Harmony Constant

22nd Anniversary Dinner:)

Added David Gray's new album Nightjar to our play list. It's great! https://open.spotify.com/show/1XpaqGo74pyQhx0uP7AwB2?si=jtkRoT3fQWWDMb80TWjmCQ

Pics of Mikey's performance tonight:)

Remembering singer/songwriter, producer, guitarist, and music video pioneer Mike Nesmith who was born Robert Michael Nesmith December 30, 1942 in Houston, TX.

When he was 4 his parents divorced and he moved with his mother to Dallas, TX. When Nesmith was 13, his mother invented the typewriter correction fluid known commercially as Liquid Paper.

Nesmith participated in choral and drama activities at Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas, but he enlisted in the Air Force in 1960 without graduating. He obtained a GED certificate and was honorably discharged in 1962. He enrolled in San Antonio College, where he met John Kuehne and began a musical collaboration.

They won the first San Antonio College talent award, performing a mixture of standard folk songs and a few of Nesmith's original songs. He began to write more songs and poetry, then he moved to Los Angeles and began singing in folk clubs around the city. He served as the "Hootmaster" for the Monday night hootenanny at The Troubadour, a West Hollywood nightclub that featured new artists.

He began his recording career in 1963 by releasing a single on the Highness label. He followed this in 1965 with a one-off single released on Edan Records followed by two more recorded singles; one was titled "The New Recruit" under the name "Michael Blessing", released on Colpix Records, coincidentally also the label of Davy Jones.

Nesmith's "Mary, Mary" was recorded by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, while "Different Drum" and "Some of Shelly's Blues" were recorded by Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys."Pretty Little Princess", written in 1965, was recorded by Frankie Laine and released as a single in 1968 on ABC Records.

Randy Sparks from the New Christy Minstrels offered Nesmith a publishing deal for his songs, and Barry Freedman told him about upcoming auditions for a new TV series called "The Monkees". He got the part of "wool-hat" Mike

The Monkees television series aired from 1966 until 1968, and has developed a cult following over the years.

His first solo project was the instrumental album "The Wichita Train Whistle Sings" released in 1968.

In 1969, Nesmith formed the group First National Band with
John Kuehne, John Ware, and Red Rhodes. Nesmith wrote most of the songs for the band, including the single "Joanne", which received some airplay and was a moderate chart hit for seven weeks during 1970, rising to number 21 on the Billboard Top 40. The First National Band has been credited with being among the pioneers of country-rock music.

Nesmith followed up with The Second National Band, a band that, besides Nesmith, consisted of Michael Cohen (keyboards and Moog), Johnny Meeks (of The Strangers) (bass), jazzer Jack Ranelli (drums), and Orville Rhodes (pedal steel), as well as an appearance by singer, musician, and songwriter José Feliciano on congas.

In the mid-70s , Nesmith started his multimedia company Pacific Arts, which initially put out audio records, eight-track tapes, and cassettes, followed in 1981 with "video records."

He recorded a number of LPs for his label, and had a moderate worldwide hit in 1977 with his song "Rio", the single taken from the album "From a Radio Engine to the Photon Wing". In 1983, Nesmith produced the music video for the Lionel Richie single "All Night Long". In 1987, he produced the music video for the Michael Jackson single "The Way You Make Me Feel".

Nesmith won the first Grammy Award given for (long-form) Music Video in 1982, for his hour-long "Elephant Parts" and also had a short-lived series on NBC inspired by the video called "Michael Nesmith in Television Parts".

He was the executive producer for the films "Repo Man", "Tapeheads", and "Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann", as well as his own solo recording and film projects.

Nesmith continued to record and release his own music. His most recent album, "Rays", was released in 2006.

On February 20, 2018 a tour was announced as "The Monkees Present: The Mike and Micky Show", their first tour as a duo. The tour was cut short in June 2018, with four shows left unplayed, due to Nesmith having a “minor health issue”; Dolenz and he rescheduled the unplayed concerts plus adding several other including an Australian tour in 2019.
In 2019 Nesmith toured focusing on his 1972 album, And the Hits Just Keep on Comin', in a two piece configuration with pedal steel player Pete Finney, the first time in this format since 1974 with Red Rhodes. Nesmith was also joined by special guests Ben Gibbard and Scott McCaughey on opening night in Seattle.

Nesmith died December 10, 2021 at the age of 78.

Happy Thanksgiving from Harmony Constant! https://www.amazon.com/music/player/artists/B004FTUIA4/harmony-constant