Holy bloody hell. One minute I'm just rewatching a pancake eyed Leon Russell having a good ol time singing "Jambalaya" with Willie, Waylon and Doug Kershaw; the next minute I'm listening to Waylon solo, followed by Buck Owens, then Gram Parsons, and then to, of all people, Mike Nesmith. Actually, they all fit, which is why I revisited the Mike Nesmith cut. I wanted to remind myself how wide open the AM radio charts were back then. None of this strict genre format shit.
"Joanne" was a post-Monkees hit for Nesmith in 1970, and it was country rock. No, make that country, because there's nothing rock about it. It shared the charts with the Temptations, Mountain, Glen Campbell, the Delfonics, and John Lennon. You see where I'm going don't you? Before music videos, before the FM "free format" years, there was Boss Radio. Strictly hits. Shut up. So they were all hits, but guess what? No genre was necessarily ruled out. You became familiar with other types of music while you waited for one of your favorites. If the same group of artists were around today, what are the chances that, if you liked Mountain, you would even be exposed to the Delfinoics?
There's a reason why this song by Nesmith was a hit. It's a nearly perfect song, the whole lovesick plaintiff feel, the pedal steel, the phrasing, the high notes, and, holy shit, the lyrics; everything is just so fucking dead on. It is beautiful. There, I said it. (Where'd I put my goddamn unicorn?)
"Joanne" was a post-Monkees hit for Nesmith in 1970, and it was country rock. No, make that country, because there's nothing rock about it. It shared the charts with the Temptations, Mountain, Glen Campbell, the Delfonics, and John Lennon. You see where I'm going don't you? Before music videos, before the FM "free format" years, there was Boss Radio. Strictly hits. Shut up. So they were all hits, but guess what? No genre was necessarily ruled out. You became familiar with other types of music while you waited for one of your favorites. If the same group of artists were around today, what are the chances that, if you liked Mountain, you would even be exposed to the Delfinoics?
There's a reason why this song by Nesmith was a hit. It's a nearly perfect song, the whole lovesick plaintiff feel, the pedal steel, the phrasing, the high notes, and, holy shit, the lyrics; everything is just so fucking dead on. It is beautiful. There, I said it. (Where'd I put my goddamn unicorn?)
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:Michael Nesmith - Joanne mp3 at When You Awake
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