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Review: Dolenz Sings Nesmith
May 22, 2021 by fred.velez
Filed under Albums, Fred Velez, michael, micky, monkees alert, music, news, news feed
By Fred Velez
The latest 7a Records release, Dolenz Sings Nesmith, is a dream project Micky Dolenz has been wanting to do for years. Inspired by his friend Harry Nilsson’s ‘Nilsson Sings Newman’ (the songs of Randy Newman), Micky has been itching to record an album of the solo songs of his fellow Monkee Michael Nesmith. With Nez’s son Christian Nesmith helming the production, the dream project is now a reality of outstanding quality and creativity.
Rather than do a straight, karaoke-type album of covers sticking to the original arrangements, Christian and Micky decided to put a different twist to the songs from Nesmith’s catalog, giving each track a unique identity and creating a whole new listening experience. There are hints of the old arrangements within the numbers, with a sheen giving the songs a whole new interpretive flavor.
The moments of “psycho-jello” are amazing throughout this album. The opening track of Carlisle Wheeling (later issued as Conversations on the Loose Salute album) sprinkles appropriate Nez weirdness during the middle part of the song, with faint samples of Nesmith’s ‘Rio’ just under the surface, hinting at the kind of ride the listener is in for.
The Pop Country take on Different Drum is a shout out to the Linda Ronstadt/Stone Ponys hit version that also embraces the country roots of Nesmith’s version of his composition. The simple acoustic rendition of Don’t Wait For Me from the 1969 Monkees’ Instant Replay album is spot on perfect, Micky reflecting on the poignant lyrics with a sincere vocal performance. The subtle organ and drum intro with the other instruments joining in for Keep On provides a wonderful dynamic to the song. Marie’s Theme from The Prison separates the song from its original conceptual arrangement and turns it into a countrified Pop love tune. The use of pedal steel guitar on the song is a nice nod to Nez’s late cosmic partner Red Rhodes.
The pairing of Nine Times Blue, followed by Little Red Rider is particularly notable as these songs followed each other on Nesmith’s Magnetic South LP, his first post-Monkees release with the First National Band. ‘Blues’ is done in poignant piano arrangement with a solemn Dolenz vocal, when incredible background vocals come in and the song segues into a hard rocking version of ‘Rider’. The transition is wonderfully brilliant. You can tell that Micky was paying close attention to Nesmith during his solo period.
Micky Dolenz definitely deserves the accolades of being one of the great Pop voices of the 1960’s. His voice sounds amazing throughout the album, expressing exuberance and pathos in the numbers as needed. This is very true with his version of Tomorrow And Me, with a lovely acoustic/orchestral arrangement, Dolenz vocally expressing the tunes’ sweet sadness. The Eastern Music take of Circle Sky is a unique homage to the original number as well a nod to the late Ravi Shankar, George Harrison and Peter Tork. It turns this well known Nesmith penned Monkees tune into a whole new animal in its own right. The harder Country Rock edge given to Propinquity (I’ve Just Begun To Care), provides an element of fun to the song. And the jaunty new spin on Tapioca Tundra, with the layered vocals of Christian Nesmith and his wife and music partner Circe Link, is a subtle and loving tribute to Harry Nilsson, one of the inspirations for this album.
The album starts to wind down with an acoustically cosmic arrangement of Only Bound featuring a gentle vocal from Micky. The vocal phasing adds to the songs elements of ‘pycho-jello’, giving it a 1967 Monkees/Beatles vibe, which transitions into a shorter, freakier version of You Are My One which is reminiscent of a Beach Boys/Brian Wilson type arrangement.
While the turquoise vinyl and the digital version of the album end on this pyschedelic note, the cd version includes the bonus track of Grand Ennui with a cool, boogie woogie Dr. John like arrangement which gives off a joyful party atmosphere that ends the album.
The original Nilsson Sings Newman album
The album artwork and design by Tim Johnson is a nice homage to the original ‘Nilsson Sings Newman’ album that inspired it, and the booklet is sprinkled with great archival photos of Dolenz and Nez from the Monkees period and more recent years, as well as introductory notes from Micky and Christian on the origins of the project. The Rev. Mark Stephen Kleiner provides informative liner notes on the early partnership of Dolenz and Nesmith during the Monkees era and Micky’s admiration for the brilliant creativity of Nez’s songs and his desire to cover them. Besides helming the production, Christian Nesmith also played most of the music on the album with additional musicianship that includes members of the First National Band Redux.
Glenn Gretlund and 7a Records deserve a lot of credit for helping to make Micky Dolenz’s dream project come true. Micky’s voice always finely complimented the songs Michael Nesmith wrote for The Monkees. And now, with this album covering Nez’s solo songs with three Monkees era songs thrown into the mix, fans can fully enjoy Dolenz Sings Nesmith and appreciate it for the loving tribute from one friend to another that it is.
Fred Velez, 2021.
Purchase Links:
Deep Discount: https://www.deepdiscount.com/search?q=Dolenz+sings+nesmith&mod=AP
Autographed Copies from Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith can be purchased at the following links:
Micky Dolenz – CD: https://www.ebay.com/itm/114816491651?hash=item1abb98a083:g:fr8AAOSwYTdgXLTt
Micky Dolenz – Turquoise Vinyl: https://www.ebay.com/itm/164752051550?hash=item265bfccd5e:g:1TkAAOSwnvRgXLb7
Michael Nesmith – Turquoise Vinyl: https://www.videoranch3d.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_code=300-DSN
Fred Velez is the author of the books A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You: The Monkees From A Fan’s Perspective and A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You: The Monkees From International Fan Perspectives.
Books Links: https://www.amazon.com/Fred-Velez/e/B08RW1N1YY?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1621713549&sr=8-1
