“See the lazy windmill slowly turning ah…carving up the marble canyons of the sky. See the dust around my feet go churning ah…moving down the winds of the highways of goodbye…”
SONG OF THE WEEK: “Silver Moon” (written by Mike Nesmith): There’s been a critical reappraisal of Mike Nesmith’s production and songwriting, specifically his ground-breaking 70s country rock material with The First National Band. The FNB made a trilogy of albums that bridged old school country resonance with an edge of post-psychedelic rock, spiced with Tin Pan Alley and Latin styles. Truth is, Nez was dabbling at this before and during The Monkees; The FNB just elaborated on it (even if people didn’t “get it” then). Decades later, this phase of Nez has a fresh audience, with some arguing whether Gram Parsons or Nez was The Original Cosmic Cowboy.
I added Nez’s “Silver Moon” to my solo set in the late 80s. In the 90s, I began working with Davy Jones, the British Monkee. He heard me do “Silver Moon” at a gig, then he started singing it (there’s a bootleg around of us doing it together in Circleville OH). In 1996 I met Nez at the JUSTUS recording sessions in Nashville. I told him about the coverage “Silver Moon” was getting, and he was amused and surprised.
A year later I convened with a Nez tribute act called The Third National Band (Donna Bailey, Gary Owen, Scott Ringle). We cut this version of “Silver Moon” that imagines Buddy Holly with cranked pre-amps. John Bechdel is at the board. Feedback welcome….
https://johnnyjblairsingeratlarge.bandcamp.com/track/silver-moon
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