GET WELL SOON Papa Nes...Michael Nesmith recovering from heart surgery

[Miles Archer]

Michael Nesmith's shared dates with fellow Monkees star Mickey Dolenz weren't suddenly postponed because of a "minor health issue," despite label assurances. Instead, Nesmith was suffering from congestive heart failure, which required quadruple bypass surgery. He is currently recovering.

“I was getting weaker and weaker and I couldn’t get my breath,” Nesmith told Rolling Stone of his physical condition on the tour. To compensate, he had a chair and oxygen available to him on the side of the stage during performances.

Things deteriorated until the tour got to the Keswick Theater in Philadelphia, when Nesmith realized he could not go on. “I didn’t collapse to the ground or anything like that,” he said. “But I couldn’t breathe, so I sat down until I got my breath and then I realized the breath wasn’t gettable. That marked the end. People knew I couldn’t keep on like this. It was a road to hell.”

Nesmith flew back home to California, where his cardiologist diagnosed his issue as congestive heart failure, and scheduled him immediately for the invasive bypass surgery. “It’s frightening,” Nesmith said. “There’s also a lot of pain involved, and I didn’t like that. You can’t cough and you can’t walk, and you can’t get up. And you’re hooked to these gadgets that are annoying. I didn’t even know where I was for a couple of weeks.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/michael-nesmith-heart-surgery/

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

1. The Monkees were just plain fun. I watched them to take a break from the pressures of college.

Here's a song where Michael Nesmith sung lead:

[ghostsinthemachine]

2. He imtroduced, then married my favorite

Person/musician, Carolyn Wonderland and former SNL player A Whitney Brown. He also has a streaming service Video Ranch.
Be well Michael, that's a tough one to come back from.

[ornotna]

7. I got to see Carolyn a few years back

What a show, she's amazing. Hot muggy Florida night and she was sweating her you know what off. Didn't stop her, great show.

[ghostsinthemachine]

11. Yeah, shes special

Plays guitar like Johnny Winter (her mentor) and sings like Janis. Nice combination.
She just got busted for pot in Texas. Already sentenced. Bummer, wasn't hers, it was in the vehicle. Gonna cost the taxpayers 20k.

[TexasBushwhacker]

17. I've been following her since she was a teenager

She was playing smokey dives in Housron in the early 90s. It's been fun seeing her develop as an artist.

[DFW]

3. I was about 20 hours away from having the same thing

I recognized the symptoms but not their severity.

I sought out a cardiologist because I knew something was wrong. He freaked out and sent me to a cardiac clinic a half hour away and said go there RIGHT NOW!! So I did and the professor/doctor took me down to the OP, put in two stents, and said I was the luckiest man in Europe that day. He also said an ambulance was waiting right outside the door to take me to an OR where the bypass team was waiting in case the stents failed.

I know only too well what a near miss can be. Nesmith wasn't as lucky as I was, but he's around to tell the tale, and not everyone makes it that far.

[Kaleva]

4. Michael Nesmith and Micky Dolenz "Pleasant Valley Sunday"

[Dave Starsky]

5. I'm glad to hear he's okay. He's one of my musical heroes.

Way back in the late 1960s, there were two young, good-looking dudes introducing "country rock" to the popular music scene: Gram Parsons and Michael Nesmith (formerly of the Monkees). One of these men treated country music like a joke. The other man was Michael Nesmith.

[ghostsinthemachine]

12. Huh?

Gram was one of the most influential musicians ever.

[Dave Starsky]

15. You heard me.

I disagree with you.

[rurallib]

6. Here's one Nesmith wrote and the more popular version by the Stone Ponies

[Snarkoleptic]

8. Get well soon, Nez!

One of my guilty-pleasure movies is Repo Man, which Nez was Executive Producer on back in 1984.

[Omaha Steve]

9. Get Well

[Tarc]

10. The video that warped my mind, in a good way, as a lad; Zappa and Nesmith

[BigmanPigman]

13. I loved the Monkees.

I have a sticker of them from my lunchbox stuck on my fridge. Mike's mom invented Liquid Paper or White Out.

[FailureToCommunicate]

14. Great version of my favorite Nesmith song...

(Get well soon!)

https://m.

&feature=youtu.be

[LeftInTX]

16. I can proudly say that we have a street named Mike Nesmith in San Antonio

[Miles Archer]

19. "I should be ridin' on that train to San Antone..."

Easily in the top 10 of all the songs he's written, from the single greatest album the band produced. Mike would take the money set aside for sessions and head off to Nashville to record his tunes with seasoned, hardcore "Nashville Cats" session musicians.

On this track, the Monkees were still defiant about "playing their own music," though. On "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.." they continued the trend set with the 3rd album, "Headquarters" (where they played everything) and sill played most of the instruments, with session musicians added:

Drums: Eddie Hoh, Micky Dolenz (on "Cuddly Toy" & "The Door Into Summer" ), Kim Capli (on "Hard to Believe" )
Guitars: Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, Chip Douglas, Kim Capli (on "Hard to Believe" )
Piano, Organ, and Clavinet: Peter Tork, Chip Douglas, Kim Capli (on "Hard to Believe" )
Bass: Chip Douglas, Peter Tork (on "Goin' Down" ), Kim Capli (on "Hard to Believe" )
Percussion: Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith (on "Words " ), Kim Capli (on "Hard to Believe" )
Banjo: Douglas Dillard
Moog Synthesizer: Micky Dolenz (on "Daily Nightly" ), Paul Beaver (on "Star Collector" )
Vocals, Backing vocals: Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, Chip Douglas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisces,_Aquarius,_Capricorn_%26_Jones_Ltd.#Personnel

[Dave Starsky]

20. That song was actually written by someone else.

Michael Martin Murphey and Owen Castleman, who were in another band called The Lewis and Clarke Expedition on the same record label. Murphey would achieve success as a solo artist with his song "Wildfire".

I love "What am I Doing...", too. (That whole album kicks ass.) But I was surprised to find out that Nez didn't write that, because it sure fits his style.

[Miles Archer]

21. Yes...he also recorded Murphy's "Texas Morning" on his 3rd solo album, "Nevada Fighter."

Written by Michael Murphy & Boomer Castleman.

[LeftInTX]

22. He lived her for awhile and went to a local community college.

[LuckyCharms]

18. He's always been a favorite of mine.

A while ago I viewed this one particular version of his song "Joanne" performed live by him. I can't locate the video now. It was hauntingly beautiful.

A big Monkees fan here, particularly Nesmith songs.

Hang tough Mike Nesmith, and get well soon.