They, like Dylan, Presley, Cash, and the Beatles, had, and have, a clearly defined musical position – a pure approach to what they have sung and written – free from euphemisms and alive with their own emotions.”įollowing the dissolution of his band, The Eagles hit the pay dirt with “Take It Easy,” and Nesmith realized his country-rock ambitions had come too soon. Regarding his influences, Nesmith once explained, “ Hank Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Jimmie Rodgers are to me something of a musical triumvirate. Along with its unique format, the work seemed designed to combine pop music with existentialist philosophy. His musical explorations didn’t end there: During his short stint as a record producer he oversaw Ian Matthews ’ “Valley Hi,” arguably the brightest gem in the ex-Fairporter’s catalog (including one of the first and best versions of Jackson Browne’s oft-recorded “These Days.”) 1977’s The Prison was the first (and maybe only) album of its kind, designed to be played while reading its accompanying book. Ronstadt of course hit with another Nesmith tune, “Different Drum,” which Don Kirshner thought was too noncommercial for the Monkees – something Nesmith was still joking about during their late-2021 farewell tour. (“Some of Shelley’s Blues” was on one of those Nez albums, though Linda Ronstadt and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band both grabbed it first). He refined his vision of cosmic Americana after splitting the Monkees, making a string of albums, with the First National Band and then solo, that were in the same neighborhood as Willie Nelson ’s early albums and Gram Parsons’ greatest ones. Who else was getting away with that in 1965? The B-side of his very first single, “What Seems to Be the Trouble, Officer,” ends with a stoner joke: He gets busted and the cop asks for his papers, he offers Bambu or Zig Zag. a decade early (“Tapioca Tundra”?) Amazingly, all three of those songs appeared on the same album, The Birds, The Bees & the Monkees, released at the height of their teenybop success, doubtlessly puzzling many fans and delighting many more.īut Nesmith was a subversive type before the Monkees even happened. How many alleged bubblegum bands ever recorded a proto-prog mini-epic (“Writing Wrongs”) with a long keyboard break? Or a salute to vintage 78’s complete with scratchy record effects (“Magnolia Simms”?) Or a bit of jangly psychedelia that sounds like R.E.M. If you grew up on Monkees records, the Nesmith songs would blow your mind on a regular basis. Their third album-1967’s Headquarters – was their first they co-wrote as a band. Nesmith and the Monkees eventually demanded that they play their own instruments and write their own songs. The Monkees aired on NBC in 1966, and, that year, the band earned No.1 hits with “I’m a Believer” (written by Neil Diamond) and “Last Train to Clarksville” (written by Boyce and Hart). That this became a bone of contention seemed strange to me, and I think to some extent to each of us – sort of “what’s the big deal – why won ’t you let us play the songs we are singing?” “We were kids with our own taste in music and were happier performing songs we liked – and/or wrote – than songs that were handed to us,” he said. In a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, Nesmith explained why he was so adamant that the Monkees write and record their own material despite the huge success they were enjoying at the time. The Monkees were then permitted to perform Nesmith originals, and, ultimately, Nesmith accrued more songwriting credits than all the other members combined. The band was only supposed to provide vocals and act in the show, but Nesmith shared some songs he’d written with producers. The Houston-born Nessmith originally auditioned for The Monkees back in 1965, when producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider were looking to make a show about a fake pop group.
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