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Michael Nesmith performing "Some Of Shelly's Blues" |
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In the early 1970s, Michael
Nesmith worked with pedal steel player Red Rhodes on the album
And The Hits Just Keep On Comin’. In the
back of his mind, Michael had always hoped to one day revisit that sound. And
with his current touring partner, Pete Finney (who plays pedal steel on a track
of the recent Monkees release,
Christmas Party),
now he is. At the beginning of last night’s concert at the Troubadour, Michael
Nesmith explained that was the genesis of this short west coast tour, which is perhaps
a test run for something bigger, more extensive. If so, it was a wildly
successful test. At the heart of the show was material from
And The Hits Just Keep On Comin’, and
while the tour was named after that 1972 release, this was not one of those
concerts where the artist plays the album in order (though he did perform every
song from it). Michael Nesmith and Pete Finney played material from other
albums from the early 1970s, as well as treating the audience to a few Monkees
songs during their absolutely wonderful set.
They took the stage at 8:02 and
opened the show with “Two Different Roads,” from And The Hits Just Keep On Comin’, and it was immediately clear just
how good Michael Nesmith’s voice still sounds. With only his acoustic
guitar and Pete Finney’s pedal steel accompanying his voice, the focus was
mainly on his vocal performance. After just the briefest of pauses, the duo
went right into another track from that album, “Tomorrow & Me.” They
followed that with “Some Of Shelly’s Blues,” a song that The Monkees did
record, but one that didn’t end up on an official Monkees release until Missing Links Volume Two. Michael and
Pete delivered a sweet, kind of slow, heartfelt rendition that completely
delighted the audience. After that, Michael told the crowd, “I’m so sorry you have to stand up.” The
way the Troubadour is set up, it’s general admission, with standing room on the
floor, and some seats up in the balcony. By the way, fellow Monkee Micky Dolenz
was in attendance at this show, seated up on the special balcony off stage
left.
Michael Nesmith also reminded
the audience that it’s all right to clap after an instrumental solo, joking
that it’s “great to see Pete get the
respect I deserve.” He then played “The Keys To The Car,” a song from Magnetic South, introducing it as “in the style of Jimmie Rodgers, 1927.”
After Pete’s lead on this one, he got a lot of applause, making Michael smile.
(And, actually, every lead by Pete from that moment on received a good amount
of applause.) “The Keys To The Car” was followed by a couple of songs from And The Hits Just Keep On Comin’ – “Listening”
and “The Upside Of Good-Bye.” When he introduced “The Upside Of Good-Bye,” the
song got a cheer, surprising Michael. “Really?”
he asked. He mentioned that “Most of
these songs were part of a quest,” and that “The Upside Of Good-Bye” is one
about when it went wrong.
They then gave the audience a
gorgeous, sweet rendition of “Papa Gene’s Blues,” a song from the very first
Monkees LP (where it was originally misspelled as “Papa Jean’s Blues”). The rendition
last night was so good, it seemed the way the song was meant to be played. It
was a bit longer than usual too. The line “Play,
magic fingers” was directed at Pete. That was followed by “Keep On,” one of
my favorite tracks from And The Hits Just
Keep On Comin’, and one that speaks strongly to me these days. It’s good to
hear someone tell us, “You’re doing just
fine/Keep on keeping on.” We then got a moving rendition of “Continuing,” a
song from Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch
Stash. Check out these lines: “So the
shock that she felt didn't show/When I told her that I had to go/She just stood
there somewhere in between/A smile and an unpleasant scene.” Yeah, Michael
Nesmith can really write some excellent lyrics, as he showed again in the
following song, “Marie’s Theme,” its opening line being “Her only remark was a closing remark.”
“Joanne” is such a beautiful
song, with a wonderful vocal line. Some women in the audience sang along, which
clearly delighted Michael, while the story he told in introducing the song
delighted the audience. A woman near me was taking photos and video with her
phone and after the song told her friend, “I’m
so glad I got that.” Michael, hearing her remark, responded, “I’m glad you did too,” which, as you can
imagine, totally elated the woman. Michael and Pete then returned to material
from And The Hits Just Keep On Comin’,
playing “Harmony Constant” and following it with “Lady Love” and then “The
Candidate.” Michael mentioned that though “The Candidate” was written in 1972,
it is rather timely now. “The patience of
the people soon will end.” (My patience with the current administration
ended even before the inauguration.) That song is certainly another highlight
from that album, and the rendition last night was excellent.
In introducing “Propinquity (I’ve
Just Begun To Care),” Michael told the audience he tried to get it on The Monkees, but was told it was too
country. It did eventually end up on The Monkees’ Missing Links Volume Three. That was followed by another song that
showed up on a Monkees compilation, “Nine Times Blue” (this one on the first Missing Links). The lines from “Nine
Times Blue” that always stand out for me are “And like a fool I tested you/By demanding things of you which weren't
mine.” Michael then went back to And
The Hits Just Keep On Comin’ for a song that actually was a hit, “Different
Drum.” This song was performed by Michael Nesmith in an episode of The Monkees, where it was done in a playful,
fast, nervous style. That wasn’t the hit version. The hit version was by the
Stone Poneys in 1967. It was warmly received last night, with the audience
singing along.
My favorite song from And The Hits Just Keep On Comin’ is “Roll
With The Flow,” and it was such a treat to get to see Michael Nesmith perform
this one, certainly a highlight of the set for me. Michael was clearly having a
good time with it, and Pete Finney delivered some excellent work on pedal
steel. After that song, Michael announced the next one would be the last song
of the evening, eliciting a collective sound of disappointment from the
audience. It was a truly special night, and the crowd had no desire for it to end.
The song Michael chose to close the performance was “Silver Moon,” a wonderful
tune from Loose Salute, and another
that the crowd sang along to. (I couldn’t stop singing the chorus as I walked
back to my car). Before leaving the stage, Michael told the audience, “That was a gas.” Indeed. The show ended
at 9:43 p.m. There was no encore.
Set List
- Two Different Roads
- Tomorrow & Me
- Some Of Shelly’s Blues
- The Keys To The Car
- Listening
- The Upside Of Good-Bye
- Papa Gene’s Blues
- Keep On
- Continuing
- Marie’s Theme
- Joanne
- Harmony Constant
- Lady Love
- The Candidate
- Propinquity (I’ve Just Begun To
Care)
- Nine Times Blue
- Different Drum
- Roll With The Flow
- Silver Moon
Here are a few photos from the
show:
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"Two Different Roads" |
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"Tomorrow & Me" |
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"The Keys To The Car" |
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"The Upside Of Good-Bye" |
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"The Upside Of Good-Bye" |
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"Papa Gene's Blues" |
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"Marie's Theme" |
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"Propinquity (I've Just Begun To Care)" |
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"Roll With The Flow" |
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Troubadour is located at 9081 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood, California.
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