Rob Sheffield pays tribute to Michael Nesmith, the musical visionary who fought for the Monkees to write their own songs, and helped to invent country-rock on cult-classic solo LPs
in 2018. “No. I don’t say that. But dare I say that it’s music whose time has come? I’m pretty confident in saying something like that. I never thought it would happen.”Even when he seemed to be in precarious health, he had that drive to keep making music.
He grew up in Texas, with a single mom who invented Liquid Paper. He became an L.A. folkie, hanging at hootenannies in clubs like the Troubadour. The Monkees’ TV show ran only two seasons, but it’s their music that turned out to be permanent. Nesmith is the main reason why. He wrote so many of their greatest songs — “Listen to the Band” has to be the best Creedence song that isn’t actually by Creedence. He defined their sound with his trademark 12-string Gretsch guitar and his rugged adult drawl, in tunes like “The Door Into Summer” and “What Am I Doing Hangin’ Round?”, playing and singing every note on their own.
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