The First National Band or Michael Nesmith and The First National Band was a short-lived American collaborative band, led by MonkeeMichael Nesmith. During the two active years, The First National Band released three albums in the country rock genre between 1970 and 1971.
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
The Monkees are an American rock and pop band originally active between 1966 and 1971, with reunion albums and tours in the decades that followed. They were formed in Los Angeles in 1965 by Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider specifically for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968. The musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork; and the English actor and singer Davy Jones. The band's music was initially supervised by producer Don Kirshner, backed by the songwriting duo of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart.
Robert Michael Nesmith is an American musician, songwriter, actor, producer, novelist, businessman, and philanthropist, best known as a member of the pop rock band the Monkees and co-star of the TV series The Monkees (1966–1968). Nesmith's songwriting credits include "Different Drum".
During his time in The Monkees, Nesmith was unhappy with the bubblegum pop records that musical director Don Kirshner was providing for the group, and fought to get his own compositions to be recorded under the Monkees name. Before The Monkees, Nesmith had released a handful of singles under the name "Michael Blessing" which were Bob Dylan/folk rock inspired.
Bubblegum pop is a genre of pop music with an upbeat sound contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, which may be produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers and often using unknown singers. Bubblegum's classic period ran from 1967 to 1972. A second wave of bubblegum began two years later and ran until 1977 when disco took over.
Donald Clark Kirshner, known as The Man With the Golden Ear, was an American music publisher, rock music producer, talent manager, and songwriter. He was best known for managing songwriting talent as well as successful pop groups, such as the Monkees, Kansas, and the Archies.
In 1968, Nesmith released "The Wichita Train Whistle Sings" as a side-project from the Monkees and, due to continued frustration, bought himself out of his Monkees contract altogether in 1970.
The Wichita Train Whistle Sings is the de facto first solo album by Michael Nesmith, although the artist credited on the initial release is actually "The Wichita Train Whistle". It was recorded while Nesmith was still a member of the Monkees, and peaked at No. 144 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts.
Forming The First National Band
In 1969, before Nesmith had left the Monkees, it was clear to both him and his friend John Ware that The Monkees were soon coming to an end. Ware suggested that Nesmith form another band with Ware and their mutual friend John London and put his studio connections to good use while he still had the chance. When he was free from his contract, Nesmith took Ware up on his offer, so long as Orville "Red" Rhodes would join. Also, Nesmith did not want to "just do that power trio thing". The First National Band was the start of a long collaboration between Nesmith and Rhodes, which lasted until Rhodes's death in 1995.
John A. Ware is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session and live performance work.
John Carl Kuehne, better known as John London, was an American musician and songwriter, and was involved in several Hollywood television and movie productions. He was most notably associated with both the band The Monkees and their television series.
Orville J. Rhodes, better known as Red Rhodes or O. J. Rhodes, was an American pedal steel guitarist. His mother taught him to play the Dobro at the age of five, but at the age of fifteen he switched to the steel guitar. He was a boxer and an oil company engineer before he settled into music. He moved to Los Angeles in 1960 and became a session musician.
Career
The First National Band endured many problems in its short career. Nesmith's association with the Monkees had made him a joke to some people and as a result many fellow musicians would not take his music seriously. During one of the band's first gigs, they played alongside Gram Parsons and the brand new, Flying Burrito Brothers. Nesmith recalls how others seeing a former Monkee decked out in a Nudie suit with a steel player in tow must have been laughable to seasoned Country devotees, such as Parsons. However, their unique sound was enough to win over the LA club scene and create a new image for Nesmith. Nesmith also requested of venues that they not promote or reference his being a Monkee/ex-Monkee in their advertising or the band's introduction. Unfortunately, many Emcees would ignore his request and Nesmith would become irritated with them as well as with folks who would shout out requests of "Last Train to Clarksville" and/or other Monkee hits.
Ingram Cecil Connor III, known professionally as Gram Parsons, was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work with the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers. He also popularized what he called "Cosmic American Music", a hybrid of country, rhythm and blues, soul, folk, and rock. He recorded as a solo artist and with the International Submarine Band, the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers. His relatively short career was described by AllMusic as "enormously influential" for country and rock, "blending the two genres to the point that they became indistinguishable from each other."
The Flying Burrito Brothers are an American country rock band, best known for their influential 1969 debut album, The Gilded Palace of Sin. Although the group is perhaps best known for its connection to band founders Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, the group underwent many personnel changes and has existed in various incarnations. A lineup with no original members currently performs as The Burrito Brothers.
Nuta Kotlyarenko, known professionally as Nudie Cohn, was an American tailor who designed decorative rhinestone-covered suits, known popularly as "Nudie Suits", and other elaborate outfits for some of the most famous celebrities of his era. He also became famous for his outrageous customized automobiles.
During his stint with The Monkees, Nesmith had accumulated an extensive back-catalogue of songs which had not been heard by anyone. This meant that, in their short time as a band, The First National Band was able to release three albums in less than a 12-month span. July 1970 saw the release of Magnetic South, which was the first and "blue" in the trilogy of "red, white and blue" albums and reached No.143 on the Billboard Albums Chart. This album contained the inclusion of five songs which hailed from Nesmith's Monkees days. It also contained the song "Joanne", which, due to a lot of radio play, surprised the band by reaching No.21 on the Billboard Singles Chart. However, despite this chart success, the single did not gain the band commercial success because the band were in Britain, on a tour of working-man's clubs, which lasted until Joanne had dropped out of the American charts and sunk without a trace. Ware claimed that the band's management believed that, as the Monkees weren't as well known in Britain, it would be the perfect place to try to break in this new change in musical direction.
Magnetic South is the first solo album by American singer-songwriter Michael Nesmith during his post-Monkees career. Released by RCA Records in 1970, the album peaked at Number 143 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts. Magnetic South is considered an early example of country rock. A single, " Joanne/One Rose" was taken from the album and reached Number 21 on the Billboard singles charts and Number 6 on the Adult Contemporary charts. It was the highest position of Nesmith's solo career.
"Joanne" is a song written and performed by Michael Nesmith. It was his only hit as a solo artist. The single was issued by RCA Records in 1970, from the album Magnetic South, the first album released by Nesmith and The First National Band after he left The Monkees. In the United States, the song peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Top 100 on 3 October 1970. It went to No. 4 in Canada, No. 3 in Australia, and No. 1 in New Zealand. In the U.S., it was the most successful solo chart hit for any member of The Monkees.
November 1970 saw the release of the band's second "red" album, Loose Salute, which reached No.159 on the Billboard Album chart. This contained the minor hit "Silver Moon" (Billboard #42) and a re-working of the Monkees song, "Listen to the Band".
After the band had returned from Britain, and after Joanne's success had long since been forgotten, work was started on the band's final "white" album, Nevada Fighter. Recording for this album started in October 1970, but things within the group started falling apart, which led to both Ware and London leaving the group the following month. Released in May 1971, it failed to chart.
After The First National Band
Nesmith and Red continued to work together, and recruited a new set of musicians, consisting of members of Elvis Presley's band to work on Nesmith's fifth album, Tantamount to Treason Vol. 1. This was released in May 1972 and credited to "Michael Nesmith & The Second National Band". Nesmith and Red continued to collaborate on Nesmith's later solo albums up until Red's death in 1995. Nesmith is still continuing to release solo albums, the last being Rays in 2006.
During Nesmith's 2013 tour of the U.S., an isolated backing track of Red Rhodes playing the pedal steel from the song "Thanx for the Ride" from Loose Salute was played while Nesmith and his band accompanied the track.
The first National Band will be returning with 5 concerts in early 2018 in southern and northern California. This incarnation of the First National Band is largely in name only, since other than Nesmith, all of the other members are either dead or retired; Nesmith's sons, Christian and Jonathan, are among the members of the new First National Band lineup. The second First National Band includes, in addition to the Nesmiths, Jason Chesney on bass, Pete Finney on steel guitar, and Chistopher Allis on drums, along with backing vocalists Amy Spear and Circe Link.[1] To coincide with the tour, the band's three studio albums will be re-released on colored vinyl in late March, from oldies label Sundazed. Christian and Jonathan also contributed to The Monkees' Christmas album Christmas Party.
Sundazed Music is an American independent record label based in Coxsackie, New York. It specializes in obscure and rare recordings from the 1950s to the 1970s. In 2000, Sundazed had a staff of 15 and two mixing studios, including a vintage audio equipment collection.
Loose Salute is the second solo album by American singer-songwriter Michael Nesmith during his post-Monkees career. Released by RCA Records in 1970 and dedicated to Tony Richland, it peaked at No. 159 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts.
Nevada Fighter is the third solo album by American singer-songwriter Michael Nesmith during his post-Monkees career. The album is also the third and final album with the First National Band. Released by RCA Records in 1971, the LP failed to chart in the top 200 but bubbled under at #202. The lead off single "Nevada Fighter" peaked at No. 70 on the Billboard charts.
Tantamount To Treason Volume 1 is Michael Nesmith's fourth solo album during his post-Monkees career. Released in 1972, Tantamount To Treason is the only album Michael Nesmith recorded and released with the Second National Band. An assumed sequel was said to have been recorded but was never released. Even so, Nesmith has personally stated that a follow up 'never happened and all rumors are false'.
And the Hits Just Keep on Comin' is an album by Michael Nesmith. Recorded for RCA Records, it was the fifth solo album after leaving The Monkees. The album was recorded and released in 1972; all ten tracks had been composed by Nesmith prior to and during his time as a member of The Monkees.
Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash is American singer-songwriter Michael Nesmith's sixth album of his post-Monkees career. Released in September 1973, it was his final album for RCA Records and did not chart.
Live at the Palais is a live album by American singer-songwriter Michael Nesmith, initially released in 1978. It was recorded in 1977 at the Palais Theatre, Melbourne, Australia.
Live at the Britt Festival is a live album by Michael Nesmith, released in 1999. It was recorded live at the Britt Festival in Jacksonville, OR, on June 19, 1992. To prepare for the concert, Nesmith conducted a limited U.S. tour which featured a similar set list as the Britt Festival.
Complete First National Band Recordings is a compilation album by Michael Nesmith, released in 1993. It contains the three albums Nesmith recorded with the First National Band in 1970 and 1971 on a two-CD set. Magnetic South and Loose Salute are on the first CD, while Nevada Fighter is on the second CD.
Silver Moon was the third single Michael Nesmith recorded as a solo artist and the second to reach the Billboard Hot 100. Silver Moon was released in 1970 from Nesmith's second solo album, Loose Salute. Nesmith recorded the song with The First National Band and the song reached number 42 on the Top 100 and number seven on the Adult Contemporary charts. The track features a pedal steel guitar solo played by O.J. "Red" Rhodes. The song also went to number 13 in Canada and number seven in the Netherlands.
"Listen to the Band" is a song by The Monkees that was released on Colgems single #5004 on April 26, 1969. Written by Michael Nesmith, it is the first time Nesmith sang lead vocals on a Monkees A-side single.
Movies of the Mind is a live album from Michael Nesmith. The album documents Nesmith's 2013 2-month tour of the United States.
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