Fifty years ago, Mike Nesmith was an
ex-Monkee. He had written a bunch of
songs while he was in the Monkees, but not necessarily for the Monkees. But being a guy from Texas, Papa Nez knew how
to write songs a certain way. That
“certain way” was not necessarily for what music executives thought pop music
consumers wanted to hear. According to
Papa Nez, music executives thought his music sounded too ‘twangy’. The way he tells it, music producers would
tell him “don’t put any twang in there because twang sounds ignorant to the
Upper Northeast, while it might be appealing to the Lower Southeast. Most of our audience is US Northeastern
television watchers, and they notoriously turn off twang when they hear
it. First of all, we don’t like it
because it’s twangy, and it’s country, and it sounds like you’re stupid. And second of all, we don’t know what you’re
singing about – this sounds like acid flashes, like you’re smoking a bunch of
dope, and you don’t really know what you’re talking about.” Snobby assholes, those record execs…
Such was Michael Nesmith’s life as a
suffering songwriter while he was a Monkee.
Every now and then, he would get a few crumbs and some of his songs appeared
on Monkees albums. Of the four Monkees,
he was the prolific songwriter [because that’s where the money is], while the
other three sang songs written by professional songwriters like Carole King,
Neil Diamond, Harry Nilsson, and Tommy Boyce/Bobby Hart. When he went his own way, he was an RCA
artist, but at least he could record his stuff in Nashville without the
condescension of music execs in Los Angeles.
He formed his First National Band [pedal steel guitarist O.J. “Red”
Rhodes and bassist John London (RIP), and drummer John Ware] and recorded a
trio of albums - Magnetic South
[1970], Loose Salute [1970], and Nevada Fighter [1971]. The albums didn’t sell much [like what
happened to the Flying Burrito Brothers and Gram Parsons]. Oddly enough, with a similar sound the Eagles
started printing money a couple of years later.
The sound was not-quite-country, not-quite rock, a not-quite-folk, but
all fused with a bit of psychedelia.
In early 2018, Nesmith put together a new
First National Band. Since the drummer
is retired and the other two members are dead, he appended the “Redux”
tag. On January 25th, this
band [which includes two sons Jonathan and Christian Nesmith on guitars, Christian
Nesmith’s musical partner Circe Link on harmony vocals, and Pete Finney (pedal
steel)] played a sold-out show at LA’s Troubadour club. This show has been released as Michael Nesmith and The First National Band
Redux: Live at The Troubadour. From the opening Nevada Fighter to the closing Thanks
for the Ride, the audience had a great time while the band was firing on
all cylinders. Christian Nesmith mixed
the album, and it shines! The set list
included most of what appeared on those first three albums, and a couple of
surprises. Papa Nez said in his liner
notes that he has never been happier with any record he had done, that he was
at the top of his form and this was the best that he could do. The results therein confirm Nez’s pride in
this album. The only gripe I have is
that Rio is a bonus track on vinyl
only.
Nevada
Fighter [Nevada Fighter, 1971]
Calico
Girlfriend [Magnetic South, 1970]
Nine
Times Blue [Magnetic South, 1970]*
Little
Red Rider [Magnetic South, 1970]*
The
Crippled Lion [Magnetic South, 1970]*
Joanne [Magnetic South, 1970]
Dedicated
Friend [Loose Salute, 1970]
Grand
Ennui [Nevada Fighter, 1971]
Lady
of the Valley [Loose Salute, 1970]
Propinquity
(I've Just Begun to Care) [Nevada Fighter,
1971]*
Different
Drum
Papa
Gene's Blues
Tengo
Amore [Loose Salute, 1970]
Keys
to the Car [Magnetic South, 1970]
Mama
Nantucket [Magnetic South, 1970]
Bye
Bye Bye [Loose Salute, 1970]
Some
of Shelly's Blues [Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch
Stash, 1973]*
Silver
Moon [Loose Salute, 1970]
Thanx
for the Ride [Loose Salute, 1970]
*Recorded for [and rejected by] the Monkees
After Papa Nez did his short tour with his The
First National Band Redux, he did a tour with Micky Dolenz called The Mike & Micky Show. They didn’t bill themselves as “The Monkees”
since Peter Tork didn’t participate.
They had to cut short the tour when Papa Nez fell ill [quadruple by-pass
surgery], and Peter Tork later succumbed to cancer in early 2019. After his death, Mike & Micky resumed
their tour, one show of which was recorded.
Oddly enough, since there was no television show to present the songs,
quite a few “twangy” songs magically appeared in the set list. Adding to the twang was Christian Nesmith
[guitar], Pete Finney [steel guitar] and Circe Link on harmony vocals from the
FNB Redux. Sometimes this live document
sounds like the FNB Redux, but that’s not a bad thing. Funny how that happens…
Mike & Micky don’t hide that they’re
happy playing together. The friendly
atmosphere is quite evident. Not only
did they play the hits, they dug real deep into their catalog. A couple of tracks from their most recent
disc, Good Times! (2016) appear as
well. Micky Dolenz sang two songs associated with Davy Jones. There’s also a brief “unplugged” segment in
the show. Mike & Micky are in good
voice, singing in the same keys they sang over 50 years ago. Since they have additional musicians playing
with them, the songs sound more like [but not exactly like] the original
arrangements. As with the FNB Redux
album, Christian Nesmith mixed The Mike
& Micky Show, and it too shines.
Last
Train To Clarksville [The Monkees, 1966]
Sunny
Girlfriend [Headquarters, 1967]
Mary,
Mary [More of the Monkees, 1967]
You
Told Me [Headquarters, 1967]
For
Pete's Sake [Headquarters, 1967]
The
Door Into Summer [Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn &
Jones Ltd., 1967]
You
Just May Be The One [Headquarters, 1967]
A
Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You [single, 1967]
The
Girl I Knew Somewhere [B-side, 1967]
Birth
Of An Accidental Hipster [Good Times!, 2016]
St.
Matthew [Missing Links Volume Two, 1990 –
recorded 1968]
As
We Go Along [Head, 1968]
Circle
Sky [Head, 1968/Justus, 1996]
Pleasant
Valley Sunday [Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn &
Jones Ltd., 1967]
Papa
Gene's Blues [The Monkees, 1966]
Randy
Scouse Git [Headquarters, 1967]
Tapioca
Tundra [The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees,
1968]
Me
& Magdalena [Good Times!, 2016]
Auntie's
Municipal Court [The Birds, The Bees & The
Monkees, 1968]
Goin'
Down [B-side, 1967]
Sweet
Young Thing [The Monkees, 1966]
(I'm
Not Your) Steppin' Stone [More of the Monkees,
1967]
Daydream
Believer [The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees,
1968]
Listen
To The Band [The Monkees Present, 1969]
I'm
A Believer [More of the Monkees, 1967]
If you’re an old fan of the music, buy
these two sets. You won’t be
disappointed.
No comments:
Post a Comment