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Review: Michael Nesmith & The First National Band Redux Live At The Troubadour
July 12, 2018 by fred.velez
Filed under blogs, Fred Velez, michael, monkees alert, news, news feed
By Fred Velez
“And just think, it’s only taken me a half a century to get back!”, Michael Nesmith says with an audible smile on his face early in his set with the First National Band Redux, on the stage of the world famous Troubadour Club in Los Angeles to a loud and appreciative crowd. This historic event is perfectly captured in the new 7a Records cd release ‘Michael Nesmith & The First National Band Redux Live At The Troubadour’, recorded January 25th, 2018.
When Nez announced that he would be doing a short tour featuring a new version of his second band after leaving The Monkees, performing songs from his first three RCA albums, the enthusiasm from fans guaranteed that all the dates would be sold out. The Troubadour, where Nesmith early in his career was the emcee and where the producers of the Monkees project discovered him, was the ideal setting for this concert, as this was where he debuted the original incarnation of FNB.
The concert opens with a blistering version of ‘Nevada Fighter’, a perfect song to launch with. Next are the trilogy of songs from the ‘Magnetic South’ album, followed by ‘The Crippled Lion’ and a poignant ‘Joanne’ with the audience singing along. Nesmith is in remarkably great voice and charmingly good humor throughout the concert and the FNBR offer spot on recreations of the songs, the band consisting of Nez’s sons Christian and Jonathan on guitar and vocals, Jason Chesney on bass, Jim Cox on keyboards, Christopher Allis on drums, Circe Link and Amy Spear on vocals and percussion, and Peter Finney on pedal steel guitar, doing an amazing job recreating the incredible arrangements of the late pedal steel master, Red Rhodes.
The sound of the cd was mixed and mastered by Christian Nesmith, which sounds wonderful coming through speakers or headphones. The lushness of the song ‘Lady Of The Valley’ really comes through in the mix. The background vocals of Circe and Amy are nicely reminiscent of the vocal stylings of Emmylou Harris. On the track ’50 Years’, Nez tells the story of when he performed these songs a half a century back on that same stage and the favorable reaction he got from the audience then. He then quietly plays and sings the most beautiful version of ‘Propinquity’ I’ve ever heard him perform that made my eyes misty. This is followed by ‘Different Drum’ (which he jokes that the TV producers didn’t see it as a “Monkees” song) which is then followed by a song that did make it into the Monkees first album, ‘Papa Gene’s Blue’, with the audience joining along on the verse, “For I love you, and I know you love me”, and one can tell from the recording that Nez must have been smiling appreciatively at that moment.
As mentioned earlier, Nesmith is in great voice at this show, even handling the high notes and his trademark yodel on the songs like ‘Keys To The Car’, ‘Mama Nantucket’ and a lovely rendition of ‘Silver Moon’, ably assisted by the background vocals of Christian, Jonathan, Circe and Amy. Many of the classic FNB songs were performed at The Troubadour like ‘Grand Ennui’, ‘Dedicated Friend’ and ‘Some Of Shelley’ Blues’.
The concert and the cd ends with ‘Thanx For The Ride’, Pete Finney recreating Red Rhodes classic pedal steel guitar arrangement to perfection. The standing ovation of the cheering audience can be felt as the sound of the cd fades.
7a Records always does a great job packaging their projects and this special cd is no exception. The lettering and cover design are raised giving the cover a nice texture to the touch. The cd booklet features wonderful photos of Nez and the band on the Troubadour stage. Nesmith wrote the liner notes where he recounts his early experience presenting these songs to the “powers that be” on The Monkees project who rejected them, leading to the origins of the original First National Band and the current incarnation of the FNB Redux. It’s a fascinating read that gives one another revealing insight into Nesmith’s career.
Michael Nesmith is considered one of the founding fathers of Country Rock alongside artists like Gram Parsons. The songs on this cd (the two disc vinyl version will include ‘Rio’, exclusive to that release), justifies Nesmith’s qualification. Executive Producers Glenn Gretlund and Iain Lee have produced another fine quality edition to the 7a Records catalog. Not only is this a release that Monkees and Nesmith fans must own, but also lovers of Country Rock should include ‘Michael Nesmith & The First National Band Redux Live At The Troubadour’ into their collections.
History never sounded better than this!
Thanx for the ride, Nez.
United Kingdom:
2LP: http://keymailorder.com/live-at-the-troubadour-michael-nesmith-7a021?search=Nesmith
CD: http://keymailorder.com/live-at-the-troubadour-michael-nesmith-7a022?search=Nesmith
Fred Velez, 2018.
Fred Velez is the author of the book ‘A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You: The Monkees From A Fan’s Perspective’
