Michael Nesmith Live @ the Magic Bag

  

                                                            

 

 

Michael Nesmith

Live @ the Magic Bag

April 7^th, 2013

Michael Nesmith carries his albatross like a well-worn coat of many colors, the sleeves are frayed and the colors have faded but his history with the pre-fab four will always be linked to his media image. Nesmith was with the Monkees from 1965 to early 1970. He performed with them on television, concerts, recordings and one legendary movie Head, an avant-garde slice of psychedelia and anti-war sentiments that also included some incredible music. It was a bumpy ride that bucked, stalled and lurched ahead despite the unwarranted sneering derision. Nesmith along with Peter Tork, Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz were hired by Screen Gems to portray a rock band in a television sitcom format. It was a parody of mid-sixties rock & roll that was based loosely on the Beatles.

Once Nesmith was cast and signed on the dotted line, Screen Gems purchased his songs to be used on the weekly Monkees show. He wrote several pop gems including Mary, Mary, The Girl I Knew Somewhere, Good Clean Fun and Listen to the Band. One of my favorites, You Just May Be the One is in a mixed meter interspersing 5/4 bars into an otherwise 4/4 structure…cool. I was captivated by the humor and charm of the band but I was also playing close attention to the music, preferring the LPs from Headquarters (their first self-directed body of music) through to their masterpiece Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones LTD  to Head, their magnum opus.. By 1970 the warp speed roller coaster ride careened out of control and ran out of gas. The Monkees farewell TV Special 33 1/3 was roundly ignored despite the fact that was a rock & roll apocalypse featuring such iconoclastic artists as Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis and the Buddy Miles Express. Alas, the public didn’t care and the Monkees franchise was doomed to be forever misunderstood and inaccurately labeled despite several well received reunion tours through the eighties, nineties and the new millennium.

Nesmith did not waste anytime forging a new identity. He formed Michael Nesmith & the First National Band in 1970 and recorded three LPs in quick succession for RCA Records.  Magnetic South, Loose Salute and Nevada Fighter was a highly acclaimed trilogy of the old west, an ephemeral slice of surrealistic country rock that was scaffolded by Nesmith’s psychedelic vision and Red Rhodes incredible craft on the pedal steel. This series of LPs included such acclaimed songs as Joanne, Silver Moon, Grand Ennui, Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds and Rainmaker. All told Nesmith has released fourteen studio albums and two great live in concert albums. Nesmith  also enjoyed a modicum of success with his singles Propinquity, Rio and Cruisin’. Nesmith was never an artist with substantial sales figures - one critic stated that Nesmith couldn’t buy a hit. He preferred to follow is own muse and despite his lapses into stilted verbosity (his fans may need to pick up a dictionary), he can be forgiven. I’ll take Ennui and Propinquity any way or any time he sings. Nesmith has been widely credited for being one of the pioneers of country rock along with Gram Parsons.

Nesmith was not one to tour extensively. He toured for several years with the Monkees from 67-70 and he toured with them again in 1997 to support the release of Justus their new CD. In 2012 he reunited with Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz for a 12 date concert tour. In a recent interview about the tour Nesmith said, “I never really left. It is a part of my youth that is always active in my thoughts and part of my overall work as an artist. It stays in a special place.” Nesmith did a short tour of England in advance of the aforementioned Monkees reunion. Before that Nesmith did a nine day tour in 1992. You could say he was due…

The Magic Bag has a hang dog cool, it’s worn and just a little shabby but its darkness can hide a lot of blemishes. It has a lot of nooks and crannies where you can squeeze this way or that way to buy a soda and some popcorn or even schmooze with the vendors at the merchandise table. “if I buy all four CDs will you give me a break, hmm, maybe after the show?” It was a mixed crowd of all ages. I was part of the white haired fogies taking a chance by going out on a Sunday wondering what will Monday feel like. I met a girl who was obsessed with the Monkees. She even brought a toy Monkee Mobile to the show. It was a collector’s item for sure. It was already signed by Peter Tork and Davy Jones so she bought a meet and greet ticket to get Nesmith’s autograph and already had plans to corner Micky Dolenz at a show next month. She seemed embarrassed by her obsession but she couldn’t let it go. It’s like an old pair of jeans, worn and torn with holes in the knees but it is so comfortable. There’s a pleasant vibe amongst the 300 or more Nesmith fans, no arguments, fights or major intoxication.

The band strolled onto the smallish stage @ 9:01pm -four players, drums, guitar rack, pedal steel, two keyboards, synthesizer.  A few minutes later Nesmith strides front and center and opens with Papa Genes Blues. He slowed down the tempo from the original Monkees version and it gives it a more soulful flavor. He’s in good voice and the band provides some nice harmonies on the chorus. The crowd goes wild. It was the perfect opener. Nesmith asks about the Monkee Mobile out in front of the venue and teases, “We’ll always have Paris.”

 

Nesmith wastes no time in introducing his phenomenal band: Boh Cooper – keys; Chris Scruggs – guitar; Paul Leim – drums; Joe Chemay – bass.

 

He outlines his vision for the night. A series of vignettes wrapped around songs he wrote in the past 50 years...

 

Propinquity

Nesmith narrates. The setting: a quiet mid-western city. There is a Deli downstairs. He sees her often and brings her a gift. She will cook dinner. They are lovers. He sits a long time in silence and then he says this to her…

(Nez begins to sing)

 I've known for a long time
The kind of girl you are
Of a smile that covers tear drops
The way your head yields to your heart
Of things you've kept inside
That most girls couldn't bear
I've known you for a long time
But I've just begun to care

The piano trill on the bridge is simply stunning and Nesmith’s wistful understated vocal is sui generis – a unique connection between the band and the audience.

Tomorrow and Me

Nesmith narrates:

It’s a 1930 film noire. The moonlight peeks through a stormy night. She sits in her yellow convertible and then pulls away in the night. Her smile was only a mask for the assumptions she makes. He turns out of the lot only he turns then other way…

The monolithic wash of the synthesizer creates a melancholy mood, a diaspora leads him to move away from the only life he knew. Nesmith’s wordplay is fueled by a minor key, the meaning is unclear but doesn’t bode well. The band is excellent; each player is generous and confident enough to play without ear shattering volume that can sometimes hide mistakes. Nex has a little trouble reaching the high notes on this one.

 Different Drum

Nesmith narrates:

1950’s in Paris, walking down cobblestone streets. It’s the whole scene m- a boy and girl. She is modern and he’s a dashing young man. She wants to be a mother. He wants to be a lover – to love each other. But they don’t love the same things. This is a reimagined version of the country flavor of the original. The synth passage sounds like an accordion, a mandolin emerges from the ether and the drummer does a slow shuffle. This is a gutsy arrangement , at first disarming yet compelling like a century old painting by Renoir. Nesmith adlibs at the coda

You got to learn to live without me

We got to learn to live without each other

We just got to learn it

 

Joanne and Silver Moon (two vignettes)

Nesmith narrates:

The setting: A timeless ruin, rolling hills,  a weeping willow tree by a pond. The air is sweet with romance. She is youthful and is fascinated by him. He’s a little older and he remembers these young fascinations. He stands alone and must choose which way to go. Nesmith’s vocal is nuanced both pensive and loving, a memory mixed with longing and some regret. The muted beauty of Nesmith’s reading segues to Silver Moon, reconfigured with a bossa nova beat and a calypso drum, synth splashes followed by some cool pedal steel on the bridge. Nesmith’s scratchy tenor of the sixties has settled down to an expressive baritone.

Some of Shelly’s Blues

Nesmith narrates:

Present day working class family. A fantasy handed down. She  kisses him. He’s studying her. She looks down the street and sees all the homes are the same. She pauses and thinks about seeking out another and that may be what they need. Sometimes one loving thought can save a family.

This rendition is faithful to the original version. The band plays softly, sometimes soft is better. The keyboard player provides some B-3 shadings to give it a bluesy vibe

Rio and Casablanca Moonlight

Nesmith narrates:

Late 1920’s at the Grand Cinema Palace. He sits alone until the crowd leaves. Then new cinema evoked other desires. Should he act on it., could the blank white screen be his table rasa?

A prominent pedal steel anchors Rio and gives it an aural beauty. Piano trills give the song a sense of movement, synth inspired seagull sounds are a segue to Casablanca Moonlight. Nesmith’s range has narrowed through the years and he strains at the upper register. The crowd loves him anyway, just for doing it again, one more time. He mirrors our own frailties, our lost youth.

Grand Ennui

Nesmith Narrates:

It’s the late sixties. We are in a bright red Ferrari screaming down the highway at about a hundred and ten. She’s behind the wheel; she has bright red lipstick and is wearing a tight dress. He is frumpy – once the predator he’s now the prey.

A sweet slide guitar motif rocks it to the bone. It’s a great rockin’ version a bit harder edged than the recording. This is about Nesmith’s resolute boredom with the finer things in life. His wealth becomes a dreary repetition of things that don’t matter. Listen…

Well, I reached in my pocket and I pulled out the Omega
That was never one second behind
I knew the horse that I was running at the Southern Talladega
Had won for the twenty-second time

And then the countess I was with bent over with a kiss
And put a jeweled hand on my knee
I knew I'd lost the light
And I was moving through the night
Running from the grand ennui
Running from the grand ennui

 

Crusin’ (Lucy & Ramona and Sunset Sam)

Nesmith reveals that this was the second video he ever made. He knew Lucy and Ramona and found Sunset Sam in a bar, wearing a speedo. This was from Nesmith’s triumphant television series Elephant Parts. It was edgy and cool, a bit avant garde with just enough syncopation. The crowd went wild

 

Rays

Nesmith narrates:

He awakens and crawls in the observation pod that is in orbit above the planet. He can see out in space. The glory of the earth is in an arc around him. He is in a universe of thought. It has a funky organ and a 2/4 rock beat. The drummer gets a workout on this one, he pounds it out like the Dave Clark Five  getting pissed and ready to rumble

 

The Prison Suite

Nesmith narrates:

A guy is in prison and sees a break in the wall. He crawls out and sees that all the convicts are out in the field. He realizes that the prison is only in his imagination;  it’s not real, it’s an illusion. But his girlfriend only sees the prison.

This is from Nesmith’s 1975 double LP. It was an ambitious project that failed to capture the imagination of the public. It is difficult to take pieces out of context and place it into a concert format. This is Nesmith’s magnum opus. It’s about rebirth and renewal and though it is a bit elusive, it is an incredible moment in Nesmith’s canon. It was well received by Nesmith’s adoring fans!

Laugh Kills Lonesome

The last song is inspired by a painting Nesmith viewed in Helena Montana. Nesmith says that laughter is the sound of understanding; it is the divine voice. The mandolin and steel drum effects via the synthesizer give the song an upbeat vibe that you can dance to. The mandolin player does an incredible solo followed in turn by spotlight solos by each member of the band;  the drummer stretches out and signals a segue to the chorus. It ends with a bang.

The encore Thanx for the Ride includes a pre-recorded pedal steel workout by the late Red Rhodes. He was one of the best in the business and was Nesmith’s anchor in the First National Band

People
Keep believing
What they never saw
This time
When it comes again
I'll beat them to the draw
I'll be like it's my first time
I'm moving closer to clearer skies
I'll just mosey on
Thanks for the ride
Thanks for the ride
Thanks for the ride

The perfect ending for an historic concert. At seventy years of age Nesmith has mellowed into a loving and wise philosopher. He is a gem to be treasured.

Peace

Bo