Having been an aspiring folk singer before joining The Monkees in 1965 Michael Nesmith, upon leaving the group five years later, had already begun the process of creating pop music with country overtones.
Born Dallas 30/12/1942, during his time with the quartet – who also included Davy Jones (vocals), Peter Tork (bass/keyboards) and Micky Dolenz (drums) – The Monkees, a group assembled for a television comedy show bearing their name, attained worldwide fame through success of the programme and a host of top-selling 45s and albums.
Frustrated by the manufactured aspect of their existence, (The Monkees best known songs in the main, written by others and recorded by session players), Nesmith, an accomplished guitar player and fast-developing songwriting talent, spent the tail end of his tenure in the band stockpiling material for an imminent solo career.
This avenue had, in fact, already opened prior to exiting when his superbly crafted ‘Different Drum‘ composition became a 1967 hit for folk-rockers the Stone Poneys, whose vocalist was golden-voiced songstress Linda Ronstadt. The following year Nesmith then recorded the album ‘The Wichita Train Whistle Sings‘ an eclectic collection containing purely instrumental versions of songs he had so far written.
With his departure from The Monkees confirmed, Nesmith signed a contract with RCA, promptly forming The First National Band comprising of Orville ‘Red’ Rhodes (pedal steel), John Ware (drums) and John London (bass). Together they were responsible for two largely self-penned Nesmith albums, ‘Magnetic South‘ (June 1970) and ‘Loose Salute‘ (November 1970), neither of which sold particularly well despite the former containing ‘Joanne‘, that when issued as a single reached number 21 on the U.S. chart.
Both records, however, added to the growing momentum of country-rock that others would shortly carry into the mainstream, albeit in a more contrived form.
During sessions for ‘Nevada Fighter‘ (May 1971) The First National Band abruptly split, Nesmith quickly assembling a second incarnation that saw Rhodes retained alongside newly-recruited Michael Cohen (keyboards), Johnny Meeks (bass) and drummer Jack Ranelli.
Despite their undoubted potential, this outfit only managed ‘Tantamount to Treason‘ (February 1972), Nesmith for the second album in a row offered a mix of self-written pieces and covers, flavouring the material with psychedelic, bluegrass and folk inflections in a manner not even fellow country-rock pioneers such as Gram Parsons, Gene Clark or Richie Furay were attempting.
While his work continued to be met with a favourable response from the critics, Rolling Stone particularly quick on the uptake in acknowledging the new territory Nesmith was exploring, his four albums to date for RCA had failed to make any discernable chart headway – the label imploring him to make a more commercially viable effort in order to warrant their continued support.
As a consequence Nesmith dispensed with all but one of his most recent support troupe and with only steel guitarist Rhodes for company, decided to cut a self-written, acoustic album. In response to the ambitions of the record company, he gave it the somewhat ironic title of ‘AND THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMIN‘ (August 1972).
In only one instance, a reworking of ‘Different Drum‘, could the term ‘hit’ be strictly applied, but that in no way detracts from the high standard of song writing on offer – each of the ten tracks lending themselves commendably to the pared back, yet highly effective instrumentation.
An an entity ‘And the Hits Just Keep on Comin‘ may have a misleading moniker, but in leading the listener through an affecting, sometimes thought-provoking journey, the record barely puts a foot wrong.
Opening track ‘Tomorrow & Me‘ finds Nesmith contemplating a relationship entering its final throes (‘I’ve forgotten how long I’ve been sitting here/Watching my reflection in a disappearing beer/The loneliness is so thick you can slice it/The emptiness is too much for me to fight it‘), the parting both raw and real.
With Rhodes, as he does throughout the album, adding sympathetic steel guitar incisions, Nesmith in plaintive manner sings above an engaging folk-based melody – the lyric taking a wistful turn as the narrator becomes aware the moment to turn a page, no matter how painful, has arrived:
‘Changing the complexion and the scheme of things/And as the world begins to turn I feel the time has come/To accept apparent loss as a battle won/And with that in mind I close my eyes and kiss your cheek/Push the loneliness aside and stand on shaky feet.’
Also testament to his supreme knack of capturing the poignancy of a faltering love affair, ‘The Upside of Good-bye‘ brings striking originality to subject matter many times previously explored.
While melancholy is evident in the melody (which contains a detectable, but uncredited electric piano contribution), the lyrics bare no trace of animosity at how things have come to pass, (‘Then the thing that struck me strangely/Was the feeling that I had when she was gone/The few that left before had left me empty/But she left me with a fullness to lean on‘). But the words also reveal gratitude for the way his feelings have been considered.
Indeed, the focus of the song may no longer be part of his life, but her sensitivity toward him, as he recognizes, has been touching all the same:
‘So the bitterness that usually set in was effectively undone by the girl’s uncommon grace/And the thrust of the experience/Was the enrichening and lively sense/She gave to my life and to its pace/I don’t know where she’s gone/Her wanderlust surely was strong/But love would be made much more sure/If all the ladies leaving/Left like her.’
Taking the form of a sedate country-waltz, ‘Lady Love‘ pays tribute to a female companion who fails to see the esteem in which she is held, (‘Oh, my lady, she runs/To the ends of the earth/In search of her worth‘), Nesmith expressing similar sentiments, only in less high brow fashion, to those found in ‘I’ve Just Begun to Care‘ from ‘Nevada Fighter.’ Through ‘Listening‘ the shortest track on the album, the writer is accompanied by cheery melodicism in discouraging procrastination, the focus of this advice (‘But conviction and courage/Sometimes drift apart/And takes me back to the start‘), clearly himself.
First attempted during his tenure in The Monkees but never cut to his satisfaction, ‘Two Different Roads‘ has Nesmith offering homespun, unpretentious philosophy in relation to the circuitous route life can often take. The writer is clear in his assertion that sticking to a defined path is always preferable to changing course:
‘You can’t try to walk down two different roads/Look to both of them to bring you home/You must take your own way, though it is the long way/And sometimes you find yourself alone.’
With echoes of a Dylan piece from his folk days the lyrics are similarly profound, although in his expressionism Nesmith opts for pertinence rather than protest:
‘You’d better move along, don’t wait and let the dawn/And its friendly sunrise catch you at rest/Do what you must/No man can criticize you/As long as what you’re doing is your best.’
Side two opening track ‘The Candidate‘ offers cautionary advice to those whose task it is to govern, ‘Listen well/The patience of the people soon will end/Time will tell/As the melting of your plastic smile begins‘. Predating Watergate by just a few weeks, the lyric sounds distinctly prophetic when heard against the scandal ‘The captains mad with power pause/And congratulate themselves/On their virtuous and noble cause‘, about to unfurl.
Whereas the rendition of ‘Different Drum‘ that brought Ronstadt early career success featured stylings of the era such as baroque strings and trilling harpsichord, with just their respective guitars Nesmith and Rhodes accentuate the original country-pop nuances.
The piece is written from the perspective of one who feels commitment to a relationship will not be conducive to the long-term happiness of either party, ‘And I’m not saying that you ain’t pretty/All’s I’m saying’s that I’m not ready/For any person place or thing/To try and pull the reins/In on me‘.
While the Stone Poneys take is memorable not least for an assertive Ronstadt vocal, Nesmith delivers the lines with an air of nonchalance, the unsuitability of their union, ‘Well I feel pretty sure/That you’ll find a man/Who will take a lot more than I ever could or can/And you’ll settle down with him/And I know that you’ll be happy‘, made clear with a rueful glance toward the future.
By way of contrast, the gently-lilting ‘Harmony Constant‘ is tribute to the faith and assurance Nesmith feels within a relationship, the writer taking stock of the past before looking ahead with happy anticipation:
‘The concept of love has ultimate might/The power of peace and truth/And the Harmony Constant in all of these things/Is the thought of the future with you.’
With the closing two tracks, ‘Keep On‘ and ‘Roll With The Flow‘, Nesmith considers how best society and he as an individual can navigate the days ahead.
On the former he extols the virtue of acting for the greater good rather than out of self-interest (‘These straight folks think that winning/Gives them license to kill/But number good is better than number one‘), the scene easily conjured of Nesmith playing alongside Rhodes on a back porch while offering some worldly wisdom:
‘The eye that cast dispersions on the quiet way of life/Is lost among the past, and partly blind/And aggressive undermining of what you know is right/Is the work of fools who think without their mind.’
On the closing track, (at just over five minutes the longest on the L.P.), Nesmith recounts with rueful glee how a lacklustre lover and then a didactic minister have failed to convince him in changing his ‘Roll With The Flow‘ outlook – using the final verse to explain his actions and why he (and we) should have the courage of our convictions when doubt, or doubtful characters, encroach on the lives we lead:
‘Now those are two fine examples/Of the way that I handled/The pressure that tried to draw me away from the light/And in the final analysis/It’s foolish if you resist/The changes that come into your everyday life/There might be some trepidation/But don’t let hesitation/Deprive you of hope and try to replace it with fear/Just roll with the flow/Wherever it goes/Even if it rolls outta here.’
Despite the album being released to a rave review in Rolling Stone (‘Truly inspired‘) it fell someway short of the commercial impact RCA had set their sights on, failing even to reach the top 200 of the U.S. charts. Appreciating its undoubted artistic merit the label decided to back Nesmith for one last time, ‘Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash‘ (September 1973) proving a more conventional country-rock offering but when it also failed to chart he and RCA parted company soon afterward.
At the time there must have been a pervading sense that if Nesmith could not sell significant copies of an album boasting the accomplishment of ‘And The Hits Just Keep on Comin‘ then he never would, although 1977 brought him a major hit single with the suitably engaging ‘Rio.’
Years later Nesmith admitted the record came about due to he and Rhodes being out of options regarding what to do next and because of its ‘make-do‘ nature had not viewed the collection with any great fondness. ‘It took me years to finally appreciate ‘And The Hits Just Kept Keep On Comin‘, he reflected in the sleeve notes for the 2000 CD re-issue, ‘but now I think of it as a jewel.’
Back in 1972 albums from Nesmith-contemporaries such as Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Stephen Stills were rightly acclaimed as pure gold. Overlooked it might have been, but ‘And The Hits Just Keep On Comin‘ was no less a nugget.
MICHAEL NESMITH – AND THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMIN‘ (Released August 3 1972):
Tomorrow & Me/The Upside of Good-bye/Lady Love/Listening/Two Different Roads/The Candidate/Different Drum/Harmony Constant/Keep On/Roll With The Flow;
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