Wesley Britton's Blog - Posts Tagged "michael-nesmith"

Infinite Tuesday: Autobiographical Riffs
Michael Nesmith
Publisher: Crown Archetype; First Edition first Printing edition (April 18, 2017)
ISBN-13: 978-1101907504
https://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Tuesd...

Reviewed for BookPleasures.com by Dr. Wesley Britton

I’m not sure what inspired me to sit down and listen to the audiobook edition of ex—Monkee Michael Nesmith’s new autobiography. I suppose I remain a sucker for ‘60s nostalgia, even if Nesmith has long maintained a very understandable and quiet distance from his short Monkee past. I expected to learn much more about his decades since his pop stardom years and, mostly, I wasn’t disappointed even if a number of projects get little or no mention.

In fact, we never hear the names Mickey Dolenz, Davey Jones, or Peter Tork mentioned more than one passing note on their pre-Monkee years. When Nesmith starts name dropping, we first hear about his encounters with Timothy Leary and author Douglas Adams, the latter to play an even more important role in the book’s final chapters. Yes, we get perhaps two chapters of Monkee business including Nesmith admitting he was thrust into the limelight of show business in a way he didn’t like and didn’t understand. In his view, Headquarters is the only real Monkees record. I didn’t know their movie, Head, was designed to be a suicide project intended to torpedo the entire Monkee parade.

But the bulk of the book looks at Nesmith’s formative years when he tried to be a California based songwriter, and the decades after his Monkee stardom when he shaped his own musical trajectory, especially with the country rock pioneers, the First National Band and their unexpected 1970 hit, “Joanne.” Nesmith has much to say about the music business of the ‘70s which he repeatedly describes as corrupt and machine-like. He virtually invented music videos (winning a Grammy for his 1982 Elephant Parts), producing “Pop Clips”, which evolved into MTV. Nesmmith also successfully tried his hand at movie production (notably Repo Man), and ultimately dived into virtual reality which is something he’s still working on.

Along the way, Nesmith is very candid about his failures, missteps, and misunderstandings, especially when he repeatedly discusses what he calls “celebrity psychosis.” He shares his spiritual odyssey, notably his lifelong connections to Christian Science. I must admit, I don’t know that I’ll ever contribute a dime to PBS again unless I hear a good defense for their attempts to steal his Pacific Arts video catalogue, even if they lost big in court in 1999.

Naturally, I was curious about a few matters glossed over or not mentioned in the story. I’d have thought he’d have said more about the songs that he wrote which the Monkees did record like “Mary Mary.” Speaking of songwriting, I was surprised to see nothing about “Different Drum” or “Some of Shelley’s Blues” that were recorded by Linda Ronstadt. He says nothing about the Monkee reunions he participated in or mentions the passing of Davey Jones. Perhaps these are all topics he’s addressed too many times before and has no interest in retreading what, for him, must be overly tilled territory.

For serious Monkee fans, the way to go is read the audiobook edition as read aloud by the author. For everyone else, check out the book if you’re interested in learning more about a man who has been far more than the guy in the “wool hat.” In this book, you get a bit of rock and roll, a bit of country, a lot of the entertainment business, and even more exploration into spiritual healing.

Reviewed for BookPleasures.com on June 5, 2017:
goo.gl/NTPeSY

Long Title: Looking for the Good Times; Examining the Monkees' Songs, One by One
Mark Arnold and Michael A. Ventrella
Paperback: 286 pagesPublisher: BearManor Media (November 10, 2017)
ISBN-10: 1629331759
ISBN-13: 978-1629331751
https://www.amazon.com/Long-Title-Loo...


Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton

Some rock ‘n roll histories are designed to tell the stories of significant performers, genres, composers, producers, or record companies that shed light on the backgrounds, influences on, and legacies of their respective subjects. Some rely on considerable research, interviews, or their own experiences to go behind the scenes to show how popular music was made. Some of these histories go beyond the music and reveal much about the culture of the times and and are more than an exploration of a particular band or performer.

Other books have a more specific focus with a much more targeted audience. Such titles are often written by devoted fans and are usually meant to interest fellow aficionados of a particular group or personality. Such is the case for Looking for the Good Times—it’s obviously meant for Monkees fans who don’t mind reads based on personal opinions and not so much critical analysis.

Following a concise history of the group, The book looks at the complete Monkees song canon arranged in chronological order based on recording dates. The authors believe this order also helps show the evolution, or devolution depending on your point of view, of the band as it changed more than some listeners might think. The authors include pretty much every song issued during the 1960s run, many tunes issued on various compilations in the subsequent decades, some tracks the authors never heard but apparently found listed somewhere, alternate takes, rehearsal jams, and some rehearsal bits released on one post-break-up collection or another. A sample “analysis” should illustrate what the book is all about:

VALLERI (Tommy Boyce/Bobby Hart)
Monkee involvement: Vocals by Davy Jones
Recording dates: August 6,1966; August 27,1966; December 26,1967; December 28,1967
Highest chart position: #3 single
Original release date: March 2,1968 from 7" single and THE BIRDS, THE BEES
AND THE MONKEES

Mark: I love, love, love this song and its brass. I also love the flamenco guitar even if Nesmith really isn't playing it. The version I love best is the fade-out version from this album rather than the abrupt cold ending.
A first recorded version appears on the 2006 MORE OF THE MONKEES DELUXE EDITION CD. This is one is basically the version heard on the TV show, which originally appeared on MISSING LINKS, VOLUME 2 (1990). It's a little more lax than the punched-up single version.

Michael: I don't share in the love for this simple little song. In fact, Michael Nesmith is reported to have said that this was the worst song ever. I don't think I'd go that far. The performance is pretty good, and the horns improve the song tremendously from the earlier version done for the TV show, but the words are simple and the tune basically consists of the hook and then two lines, repeated in various ways.
This song fits much better in 1966 when it was first recorded, before the show even debuted. They redid it here and added horns, and it is a better version but it still sounds dated, since music had changed so much in that short period of time.
This was their last hit single, released at the tail end of the TV show before the summer repeats kicked in.

While promo for the book touts interviews with folks like Gene Cornish (The Rascals), Ron Dante (The Archies), Tommy James (The Shondells), Peter Noone (Herman’s Hermits), and actor Butch Patrick, these aren’t interviews but are instead short anecdotes and remembrances by fellow travelers of ‘60s popular culture. Not essential reading, but little bits of fun. Just like the introduction written by Howard Kaylan of The Turtles.

Clearly, interest in the music of The Monkees will be what draws readers to this volume, or not. Unless you’ve devoted the same amount of time to listening to all those hours of Monkees records, out-takes, deep cuts, and alternate versions, readers will likely learn all sorts of trivia they didn’t know before. Me, I decided there’s a large body of Monkee music, especially the Missing Links collections, that I have missed and should try out. Others might like to compare their own knowledge with the authors. For example, the writers don’t seem to know Buffy Ford Stewart, the widow of ex-Kinston Trio member John Stewart, inspired "Daydream Believer," and recorded her own version of the song with Davy Jones in what many believe was his last recording session. Oh, and she really was a homecoming queen.

I don’t think I’ll ever understand the title to this book—“Long Title?” Well, a not-so-important observation. If you’re a Monkees diehard, here’s a little nugget for you.


This review, in a slightly different form, first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Nov. 29, 2017:
https://is.gd/Hhu4zX

Just for fun, here’s a link to a Youtube video with Buffy Ford Stewart dueting with Davy Jones on “Daydream Believer”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEfvh...