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ās Note</i>: Nesmith playfully encourages Burton, drawling āAw, pick it, Lutherā midway through the renowned chicken pickinā guitar solo in a nod to Johnny Cashās original lead guitarist Luther Perkins.] James also led me to the Wrecking Crew. I didnāt follow Rickās work at all.</p><figure id="4ccf"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*HZDCimzchmzc8JS_zl2T7A.jpeg"><figcaption><b>Twenty-four-year-old newly married rocker Rick Nelson shields his eyes from an unrelenting sun for the album cover of āThe Very Thought of You,ā dropped with little notice during the onslaught of the British Invasion on August 3, 1964, via Decca Records. The bouncy title cut, a clever reimagining of a pop standard written in the 1930s and cut by Bing Crosby, was nearly Nelsonās final Top 30 single until the iconic āGarden Partyā literally arrived outta nowhere eight years later. Image Credit: 45Worlds user Vidman45 / Universal Music Group</b></figcaption></figure><p id="971d"><b>In hindsight, was RCA Victor the best label to launch your solo career?</b></p><p id="85d1">It was the only option I had. By that time the Monkees were a pariah among the show business and creative community ā and the Monkees fans were confused by this. My venture into my solo efforts was not well received in 1969 but I think the RCA execs thought they could market my music on the back of my Monkees celebrity in a way no other record company could.</p><p id="8c03">However as time went on they actually became interested in the songwriting and Felton Jarvis and Chet Atkins took notice ā but no one ā not even them ā from the record company got too close. They didnāt know what to make of the Monkees backlash and so they sat on the sidelines well clear of me to see how it would all shake out. I can hardly blame them. Those were rough seas.</p><figure id="d8dd"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*ZWYt0CPTl7Cb45nTTqnJeQ.jpeg"><figcaption><b>Pedal steel guitarist Red Rhodes, bassist John London, partially obscured drummer John Ware, and Michael āPapa Nezā Nesmith constitute the First National Band in this revealing 1970 candid, possibly taken during a television taping due to the confined stage area. Image Credit: The Dana Harris Rhodes Collection</b></figcaption></figure><p id="573b"><b>The B-side to āSilver Moonā was āLady of the Valleyā, both ultimately included on <i>Loose Salute</i> in December 1970. Red Rhodes has a memorable pedal steel solo, the rhythm section is locked in tight on a Latin-influenced groove, and your multilayered vocals have a soothing, ethereal effect, particularly on the following couplet: āDays, sleeping days, waves, gentle waves, join in the rhymeā¦ā Can you recall your inspiration for the song?</b></p><p id="51aa">āLady of the Valleyā was one of those songs that Red propelled. The sonics of his steel and the way he played it seemed to make the song appear in my head almost complete. I think I recall sitting in rehearsal one day and starting to play the song and it came out almost all in one piece.</p><p id="32fc"><b>In listening to your effective covers of āTumbling Tumbleweedsā [<i>Nevada Fighter</i>, May 1971] and āPrairie Lullabyā [<i>Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash</i>, October 1973]</b>, <b>I am reminded of the B-western singing cowboy phenomenon of the late ā30s thru early ā50s, an era when the Sons of the Pioneers, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and Tex Ritter captured the hearts of many adolescents and adults alike. In fact, āTumbling Tumbleweedsā made its official debut in the 1935 Autry film of the same name. As a young boy growing up in Texas, did you attend Saturday matinees and possibly develop an admiration for any of the singing cowboys?</b></p><p id="0af7">I was never very interested in singing cowboys. I didnāt understand the creative dynamic. It was more a source of puzzlement than inspiration. So I did not go to the movies or buy the outfits. Some adults would give me hats or cap pistols ā but I never used them.</p><figure id="4057"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*jgPXhlIdlABMwhqeZEE-tQ.jpeg"><figcaption><b><i>Papa Nez tackles a guitar riff on his ubiquitous Black Beauty Gibson Les Paul at the RCA Music Center of the World recording studio in Hollywood circa 1971. Image Credit: Videoranch3D</i></b></figcaption></figure><p id="de65"><b>āMama Rockerā contains one of your best rock ānā roll vocals alongside some dynamic, fuzz-drenched guitars recorded with the short-lived Second National Band. Where did you get the idea for the song?</b></p><p id="a686">The band was a lifeboat band when the First National Band disassembled. Mike Cohen [keyboards, Moog synthesizer] and drummer Jack Ranelli were advanced musicians and opened some doors for me I donāt think I could have gone through otherwise.</p><p id="2e98">āMama Rockerā, the lead-off track on <i>Tantamount to Treason</i> [February 1972] was one of them ā although I donāt know if they ever got the connection between the inspiration for that and their jazz chops.</p><p id="97d6"><b>Does āRoll with the Flowā, a tale of an individualistās encounter with a lackluster lover who tries to convince him to build a relationship and a didactic minister who wants to convert him to Christianity, accurately reflect your life philosophy? The applicable final verse, āIn the final analysis itās foolish if you resist the changes that come into your everyday life, there might be some trepidation but donāt let hesitation deprive you of hope and try to replace it with fearā¦ā, demonstrates that the song is worthy of rediscovery. The chorus has a sing-along vibe that appears to be tailor-made for a live setting.</b></p><p id="8e4c">The last song on <i>And the Hits Just Keep on Cominā</i> [August 1972], it has some of the early notions of my present thought about things ā constant change has a familiar ring to all of us ā but the song is not so much about that. It is more Taoist than anything, although I hate to saddle a tune like āRoll with the Flowā with such weight.</p><p id="02f4">I thought it might flourish at the hands of some hard rockers but I have no clue who that might be ā and the rhyme and meter donāt seem to be natural to contemporary music. The most notable aspect of the song in my life was that my Uncle Chick asked me to play it several times whenever I visited him.</p><figure id="411d"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*pBIQ-DenOFyozrZclV2lZA.jpeg"><figcaptio
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n><b>Papa Nez embraces his inner cowboy as he defiantly wears a psychedelically inspired Nudie suit circa 1972, actually also worn to the premiere of the Monkeesā commercially underwhelming āHeadā film in November 1968. The image also appears on the European CD reissue coupling āMagnetic Southā and āLoose Salute.ā <i>Image Credit: Camden International / Sony Music Entertainment</i></b></figcaption></figure><p id="573f"><b>In the early twenty-tens you toured significantly compared to the previous 30 years. Did it have an adverse or positive effect on your writing?</b></p><p id="06b8">Very positive in terms of making me want to do more performing ā but I havenāt started āwriting to the bandā yet. I am comfortable with Paul Leim and bassist Joe Chemay but Chris Scruggs [mandolin, steel guitar, six-string guitar] and keyboardist Boh Cooper are discoveries for me and I am excited by what they are teaching me.</p><p id="58b3">I have more to learn before I start writing here. Just the thrill of playing the tunes I have written over 50 years with this group is about as much fun as I can stand right now ā and it takes all my time. I am so glad I decided to do this. It has been an unimagined joy [<i>Authorās Note:</i> Much to fansā consternation, Nesmith bowed out of the Monkeesā highly publicized 50th Anniversary Tour in 2016 to complete his debut memoir, <a href="http://www.videoranch3d.com/infinite-tuesday.html"><i>Infinite Tuesday: An Autobiographical Riff</i></a>, although he was thoroughly involved in their Top 20 comeback record, <i>Good Times!, </i>circulated earlier that summer].</p><figure id="6e56"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*UkF-Aea5pSeB2ktQAW2lJQ.jpeg"><figcaption><b>On August 5, 2016, Michael Nesmith mischievously clutches a pair of mustard yellow Converse sneakers backstage during a rare guest appearance on the Monkeesā 50th Anniversary Tour at the Golden State Theater in Monterey, California. Photography by Gemma āCocoā Dolenz [younger sister of Micky Dolenz]</b></figcaption></figure>
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<h2>Monkee Micky Dolenz promises piston power in a city near you</h2>
<div><h3>Oddball Gretsch drummer Micky Dolenz tallied 12 Top 40 A-sides on Billboardās Hot 100 with the Monkees, still the mostā¦</h3></div>
<div><p>medium.com</p></div>
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<h2>You donāt need love to love insists Monkees heartthrob Davy Jones</h2>
<div><h3>āYou gotta have love to love, they all say it works that way, but if itās true, why do I love you?ā āLove to Loveā wasā¦</h3></div>
<div><p>medium.com</p></div>
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<h2>āListen to the Band!ā When the Monkees slayed Jacksonvilleās Florida Theatre</h2>
<div><h3>The Monkees performed a dose of good clean fun on June 6, 2011, at the historic Florida Theatre in Jacksonvilleā¦</h3></div>
<div><p>medium.com</p></div>
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</div><p id="6a2f"><i>Ā© Jeremy Roberts, 2013, 2017. All rights reserved. To touch base, email <a href="mailto:[email protected]"></a></i><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]<i></i></a><i> and mention which story led you my way. I appreciate it sincerely.</i></p></article></body>
