Favorite Mike Nesmith album?

Since we can't have enough Nez (heh) I thought it might be interesting to see what everyone's favorite Nesmith album is.

Mine? Easy. "Loose Salute." It picks up steam from the excellent "Magnetic South" debut by his First National Band, and to me, epitomizes what "country rock" truly is. Others can cite the Burritos, Byrds, Poco, etc. as being pioneers in the field and ignore Nesmith's contributions while with the Monkees.....but they would hard pressed to deny that "Loose Salute" hangs with (and IMO, easily trumps) any of those band's albums in terms of songwriting, stellar musicianship and longevity.

While the album does have a weak moment ("Conversations" was a good song that went in an awkward, album-crashing-to-a-halt direction), it is more than compensated by the rest of the album. Take the killer cover of "I Fall To Pieces" coupled with Nesmith's originals that speak of his Monkees days ("Thanks For The Ride," "Bye Bye Bye"), his touch upon his occasional flair for latin-tinged country-rock ("Tengo Amor"...with a killer steel part and Feliciano on congas) and his poetic flair ("Lady Of The Valley"). Not to mention his hit "Silver Moon"....well, we have the makings of one of the finest country-rock albums by ANYONE.

I will note that "And The Hits Just Keep On Comin'" and "Magnetic South" came close....but "MS" suffers from poor quality from a technical standpoint that makes the songs somewhat difficult to enjoy. And "Hits"....well....I can't come up with a good reason to keep it 2nd, other than my preference for a full band. But...as a pedal steel player, that album is a complete course in pedal steel mastery....unbelievable playing by Red Rhodes. Funny thing is, when I first bought that album, I had no idea it was just Nez and Red, and I really didn't enjoy the record much at all. Over time, I can see just what a diamond in the rough it was....and it has now come to be respected as a 5-star must-have country record by most critics (AllMusic, Mojo, etc).

 

All of the First National Band albums are great but I love Nevada Fighter.

That's my fave.

 

...tropical campfire's... - what a mood!

 

I always learning something in here. Michael Nesmith has 14 solo albums!?? wow. I had no idea he was so prolific.

 

Me neither, and all I own is the DVD Elephant Parts. So, are these favorites where the enthusiasts think one should begin?

 

Always loved, always will love Tantamount...

 

I'm 36, and Tantamount was the soundtrack to my mid-20s (for whatever reason).

long live Papa Nez!

 

I voted for Nevada Fighter. Some wonderful originals; Grand Ennui, Propinquity, Only Bound, Here I Am and the the rockin' title track. Along with some choice covers by Nilsson (Rainmaker), Clapton/Whitock (a sublime version of I Looked Away) and Michael Martin Murphy (Texas Morning). The only mis-step is a rather cosmic take of Tumbling Tumbleweeds, with some odd piano by Glen D. Hardin. But overall, the band is in great form, especially Red. Papa Nes sounds more self-assured than on the two previous albums, though they are both wonderful too. The recording quality is also much better than the first two.

I also dig Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash . I tend to play this album more than others, just a wonderful album and anyone who really likes their country music performed well should check this one out. Absolutely essential originals like Continuing, Release, Some Of Shelly's Blues and a poignant cover of Cindy Walker's, Born To Love You. For you Western fans, Mike's cover of Prairie Lullabye is heaven-sent. I urge all to check out these fine albums. Ron

 

Agree with Loose Salute as a narrow winner over Magnetic South. For me, interest drops off pretty rapidly after the First National Band stuff, but I haven't listened to some of the others for a while now. Should get back to them....

Geoff

 

Voted for Tantamount, simply because of the excellent Talking To The wall, but honestly it's a 4 way tie between this album and all of the FNB discs.

 

My favorite has always been Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma, and my favorite song on the album is "Flying."

 

I'm glad to see a few of us who love the weirdness that is Tantamount To Treason, Volume 1. Maybe not the easiest of Nez's albums to get into, but it's the one that I've always found the most rewarding.

After that, it'd be Loose Salute, and the straight with no chaser, just Nez and Red And The Hits Just Keep On Comin'.

 

Nevada Fighter.

 

Wow....this is really a tough one for me as each album has something the sways me back and forth. I guess its a tie between "Nevada Fighter" since his previous LP's still had a Monkee influence which I didn't feel NF has. It's the song "Here I Am" that is the top of my list as Nesmith's best from his FNB days. The harmonies are perfect on a beautiful song.

As I said it was a toss up and the other is "...tropical campfires..." an excellent come back album from Nes after all these years. I thought he had lost his touch with "The Garden" but he managed to pull it together a very tight album that truly paints the southwest terrain for us through out the album. "...for the Island" still gives me goose bumps on the harmonies... Excellent Nes...

 

Couldn't've said it any better; you literally took the words right outta my mouth!

"Tantamount" is a VERY close second; it conjures up the same late-summer hot-hazy-August-early-evening feeling that "Salute" does. I find myself listening to "You Are My One" and "In the Afternoon" a LOT. Something about the groove, something about the chords (I would LOVE to learn the chords of "You Are My One")

 

I keep forgetting I need to get that DVD. Haven't seen it in years, but I remember laughing myself sillier at the "All Shook Uppers, Love Me Tenderizers, and Blue Suede Ludes!"

 

I'm a year older than you, and the same thing could be said for me about the first 3 FNB albums, cuz I bought the 2-CD set of those when they came out back in the mid 90's!

 

Always dug "Cruisin" as well as the video for it. Did I mention I need to get "Elephant Parts?"

 

I always imagined that if Sonic Youth ever did a country-rock album, this is what it might sound like!

Six straight posts. Have I set a record of some sort?

 

I accendently picked Loose Sulute but I meant Nevada Fighter. This album is close to perfect a Nes album as you can find. I did a needle drop of this recently and it's all I've been listening to for a week. Sounds much better than any CD release.

 

Oh, how could I forget this one? Even though this isn't my absolute favorite Nes, I think it's the only album I can listen straight through without skipping any tracks. I love how "Texas Morning" leads into "Tumbling Tumbleweeds." In fact, all of side two seems like a mini-opera, country-rock style.

 

I voted Tropical Campfires because the song selection and the sonics were major leap forward for him.

I have 3 of his 70's (country) albums on cd and none of them sound any good, the vinyl - as crappy as it was - completely stomp the cd reissues.

 

Though I love the CD version of "The Prison", I still had to go with "And The Hits Just Keep On Comin'".