Former Monkee Michael Nesmith died last week at the age of 78. Variety has a good obituary by Chris Morris as well as Morris’s sidebar based on an interview with manager Andrew Sandoval.
Nesmith’s death prompted John’s tribute to the Monkees. John linked to Andy Greene’s Rolling Stone obituary. John’s appreciation of the group made me pause to think about Nesmith’s long career in music. Taking advantage of John’s appreciation of the Monkees, I want to take a break from the news and focus on Nesmith himself.
Nesmith looked back on his life in the 2017 memoir Infinite Tuesday: An Autobiographical Riff. The memoir manifested his offbeat point of view, his introspection, his self-deprecation, and his wit. He traveled “to the beat of a different drum,” as he put it in his best-known song.
Nesmith’s path to and from the Monkees included such storied showbiz figures as Jack Nicholson, Bert Schneider, Bob Rafelson, and Don Kershner. A gifted singer, songwriter, and performer, he earned his own solar system in the genre Gram Parsons dubbed Cosmic American Music. He started out on a high note with the writing credit on “Different Drum.” The song saw first light on the 1966 Greenbriar Boys bluegrass album Better Late Than Never!
Linda Ronstadt and producer Nick Venet turned “Different Drum” into a pop hit with the Stone Poneys the following year. I can vividly remember hearing the song and seeing the album at Musicland’s old downtown Minneapolis store on Seventh Street that year. Playing on the record player in the store, the song just leaped out. That’s Bernie Leadon on acoustic guitar and Don Randi on harpsichord. Ronstadt is in fact the only “Stone Poney” on the track. As a video, the recording has racked up 7,000,000 views. Ronstadt reportedly didn’t think much of her vocal, but I rate this one four wows.
Kershner drew on the Brill Building songwriters for the Monkees’ catalog and thought that Nesmith’s songs were too country, but Nesmith’s “Papa Gene’s Blues” made it onto their debut album in 1966. For backing the Monkees relied on the Wrecking Crew. Among the musicians on “Papa Gene’s Blues” are James Burton on guitar and Hal Blaine on drums.
Nesmith’s “You Just May Be the One” was also turned into a Monkees number with the help of a raft of studio musicians in 1968. Nesmith’s melody and lyrics have an anthemic quality that I love.
Elektra producer Barry Friedman brought Nesmith’s “Mary, Mary” to the Paul Buttefield Blues Band. Nesmith’s singing, songwriting, and performance had a country twang and inflection, but the Butterfield Band recording of “Mary, Mary” showed another side of his work when it turned up with no writer credit on the epochal Butterfield Blues Band album East-West (1966). Minneapolis’s own Mark Naftalin is on keyboards along with the rest of the classic Butterfield lineup including Michael Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop on guitars.
In the 1970’s Nesmith pursued a post-Monkees solo career in a series of albums on RCA. The production was friendlier to his songwriting. He worked with first-rate musicians that he dubbed The First National Band. Pedal steel player Red Rhodes is a steady presence on the albums, which maintained a consistently high quality. Magnetic South (1970) was the first of Nesmith’s solo albums. “Calico Girlfriend” is the first cut on the album.
“Nine Times Blue” is the second, though the best recording I can find is one with Red Rhodes that dates to Nesmith’s time with the Monkees. The recording below saw first light on the 1987 Monkees’ compilation released by Rhino.
Nesmith must have left the Monkees with a drawer full of his compositions. Loose Salute was also released in 1970. “Silver Moon” is one of the album’s highlights.
I think “Thanx for the Ride” reflected on his time with the Monkees. He was thinking things over and trying to make sense of them.
“Conversations” reworked an unreleased composition he first recorded with the Monkees. The original version of “Conversations” was also released on the 1987 Missing Links compilation under the title “Carlisle Wheeling.” As I say, he was an introspective guy.
He followed Loose Salute the next year with Nevada Fighter. “Propinquity (I’ve Just Begun to Care)” is one of the album’s highlights.
“Here I Am” is beautiful.
The album had more covers than usual. One of the covers is Nesmith’s version of the Eric Clapton/Bobby Whitlock number “I Looked Away” from the Derek and the Dominos album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Nesmith makes the song his own with the country accents.
“Some of Shelly’s Blues” is a minor classic. Nesmith wrote it for the Monkees and recorded it in Nashville in 1968.
It was also recorded by the Stone Poneys with Linda Ronstadt as well as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (below).
Nesmith included it on Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash (1973), his final album on RCA. In 1992 Nesmith appeared with a standout group backing him for a live performance at the Britt Music & Arts Festival in Jacksonville, Oregon. It gave him the chance to review his career to that point. This performance of “Some of Shelly’s Blues” was near the top of his set. The great guitarist John Jorgenson adds the grace notes on mandolin.
“Joanne” comes from Nesmith’s first album on RCA. That is Jorgenson on the acoustic lead and Red Rhodes on pedal steel. If you have stayed with me this far, don’t miss this one.
Nesmith saved “Different Drum” for his encore. What a way to go out — “with apologies and
a special thanks to Linda and a fond goodnight to y’all.”
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.