Michael Nesmith Tribute

With the tragic passing of Mike Nesmith, I thought I would share some of my favorite tracks and give some thoughts. I will not duplicate any of the songs I listed on my Best Monkees Songs You've Never Heard post, even though every one of the songs on that list that was either written or sung by Mike deserves to be here.

Different Drum  Of course we have to start with this song.  There have been several versions, including the first, 1966 folksy dirge version by the Greenbrair Boys, the 1967 pop classic by Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys, and Mike's own mostly acoustic 1972 version.  However, my favorite version is the earlier, originally unreleased alternate take from 1970, with a Western Swing beat and some great steel guitar work from the amazing Red Rhodes.  This is my go-to version by Mike, and it rivals the Stone Poneys' version.

Get Out of My Life Woman  A previously unreleased funky, bluesy track from Mike's pre-Monkees "Michael Blessing" Colpix days.

Sunny Girlfriend  A Monkees song from the Headquarters album. A fun tune that at first seems like a typical teenage love song about a great girl, but the last line which says "she doesn't really care" changes the whole perspective to unrequited love. This history behind this song is The Monkees, in their earliest concerts, performed She's So Far Out, She's In, with Mike on lead vocals, and it was the first song they attempted at the Headquarters recording sessions. Coming to light recently is that Mike also recorded an unreleased version in 1965/66 as part of his pre-Monkees "Michael Blessing" Colpix deal. At some point, Mike decided to write his own version of the concept, while copying the intro to the Rolling Stones' It's All Over Now, and thus was created Sunny Girlfriend.

You Told Me  The lead track to Headquarters with a count in that was meant to parody the Beatles' Tax Man, and has what Peter Tork described as the most Rock 'n Roll use of a banjo.

Good Clean Fun  A song Mike wrote when a record exec told him he needs to write more songs that are good clean fun. This song has become something of an anthem for the final years of the Mike and Micky concerts.

Naked Persimmon  From The Monkees' 1969 TV Special, this song cleverly recaps the whole situation with Don Kirshner. The accompanying video is also great ("Wanted for Fraud").

Little Red Rider  Mike comes into his own post-Monkees with his First National Band.

Propinquity  Love song, Nesmith style.  Great lyric is "I've seen you make a look of love from just an icy stare".

I Fall To Pieces  Mike's cover of a Patsy Cline classic.

Thanx For The Ride  Apparently, this song was Mike's formal statement saying goodbye to his band mates in The Monkees. But if you listen to the lyrics, it works just as well as his final goodbye to all of us.

Hollywood  Similarly, this song was his lament on the California show biz culture he experienced while being a Monkee.

Some of Shelly's Blues  Other than Different Drum, this was perhaps his most covered song, with versions by Linda Ronstadt, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Continental Drifters and Earl Scruggs.

Wax Minute  Perhaps my favorite Mike song from his solo years.  Although it was written by Richard Stekol, it is very much in a Mike Nesmith style.

Mama Rocker  This Chuck Berry influenced song apparently was about Marrianne Faithful. 

I'll Go Somewhere and Cry  This is perhaps the most obscure song on the list.  It is actually the very first song Mike wrote to be professionally recorded and released (1964). The Elvis Presley style vocals are by Denny Ezba, with Mike on guitar and doing the whistling. This catchy tune is highlighted by the contrast of lyrics expressing a heartbroken guy wanting to go somewhere and cry juxtaposed with rather happy whistling. Speaking of Elvis, if there was only one question I could have asked Mike, it would have been "When you were on RCA Records in the early 1970s, being produced by Felton Jarvis, who was also Elvis' producer at the time, were there any efforts made to submit songs to Elvis?"  I think an Elvis-Nez collaboration in the  '70s would have been amazing.

Rio  The song that Mike essentially invented the modern music video for. Perhaps his most famous and popular solo track.

Magic  Another early trailblazing music video.  The retro 1950s sound makes it a favorite of mine.

Cruisin'  The third in the trilogy of groundbreaking music videos.  By the way, contrary to popular belief, that is not a young Hulk Hogan in the video, but a different pro-wrestler named Steve Strong.

Yellow Butterfly  A kind of dreamy song from his 1992 "comeback" album  ...tropical campfires...

Laugh Kills Lonesome  A song that celebrates the classic singing cowboys of the golden age of movies.

I Know What I Know  From the Monkees album Good Times. The lyrics and melody transcends rock 'n roll or pop music and goes to a whole new level, right up there with Cole Porter or Irving Berlin.

Michael Nesmith, R.I.P

Extremely sad news. Michael Nesmith has passed away at the age of 78. Mike has had some serious health issues in recent years.  During the 2018 Monkees tour, he had a serious heart problem.  During the concerts he needed to go back stage and take oxygen.  The tour was cut short so he could have quadruple bypass heart surgery. Although he seemed to bounce back from it initially, his health started to deteriorate slowly.  He did not let this stop him, though, as he heroically continued to tour with Micky Dolenz, to entertain his fans, until the very end.  

From Mike Nesmith's Videoranch website:
With Infinite Love we announce that Michael Nesmith has passed away this morning in his home, surrounded by family, peacefully and of natural causes.
We ask that you respect our privacy at this time and we thank you for the love and light that all of you have shown him and us.

- The Nesmith Family

Micky Dolenz issued a statement:
I’m heartbroken.
I’ve lost a dear friend and partner.
I’m so grateful that we could spend the last couple of months together doing what we loved best – singing, laughing, and doing shtick.
I’ll miss it all so much.  Especially the shtick.
Rest in peace, Nez.
All my love,
Micky


 

 

 

 

I can only offer up my prayers for Mike and his family.  You will be missed greatly, Pap Nez.

Eternal Rest grant unto him O Lord,
Let perpetual light shine upon him,
May he rest in peace.

Review: The Monkees "Good Times!"

My track by track review of The Monkees' new album, Good Times! produced by Adam Schlesinger. It is the group's 12th studio album, and 3rd for the Rhino label.

"Good Times" - The album kicks off in a unique way. An old demo by the late Harry Nilsson, produced by Mike Nesmith (who also plays rhythm guitar on the track) is layered with new vocals by Micky, and a new lead guitar instrumental.  The curious choice of letting Nilsson sing the second verse solo instead of limiting his vocal to harmony with Micky might be seen as questionable to those fans who feel the late Davy Jones should have had a bigger presence on the album. But overall, this funky tune gets the album off to a great start.

"You Bring The Summer" - This song, written by Andy Partridge, if you go by the lyrics, seems like it would be more appropriate for the Beach Boys than the Monkees. But musically, it sounds nothing like a Beach Boys song. Sung by Micky with backing vocals by Mike and Peter, the first part of the song is a good example of what Micky refers to as "jangle pop". But then the second part of the song delves into a psychedelic fade out reminiscent of  "Auntie's Municipal Court", a Monkees track from 1968. This is a great Summer hummer and should become an annual Summer anthem.


"She Makes Me Laugh" - Written by Rivers Cuomo, this was the first song to be released from the album. To be 100% honest, the first time I heard it, I thought "it's OK... not great, but not a disaster".  But then I listened to it a second time, and a third.  I began to like it more with each listen. I began to take notice of the lyrics... something about them.  Could the song really be about a father and his daughter, rather than a typical boy-girl song? Others began coming to the same conclusion.  I read some on line stories of men with daughters who began to get choked up listening to the song, remembering the good times they shared. This song could very well end up becoming one of the most requested songs at father-daughter dances. Micky's vocal is spot on, and it's so great to hear Mike's harmony with him (which actually gave me goosebumps!).  Peter also pitches in on backing vocals and contributes the banjo on the track. The track also includes an electric 12 string guitar riff, something that has become synonymous with The Monkees, even though in reality, the classic riffs from "Last Train To Clarksville", "Mary Mary", "Pleasant Valley Sunday", and others, were actually played on a 6 string with added reverb.

"Our Own World" - Written by the album's producer Adam Schlesinger (who, by the way, was responsible for "That Thing You Do" from the Tom Hanks movie of the same name), this song has more of a 1970s flavor, somewhat reminiscent of  Sheena Easton's "Morning Train". Micky sings lead with Peter and Mike on backing vocals, and Peter on keyboards. Great song.

"Gotta Give It Time" - Like the title tune, this one is more on the funky end. Written by Jeff Barry and Joey Levine, it features an old, unfinished backing track augmented with some new instrumentation and lead vocal by Micky with Mike and Peter on backing vocals. Another great track.

"Me & Magdalena" - This song, written by Ben Gibbard and sung by Mike with Micky on harmony, slows the pace and changes the tone of the album by being a more reflective song. A kind of slow tempo, bare bones country number, it has received rave reviews by many people.  I'm not as enthused by it as some other fans, but it's still a good album track. Perhaps it could have used some Headquarters type pedal steel guitar accents. (Note: I heard version 2 of this song, which has a stronger, driving beat and fuller instrumentation. I kind of like it better than version 1. I would have put version 2 on the album as it seems to be a better fit with the other songs, and I would have released version 1 as a single intended for country radio airplay.)

"Whatever's Right" - This initially unfinished Tommy Boyce-Bobby Hart tune is a real gem.  Micky brings the goods with his vocal, with killer background vocals by Mike, Micky's sister Coco and Bobby Hart, and Peter contributing some soulful keyboard work. The bridge is nearly identical to the bridge of "Apples, Peaches, Bananas, and Pears". One of the album's highlights, and that's saying something considering how high quality the whole album is.

"Love to Love" - I have to say this might be the album's weakest track. I understand the need to include a track representing the late Davy Jones. I would expect there should be one. But I think "Love to Love" was the wrong track. Not exactly an unreleased track, various mixes have been issued since the 1980s. In fact, the only difference in this mix is Davy's vocal was not doubled as in the other mixes, and Micky and Peter provide some minimal backing vocals. Although it was written by Neil Diamond, and I suspect that is the main reason it was included, it is a weak offering.  What I would have preferred (and perhaps this could be done for the next album) is to take Davy's vocal of "My Share of The Sidewalk", a tune written for him by Mike Nesmith, and remix it to include the breezier and more sweeping backing track from the Instant Replay Super Deluxe box set. Or, for a more innovative idea, take Davy's long forgotten 1970s solo cover of Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Who Was It" and build on that.

"Little Girl" - A completely different song than the Dolenz penned version from the 1969 album The Monkees Present.  This one, written and sung by Peter is kind of bluesy with a mixed tempo/beat. Peter, who is known for not really being the best vocalist of the group, turns in an excellent performance. Supposedly, Peter says he wrote this song back in the 1960s for Davy as a sequel to "I Wanna Be Free", although lyrically it doesn't seem to follow the earlier song's story line.

"Birth of an Accidental Hipster" - Many have stated this Noel Gallagher-Paul Weller penned song is the album's masterpiece. Sung by Mike with Micky and his sister Coco on harmony backing vocals, it starts out a lot like "Sweet Young Thing", but then evolves into something very reminiscent of the Beatles/Sgt Pepper/Magical Mystery Tour in sound and spirit only to again fade out with the "Sweet Young Thing" type rhythm. An amazing track.

"Wasn't Born to Follow" - This Carol King-Gerry Goffin track is another unfinished backing track from the 60s, with Peter adding banjo and his vocal. Great soulful performance by Peter, who has a long history with this song. Apparently he recorded a version with his post-Monkees band Release to be used in the movie Easy Rider (produced by Raybert, the creators-producers of The Monkees), but the version by The Byrds ended up being used instead.

"I Know What I Know" - Wow.  Just...wow.  This track, written and sung by Mike is simply beautiful. The lyrics and melody transcends rock 'n roll or pop music and goes to a whole new level, right up there with Cole Porter or Irving Berlin. One of the best tracks on the album.

"I Was There (And I'm Told I Had a Good Time)" - The closer is a song written by Micky with Adam Schlesinger based on a one-liner Micky has been using for several years. Like "Hipster", this song seems to have more of a Beatles influence, and could be seen as a novelty track (although it's no "Gonna Buy Me A Dog" or even my pick for a Monkees novelty track, "The Curly Shuffle"). Micky plays drums on this bluesy number and exclaims at the end he dropped his stick. A great way to end a fantastic album.  I can't wait for the next Monkees album!

There are three other bonus tracks I should briefly mention.  The best of the three is "Terrifying", a jangle pop tune written by Zach Rogue and sung by Micky, that is almost as good as all the other songs. I wish it would have been included on the album proper. Initially, it was listed as being on the album, but it was later dropped. On the other hand, Peter's "A Better World", written by his brother Nick, is a pleasant enough song, but has a "We Are The World" complex.  Perhaps the weakest of the three is "Love Is What I Want". It has a good production and vocal from Micky, but the problem is with Andy Partridge's lyrics and tune, which has too much of a nursery rhyme sound and cadence to it. The chorus sounds like a rip off of "Red Rubber Ball" by The Cyrcle. Micky singing his classic "Randy Scouse Git" during the fade out is priceless though.

"You Bring The Summer", another new Monkees track.

Unbelievably, just four days after the Monkees released their new single, "She Makes Me Laugh", they have released another new song, "You Bring The Summer", written by Andy Partridge. Perhaps, this is meant to be the B-side, as in classic vinyl singles.  Once again, Micky on lead vocals with Mike and Peter singing backup harmony vocals. Mike is also on rhythm guitar and Peter on organ.  Enjoy!

"She Makes Me Laugh", The Monkees' new single

Here's The Monkees' new single, "She Makes Me Laugh", from their upcoming new album, Good Times! 
A catchy song that has a retro-60s sound, similar to their 1986 tracks, "That Was Then, This Is Now" and "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere" .  If it gets radio airplay, it could be a big summer hit.  Micky is on lead vocals, Mike is on harmony vocals and acoustic guitar, and Peter is on banjo and background vocals.

Mike introduced the song on his Facebook page by commenting, "Welp. Here we go -- remember there are all kinds of immortality and this one looks pretty happy. :)" 

I can't add more than that. Enjoy.

Monkees v Beatles: Dawn of a Perspective

With the Monkees' restored HD Blu Ray box set and new album, Good Times, about to be released on this 50th anniversary year, I thought I would offer this perspective.

First a disclaimer.  This is not a thoroughly researched doctor's thesis.  My doctor can research his own thesis. This is just my perspective from when I was growing up when the Monkees TV series was a staple of UHF stations, and their Greatest Hits album was in every neighborhood kid's record collection.

What I seem to recall is that us guys seemed to be bigger Monkees fans, while the girls seemed to prefer the Beatles.  The obvious reason for this could be the TV series.  Much like The Three Stooges, which is considered "a guy thing" that girls never got, the Monkees TV series, with it's fast paced comedy, drew the guys in while the girls shrugged at the whole notion.  But I think it went deeper than that.

After doing a quick analysis of both groups' songs, I came to this conclusion. The Beatles catalog, for the most part, was aimed at girls.  The majority of their songs, although there were certainly some exceptions, dealt with peace and love and happiness and romance.  The Beatles were a chick's group.

The Monkees, on the other hand, had the majority of their songs aimed to a guy's life experiences. In the Monkees' music continuity, girls were not the objects of happiness and romance to be adored and put on a pedestal like in the Beatles' world.  In the Monkees' world, girls were most often backstabbing heart-breakers ("She", "Mary Mary", "Stepping Stone", "Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day", "Gonna Buy Me A Dog", among others),  people not to be trusted ("The Girl I Knew Somewhere", "You Told Me", "Forget That Girl", "Cuddly Toy", "Words", among others), and selfish users ("Star Collector", "She Hangs Out").

While in the Beatles' world, the goal was to hold hands and have a relationship, in the Monkees' world, the goal was to be friends with benefits ("I Wanna Be Free"). 

I was listening to "Sunny Girlfriend", thinking it was a typical teenage love song.  The whole song is about saying how great this girl is.  But then the final line reveals the truth- no matter how wonderful you think this girl is, and how much you're in love with her, "she doesn't really care".  That kind of songwriting speaks to pre-teen and teenage guys.

Even in the Monkees' more traditional and optimistic love songs, the guy seems to be falling in love against his will, if you really listen to "I'm A Believer" and "Love Is Only Sleeping" and "Look Out Here Comes Tomorrow" and "What Am I Doing Hanging 'Round".

So, my unscientific conclusion as to why, when I was growing up in my Midwest neighborhood, the guys were Monkees fans while the girls were Beatles fans, is that the Beatles tailored their songs to girls, and the Monkees tailored their songs to boys.  Just don't ask me why then Monkees concerts are loaded with girls in the audience. But then, why should I speak, since I know nothing?

Davy's Replacement on Monkees Tour

In a series of Facebook posts, Michael Nesmith voices his ideas of who should replace Davy on the tour. I'm reposting them here, not only because they are very funny, but many fans are taking this seriously, making the whole thing even funnier.

The first post:

"As I get relatively older the corporeal sense data set goes more and more non-linear. I’ve been watching Emmy Blotnick all morning and laughing hard, but I know somewhere deep down I am not laughing at the right thing.

"There is a kind of horror in finding oneself inapt, and yet, there is a certain joy to it – coming loose from the moorings, as it were.

"Emmy does this stand-up that is very funny to me – “I made you a sandwich” and I watched it two or three times just this morning – and something inside me wants to tell Emmy why I think it’s so funny.

"But I know better than to do that, so I am keeping my mouth shut and laughing with the rest of the people that think she is funny.

"The reason I was watching her is because she is a blogger for Jimmy Fallon.

"And I have been talking to Mick and Pete about how we are going to do Daydream Believer without David. We have some ideas – and clearly we have to do it – it’s one of the Monkees best songs – but how?

"Stay with me here.

"Mick and I are heavy into rehearsals and hanging out – and I have started privately nourishing this idea that – in New York and LA at least – I think Jimmy Fallon should come do Daydream Believer with us.

"First, he is a good singer and musician. And second, he seems pretty easy going. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, he is the only person I think that could actually do the Davy dance with the proper gravitas and respect it deserves.

"(Lord knows Axel Rose did his best – and it may be that Axel has even won the name wars for the dance – but to me it is, and always will be, the Davy dance and not the Axel Rose dance.)

"In any case -- I think Fallon could do it great, sing the song great, and I am thinking seriously about inviting him to come and do it with us – just a couple of nights. I am giving it a lot of careful thought.

"Careful, non-linear-wacked-out, goofy thought.

"So far I haven’t got this past Mick and Pete – I actually haven’t even asked them – but I am drifting that way because of Emmy Blotnick who has now (unwittingly)re-enforced the notion that Fallon could do it great – “birds of a feather” is more than enough validation for me. That’s the best I can explain it: Blotnick sandwich = Jimmy Fallon sings Daydream Believer and delivers his version of the Davy dance.

"So, Mick and Pete and I have the show covered, it will be fun and satisfying to the hardest core Monkees fan –but --

"There is this one last thing we absolutely have to work out and get right -- who will sing Daydream Believer?

"I’m starting with Jimmy Fallon – and if he won’t do it -- then I’ll just let the non-linear world take over and see where the ball lands next.

"It may land in the town we’re coming to."

 

The plot thickens with the second post:

 

"I am shocked!

"Shocked and dismayed. I just got a call from Jimmy Fallon and he was cackling with glee. (At least I think it was Jimmy. He swore to me it was really him) It's very unlike Jimmy to cackle. He is so sweet and kind on his show, and he treats his guests with respect and asks smart questions, so I was so surprised to listen as he delightedly told me that he had hacked my Facebook page!!

"He was unabashed. He said he tacked a post on to the one I wrote about Emmy Blotnick and her sandwich routine.

"Then, (and this is really weird) he begged me to let him sing Daydream Believer and I didn't know what to say -- I had no idea what he was talking about. How did he find out Mick and Peter and I were thinking about who should sing Daydream Believer with us? Its very important to us, of course, but we have been keeping the discussions very quiet and just between the three of us.

"What I did say was that "we haven't decided yet, Jimmy." Sheeez.

"I'm not sure what he posted on my Emmy Blotnick post. I haven't had a chance to read it yet , but he did a lot of damage here on the site, I can already tell. There is a whole thing of chocolates missing from my FB page. And half the bottle of cologne is gone. Vanished. It was that really good Axe cologne that makes women chase you around -- just like they show on TV.

"I'm sure he took them. Or had something to do with it. So unlike JF.

"I am heartbroken. I love Jimmy Fallon and his show and his whole zeitgeist thing he does. He is my favorite late night guy. I admit I'm not up that late that often. But I almost always watch the one from the night before while I have dinner at 4:30PM. That's my me time. But I am not going to watch now for a long time.

"Not after he broke into my FB page and posted stuff and takes valuable items. That just goes beyond the pale.

"And just for the record, no offense JF, but my choice is for Bono to sing it.

"I'm even thinking of asking Bono to join us for the whole tour just for that one song. Especially now, after Jimmy just trashed me.

"And I am sure it was Jimmy that called, I have the call back number on my cell, and sure enough it's from North Carolina, which is where JF's cell phone is registered.

"And besides, it sounded just like him."

 

Mike responds to fans threatening to boycott the upcoming Monkees tour if Kevin Spacey is not invited to sing Daydream Believer as a tribute to Davy Jones.

"OK now this is getting out of hand -- or maybe out of control -- or something.

“Apparently there is a fan group -- Monkees fans -- who have formed a large contingent to boycott the upcoming tour unless and until we invite Kevin Spacey to sing ‘Daydream Believer’ as a tribute to Davy.

“Now, I like Kevin. He is a close friend that calls all the time, at least he says he is Kevin Spacey, and we talk a lot, but there are too many things that are just plain wrong with this, if I may be so bold as to scold.

“First Micky and Peter and I are in rehearsals now and working very hard to put together a great show that includes a solution to what to do about ‘Daydream Believer.’ We have some very good ideas, and we think they will work out well.

“None of them include having Kevin sing, and as good a friend as he is -- he calls all the time, really, like at 3 a.m. and so forth -- I just can't agree to this.

“Yes, I think David would like the Bobby Darin connection, and, yes, Kevin is a good singer, a really fantastic impressionist, but he is waaay too old, and he cannot, as far as I know do the Davy dance. Not that he would ever need to, but I don't think he can do it.

“I mean, he limped a little in ‘Usual Suspects’ -- but that is a very long way from the Davy dance -- a really, very, very long way.

“And now these so-called ‘fans,’ as they call themselves, want to boycott this concert tour unless and until we invite Kevin to sing ‘Daydream Believer’ at the end of the show.

“I am beside myself with worry over this, and don't know what to do. To have such a revolution among people who should know better and who have never even talked to Kevin as I have, sometimes for hours and hours when he was thinking about maybe leaving show biz, just makes me so sad and confused.

“But for you ‘Spacey Cadets,’ as I will now call you disparagingly, Peter and Micky and I have got this whole Daydream Believer thing right at the top of our list of things to bring to the concert in the best and right way. It is important to us, and we don't intend to mess around with this. There are times when the Monkees just have to get serious and this is certainly one of them.

“So, pushing us around, and making the three of us have agonizing conversations in the rehearsal studio, and sometimes during meals, even, is just not helping at all.

“Please stop -- and please do not boycott the shows, and please do not poison anyone else into boycotting the shows. I am asking nicely because I just don't know what else to do.

“These shows are going to be so much fun, and will represent the whole Monkees part of our lives so well, that you just don't want to miss them. (Micky and Peter are sounding better than ever, BTW).”

Let me just add, Mike is the best.  Eventually, Micky Dolenz stepped in to set the record straight in an interview with Musicradar:

[Laughs] "That's a joke! It's a total joke. That was just, like, goofing. No, what has been discussed is having friends and people come on stage in select places and singing along with us. Ringo does that. U2 – Bono brings people up. In fact, Davy Jones joined U2 on stage once for 'Daydream Believer'. So that's what that was all about. We understand that Jimmy is a fan and likes the music, so maybe he will show up on stage somewhere as a guest. But he wouldn't be replacing Davy."

Micky also tells an interesting story about his unique right-handed, left footed drumming style:

"What happened was, I started taking lessons from my first teacher, John Carlos, a very famous drum teacher. But before that, when I was a kid, I had a leg-bone disease. Fortunately, it didn't turn out to be serious, but it made my right leg weak – it still is – and I'm right-handed. So this presented a problem.

"I sat down and started playing at a traditional kit, but my right leg got very tired playing the kick. I told this to John Carlos, and he said, 'Well, you're still learning. Just switch it around.' I started playing the kick with my left, which was fine, and I played the snare with my left hand and the hi-hat with my right leg. It became this sort of V-formation. That's how I learned, and it became kind of interesting. I think it contributed to some of the unique rhythms I've come up with because of that configuration."