Michael Nesmith, Of The Monkees, Dead At 78

Michael Nesmith, who first found fame as a member of the TV pop/rock band The Monkees, died Friday at the age of 78 from natural causes. https://youtu.be/quQMmzQxJmw A singer, songwriter and guitarist, Nesmith wrote many of the group’s most enduring songs before launching the First National Band in the early 1970s. From Rolling Stone:

“With Infinite Love we announce that Michael Nesmith has passed away this morning in his home, surrounded by family, peacefully and of natural causes,” his family said in a statement. “We ask that you respect our privacy at this time and we thank you for the love and light that all of you have shown him and us.”

Nesmith was known as the Monkee in the green wool hat with the thick Texas drawl, and the writer of songs like “Mary, Mary,” “Circle Sky,” “Listen to the Band,” and “The Girl I Knew Somewhere.”

But he raged behind the scenes that the group didn’t have creative control of its albums, and in 1967 led the successful rebellion against record producer Don Kirshner. The group would subsequently release Headquarters and other albums created largely on its own.

Prior to The Monkess, Nesmith was writing his own songs. One, “Different Drum,” was rejected by the powers that be at The Monkees saying it wasn’t a “Monkees” song. Instead, he gave it to Linda Ronstadt who had a hit with the tune. https://youtu.be/jA5scf8RpCI Nesmith’s First National Band is credited with laying the groundwork for the wave of country rock bands like The Eagles. Having inherited a fortune from his mother, who created the office product Liquid Paper, he didn’t take part in the Monkees reunion tours of the 1980s. He instead moved on to other projects including investing in films like Repo Man. However, he did rejoin the group on occasion beginning in 1996. The Monkees launched a farewell tour this year playing their final concert at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles on November 14. https://twitter.com/RollingStone/status/1469356445015724035 https://twitter.com/RollingStone/status/1469360717367320585