice shaping average material that offered no distinguishing traits within a crowded field. Among performers of the period, her output corresponds to low-key pop-folk-rock, its sympathetic full production showing limited resemblance to Linda Ronstadt’s early folk-rock phase. Hildebrand wrote or co-wrote every song, yet Ronstadt’s initial Stone Poneys and solo releases proved markedly stronger.