RIP Michael Nesmith

 In 1986, some 20 years after its first episode, MTV began airing the Monkees TV show, which ran for two seasons.(66-68). And the surprise was that the shows were a hit all over the again. Out came a newly compiled Greatest Hits album, and yet another surprise, a Top 20 hit single. Their first since 1968. But one name was nowhere to be found: Michael Nesmith.  For those who like to break these things down to personality, Nesmith was the "serious" one.  The most prolific of the Monkees.  He could, sing, write and play.  But he famously had to fight the "suits" to give the Monkees some credibility with the Rock world who only saw them as TV characters, not the band they wanted to be.

  By the early 70's Nesmith had carved his own place in the music world as one of the originators of the burgeoning Country-Rock sound.  Nesmith's sound leaned more toward the "Cosmic Country" sound of Gram Parsons than the Eagles or even Poco.  He soldiered on with this sound for most of the 70's, but got diminishing returns.  Only once, in 1970 did he have a hit single with "Joanne" reaching #21. All those 70's albums are ripe for rediscovery. He had more success with other acts covering his songs.  "Different Drum" covered by Linda Ronstadt is a classic. Eventually Nesmith got into the video music business.  One of the first music videos I ever saw was his 1979 "Cruisin'", which should have been a hit single. And that's where he kept going for most of the 80's onward.  But the Monkees always kept calling him back.  He started appearing at reunion concerts.  Their last non-Christmas studio album, Good Times in 2016, was a wonderful collection, which featured all four Monkees. 

  The Monkees played a big part in my very young life.  The TV show was one of the first I can remember watching.  My sister loved them.  You didn't have to be there in the 60's to understand their importance to Rock music history. When I put together a list of my 50 favorite songs of all time, "Daydream Believer" was on there. But the critics of the day only gave them scant respect.  You won't see a Monkees song in Dave Marsh's singles book.  The last Rolling Stone Album Guide can't even give one of their Greatest Hits albums four stars. But the hell with them.  Just go back and play their albums.  Then check out Nesmith's solo output.  It was a glorious time.