NEZ GOES INSTRUMENTAL! We kick off “All Instrumental April” with special guest Rebecca Davila discussing the wooly-hatted Monkee’s solo debut. Was this intended to be a rebuke to all those hipsters sneering at the Monkees for not playing their instruments? Or simply a gigantic tax write-off? How drunk do you have to get the Wrecking Crew before they finally start playing sloppy? What is the proper method for preparing a guitar to be smashed? How much would it cost you to have an open bar for sixty of LA’s top session musicians? Is there a better way to spend $50,000? What are the words to “Don’t Cry Now”? Have you test-driven the rugged, new 2019 Tapioca Tundra? Why didn’t anyone spend any money on the artwork? Hop aboard the Wichita Train on this week’s episode of Detours and Outliers.
This album came about because Michael Nesmith is a certified songwriter with lots of published titles under his belt, even by early 1968. He grew tired quickly of Columbia Pictures / Screen Gems owning his publishing and recorded musical performances, etc. He found out that the corporation didn’t own anything if he decided to produce something outside of the confines of the Monkees group. So, he found the time, and he definitely had the money. With his twisted way of looking at “stuff,” he figured that the album wouldn’t sell well. So, Shorty Rogers, who became friends with most of the rock and roll crowd then, combined forces with Nesmith for this off-the-wall instrumental pops album. It fits in with what was coming out in the era, but it’s not Mantovanti or Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass. It’s slightly reminiscent of what Brian Wilson was producing for the accompaniment of the Beach Boys records…but cranked up by quite a few notches. This wasn’t an album that you were going to play as “dinner music.” This was an album that demanded that you “listen” to it, whether you’re a Nesmith / Monkees fan or not…at least once. It has that beautiful, assembled, experimentation feel to it. There’s movie / TV soundtrack stuff, jazz influences, country and modern pop sounds, put in a blender and performed by these icons of music…uncredited on the original release on Dot records (which was Lawrence Welk’s record label). And trumpet player Bud Brisbois!! Where are you going with this marvelous tortured genius??!