Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
I think this article more properly belongs under the Music/ namespace. If I\'m wrong, just change it back.
Changed line(s) 1,78 (click to see context) from:
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michael_nesmith_8077.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[Franchise/TheMonkees Monkee]]. Songwriter. Innovator. BadassBeard.]]
'''Robert Michael Nesmith''' (born December 30, 1942) is an American SingerSongwriter, producer, and actor. Perhaps best remembered as a wool hat-wearing Texan [[Franchise/TheMonkees Monkee]], "Papa Nez" has had quite the storied and innovative career. From helping codify early country rock to basically inventing MTV and music videos with his Grammy award-winning "visual album" ''Elephant Parts'', Nesmith's influence cannot be underestimated. Oh, and his mom invented liquid paper.
As a Monkee, Nesmith had always brought a country sensibility to his vocal spots, and composed a fair few songs that juxtaposed country music with other genres in hitherto unheard ways. Once The Monkees dissolved, in 1970 Nesmith formed The First National Band, one of the first country rock groups, continuing his odyssey of off-kilter country musings, with a trilogy of albums. Nesmith began edging towards pop and rock as the decade progressed, with social commentary becoming an increasingly bigger factor in his works.
In the late '70s, Nesmith began creating small musical segments for ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''. This eventually led to the creation of a larger-scale project in ''Elephant Parts'', and... the rest, as they say, is history. His subsequent career has seen him release the odd album and a few books, create a virtual online concert stage, partake in several Monkees reunions, and continually speculate about possible future technologies, many of which have not only seen the light of day, but have also become household items.
!!Discography:
* ''Magnetic South'' (1970)
* ''Loose Salute'' (1970)
* ''Nevada Fighter'' (1971)
* ''Tantamount to Treason, Vol. 1'' (1972)
* ''And the Hits Just Keep On Comin''' (1972)
* ''Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash'' (1973)
* ''The Prison'' (1975)
* ''From a Radio Engine to the Photon Wing'' (1976)
* ''Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma'' (1978)
* ''...Tropical Campfires...'' (1992)
* ''The Garden'' (1994)
* ''Rays'' (2006)
!!Tropes associated with Michael Nesmith:
* AbortedArc: You'll notice there is no ''Tantamount to Treason, Vol. 2'' in the discography listing.
* AntiLoveSong: Heard throughout his discography.
* BadassBeard: Sported a notable one from around the late '70s to the early '00s, featured lovingly throughout ''Elephant Parts''. His Monkees days also saw him with legendary, dense sideburns.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Yeah, no other mind could birth the insanity that is ''Elephant Parts''. Also, his Facebook profile regularly features messages ostensibly written by his dog, Dale.
* ConceptAlbum: ''The Prison'', released with a book intended to be read while listening to the record. ''Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma'' is also full of commentary on popular culture of the '70s.
* ConceptVideo: Ah, Mr. Nesmith, what would the anatomy of music video tropes be like today without your guiding hand? ''Elephant Parts'', for one, has got a trunkfull of 'em.
* CoolHorse: The Beauty from "Horserace", beats the Magnum Force by a mile.
* CoverVersion: Three Nashville standards were recorded for each installment of his trilogy with the First National Band: "The One Rose (That's Left in My Heart)", "I Fall to Pieces", and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds".
* CreatorCameo: Appears as a race official in ''Timerider'', and his song "Dance" is briefly heard when someone's messing around with Swann's bike... this serves as a plot point as it alerts the bandits to the presence of Swann's "riding machine".
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''The Prison''.
* EpicRocking: "[[LongTitle The Back Porch and a Fruit Jar Full of Iced Tea]]", a two-part medley clocking in at nearly eight and a half minutes.
* FaceOfTheBand: It ''is'' Michael Nesmith & The First National Band, after all.
* FadingIntoTheNextSong: "The One Rose" -> "Blue Horizon", "Texas Morning" -> "Tumbling Tumbleweeds".
* FakeRadioShowAlbum: ''The Michael Nesmith Radio Special'', which intersperses cultural and social commentary with cuts from his album ''Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma''.
* GreatestHitsAlbum: A few, but most famously a two-parter which split his discography up to 1989 into ''The Newer Stuff'' and ''The Older Stuff''.
* IAmNotSpock: Doesn't seem to like people assuming that he and his Monkees character are one and the same. He is credited with playing "Mike Nesmith" rather than himself in ''Film/{{Head}}'', after all.
* IdiosyncraticCoverArt: His trilogy with the First National Band. Each features some sort of picture motif in a circular frame, surrounded by one of the colors of the United States flag: ''Magnetic'' (blue) features the American bald eagle; ''Salute'' (red) features a war veteran (and a rat) making a salute; and ''Fighter'' (white) another bald eagle (in profile this time).
* {{Instrumentals}}: He recorded an album of country instrumentals, ''The Wichita Train Whistle Sings'', while still a Monkee. Subsequently, his solo career had a few here and there.
* InsufferableGenius: At his worst.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: "Different Drum".
* {{Kaiju}}: The pleasantly understated opening of ''Elephant Parts'' features a seemingly innocuous performance of his 1970 hit single with the First National Band... umm, "Rodan"? Uh oh, there goes Nezilla destroying Tokyo again...
* LargeHam: A kind of understated, restrained kind, but when he goes all out... oh boy!
* MoodWhiplash / SomethingCompletelyDifferent: "The Candidate" off the ''And the Hits...'' album is a strange, dissonant rumination over the fleeting world of politics... and it opens the second side.
* NewSoundAlbum: The 1976 release of ''From a Radio Engine to a Photon Wing'' (in case the name didn't clue you in) marked the beginning of Nesmith's new style of experimental pop with a finger on the pulse of popular consciousness. No country to be found in here.
* NiceHat: His infamous wool cap, of course, but also his array of cowboy hats.
* NonAppearingTitle: Nez was ''very'' fond of these.
* NonindicativeName: ''And the Hits Just Keep On Comin'''. Ironically, one of the songs on the album -- his own version of "Different Drum" -- was a hit... for Linda Ronstadt, that is.
* OneHitWonder: The First National Band had two hit singles, but only "Rio" made any sort of impact as far as Nesmith's solo career is concerned.
* PopStarComposer: For ''Film/TimeriderTheAdventureOfLyleSwann'', albeit being his own creation.
* RearrangeTheSong: The two later installments of his trilogy included re-recordings of "Listen to the Band" and "Propinquity (I've Just Begun to Care)", originally recorded under The Monkees' name.
* RecordProducer: Notably, one of the first instances of The Monkees' wresting control from their "puppet master" Don Kirschner was Nesmith becoming producer. This, of course, was under the stipulation that he would not be performing in any sessions he produced.
* RecycledTheSeries: ''Television Parts'', a short-lived series in the same vein as ''Elephant Parts''.
* RealMenLoveJesus: "Dedicated Friend".
--> "Has anybody here seen [[LargeHam GEE-SUSS]]? / He is gone from where I laid him down..."
* RefrainFromAssuming: ''Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma'' appears to parody this somewhat with the parenthesized titles on the album cover. Most of them fit, anyway.
* RuleOfThree: His album trilogy, natch. What's more, each album cover bears one of the three colors of the American flag, and each includes one classic country cover.
* RunningGag: In ''Elephant Parts''.
-->"We [performed outlandish experiment X]... Just to prove a point!"
* SingleStanzaSong: "Beyond the Blue Horizon".
* SpiritualSuccessor: ''The Garden'' is this to ''The Prison'', being referred to as a sort of companion piece.
* StudioChatter: Fitting in with the informal feel of his country albums, Nez is prone to tell Red Rhodes to "play [his] magic steel" or words to that effect, whenever a solo section approaches.
* SubliminalAdvertising: ''Ranch Stash'' has a "buy this record" message hidden in Nez's ear, giving off this vibe.
* TakeThisJobAndShoveIt: "Bye, Bye, Bye". Might even be autobiographical.
-->"And then I cabled my folks / I said call my boss / And you can tell him / Where I left [[VerbalTic thee]] truck / And then I went out and stocked up / On enchiladas and beer"
* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: ''And the Hits...'' consists of precious little else than Nez and his guitar, longtime compatriot Red Rhodes on pedal steel, standard country chords and the truth.
* TimeCapsule: The song "Capsule" is one in audio form. Intended to be opened "a hundred years from now" ("now" being 1978), it paints a rather bleak picture of late '70s consumer society.
-->"...We all kept pluggin' like a salmon up [[VerbalTic thee]] stream... some of us were dancing, but some us were screaming, but we tried; oh, how we tried."
* TropeCodifier: As touched upon in the intro there, Nesmith pretty much invented modern music video, expanding on the concept of "promotional videos" that had been around for decades.
* VerbalTic: Has a notable habit of pronouncing "the" as "thee".
* WordSaladLyrics: Oh man, when Nez gets weird he gets ''really'' weird. Just... makes no sense, man.
* WordSaladTitle: ''Elephant Parts'', anyone?
* XtremeKoolLetterz: "Thanx for the Ride".
* YourCheatingHeart: Wouldn't be country without it, would it?
----
[[caption-width-right:350:[[Franchise/TheMonkees Monkee]]. Songwriter. Innovator. BadassBeard.]]
'''Robert Michael Nesmith''' (born December 30, 1942) is an American SingerSongwriter, producer, and actor. Perhaps best remembered as a wool hat-wearing Texan [[Franchise/TheMonkees Monkee]], "Papa Nez" has had quite the storied and innovative career. From helping codify early country rock to basically inventing MTV and music videos with his Grammy award-winning "visual album" ''Elephant Parts'', Nesmith's influence cannot be underestimated. Oh, and his mom invented liquid paper.
As a Monkee, Nesmith had always brought a country sensibility to his vocal spots, and composed a fair few songs that juxtaposed country music with other genres in hitherto unheard ways. Once The Monkees dissolved, in 1970 Nesmith formed The First National Band, one of the first country rock groups, continuing his odyssey of off-kilter country musings, with a trilogy of albums. Nesmith began edging towards pop and rock as the decade progressed, with social commentary becoming an increasingly bigger factor in his works.
In the late '70s, Nesmith began creating small musical segments for ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''. This eventually led to the creation of a larger-scale project in ''Elephant Parts'', and... the rest, as they say, is history. His subsequent career has seen him release the odd album and a few books, create a virtual online concert stage, partake in several Monkees reunions, and continually speculate about possible future technologies, many of which have not only seen the light of day, but have also become household items.
!!Discography:
* ''Magnetic South'' (1970)
* ''Loose Salute'' (1970)
* ''Nevada Fighter'' (1971)
* ''Tantamount to Treason, Vol. 1'' (1972)
* ''And the Hits Just Keep On Comin''' (1972)
* ''Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash'' (1973)
* ''The Prison'' (1975)
* ''From a Radio Engine to the Photon Wing'' (1976)
* ''Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma'' (1978)
* ''...Tropical Campfires...'' (1992)
* ''The Garden'' (1994)
* ''Rays'' (2006)
!!Tropes associated with Michael Nesmith:
* AbortedArc: You'll notice there is no ''Tantamount to Treason, Vol. 2'' in the discography listing.
* AntiLoveSong: Heard throughout his discography.
* BadassBeard: Sported a notable one from around the late '70s to the early '00s, featured lovingly throughout ''Elephant Parts''. His Monkees days also saw him with legendary, dense sideburns.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Yeah, no other mind could birth the insanity that is ''Elephant Parts''. Also, his Facebook profile regularly features messages ostensibly written by his dog, Dale.
* ConceptAlbum: ''The Prison'', released with a book intended to be read while listening to the record. ''Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma'' is also full of commentary on popular culture of the '70s.
* ConceptVideo: Ah, Mr. Nesmith, what would the anatomy of music video tropes be like today without your guiding hand? ''Elephant Parts'', for one, has got a trunkfull of 'em.
* CoolHorse: The Beauty from "Horserace", beats the Magnum Force by a mile.
* CoverVersion: Three Nashville standards were recorded for each installment of his trilogy with the First National Band: "The One Rose (That's Left in My Heart)", "I Fall to Pieces", and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds".
* CreatorCameo: Appears as a race official in ''Timerider'', and his song "Dance" is briefly heard when someone's messing around with Swann's bike... this serves as a plot point as it alerts the bandits to the presence of Swann's "riding machine".
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''The Prison''.
* EpicRocking: "[[LongTitle The Back Porch and a Fruit Jar Full of Iced Tea]]", a two-part medley clocking in at nearly eight and a half minutes.
* FaceOfTheBand: It ''is'' Michael Nesmith & The First National Band, after all.
* FadingIntoTheNextSong: "The One Rose" -> "Blue Horizon", "Texas Morning" -> "Tumbling Tumbleweeds".
* FakeRadioShowAlbum: ''The Michael Nesmith Radio Special'', which intersperses cultural and social commentary with cuts from his album ''Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma''.
* GreatestHitsAlbum: A few, but most famously a two-parter which split his discography up to 1989 into ''The Newer Stuff'' and ''The Older Stuff''.
* IAmNotSpock: Doesn't seem to like people assuming that he and his Monkees character are one and the same. He is credited with playing "Mike Nesmith" rather than himself in ''Film/{{Head}}'', after all.
* IdiosyncraticCoverArt: His trilogy with the First National Band. Each features some sort of picture motif in a circular frame, surrounded by one of the colors of the United States flag: ''Magnetic'' (blue) features the American bald eagle; ''Salute'' (red) features a war veteran (and a rat) making a salute; and ''Fighter'' (white) another bald eagle (in profile this time).
* {{Instrumentals}}: He recorded an album of country instrumentals, ''The Wichita Train Whistle Sings'', while still a Monkee. Subsequently, his solo career had a few here and there.
* InsufferableGenius: At his worst.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: "Different Drum".
* {{Kaiju}}: The pleasantly understated opening of ''Elephant Parts'' features a seemingly innocuous performance of his 1970 hit single with the First National Band... umm, "Rodan"? Uh oh, there goes Nezilla destroying Tokyo again...
* LargeHam: A kind of understated, restrained kind, but when he goes all out... oh boy!
* MoodWhiplash / SomethingCompletelyDifferent: "The Candidate" off the ''And the Hits...'' album is a strange, dissonant rumination over the fleeting world of politics... and it opens the second side.
* NewSoundAlbum: The 1976 release of ''From a Radio Engine to a Photon Wing'' (in case the name didn't clue you in) marked the beginning of Nesmith's new style of experimental pop with a finger on the pulse of popular consciousness. No country to be found in here.
* NiceHat: His infamous wool cap, of course, but also his array of cowboy hats.
* NonAppearingTitle: Nez was ''very'' fond of these.
* NonindicativeName: ''And the Hits Just Keep On Comin'''. Ironically, one of the songs on the album -- his own version of "Different Drum" -- was a hit... for Linda Ronstadt, that is.
* OneHitWonder: The First National Band had two hit singles, but only "Rio" made any sort of impact as far as Nesmith's solo career is concerned.
* PopStarComposer: For ''Film/TimeriderTheAdventureOfLyleSwann'', albeit being his own creation.
* RearrangeTheSong: The two later installments of his trilogy included re-recordings of "Listen to the Band" and "Propinquity (I've Just Begun to Care)", originally recorded under The Monkees' name.
* RecordProducer: Notably, one of the first instances of The Monkees' wresting control from their "puppet master" Don Kirschner was Nesmith becoming producer. This, of course, was under the stipulation that he would not be performing in any sessions he produced.
* RecycledTheSeries: ''Television Parts'', a short-lived series in the same vein as ''Elephant Parts''.
* RealMenLoveJesus: "Dedicated Friend".
--> "Has anybody here seen [[LargeHam GEE-SUSS]]? / He is gone from where I laid him down..."
* RefrainFromAssuming: ''Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma'' appears to parody this somewhat with the parenthesized titles on the album cover. Most of them fit, anyway.
* RuleOfThree: His album trilogy, natch. What's more, each album cover bears one of the three colors of the American flag, and each includes one classic country cover.
* RunningGag: In ''Elephant Parts''.
-->"We [performed outlandish experiment X]... Just to prove a point!"
* SingleStanzaSong: "Beyond the Blue Horizon".
* SpiritualSuccessor: ''The Garden'' is this to ''The Prison'', being referred to as a sort of companion piece.
* StudioChatter: Fitting in with the informal feel of his country albums, Nez is prone to tell Red Rhodes to "play [his] magic steel" or words to that effect, whenever a solo section approaches.
* SubliminalAdvertising: ''Ranch Stash'' has a "buy this record" message hidden in Nez's ear, giving off this vibe.
* TakeThisJobAndShoveIt: "Bye, Bye, Bye". Might even be autobiographical.
-->"And then I cabled my folks / I said call my boss / And you can tell him / Where I left [[VerbalTic thee]] truck / And then I went out and stocked up / On enchiladas and beer"
* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: ''And the Hits...'' consists of precious little else than Nez and his guitar, longtime compatriot Red Rhodes on pedal steel, standard country chords and the truth.
* TimeCapsule: The song "Capsule" is one in audio form. Intended to be opened "a hundred years from now" ("now" being 1978), it paints a rather bleak picture of late '70s consumer society.
-->"...We all kept pluggin' like a salmon up [[VerbalTic thee]] stream... some of us were dancing, but some us were screaming, but we tried; oh, how we tried."
* TropeCodifier: As touched upon in the intro there, Nesmith pretty much invented modern music video, expanding on the concept of "promotional videos" that had been around for decades.
* VerbalTic: Has a notable habit of pronouncing "the" as "thee".
* WordSaladLyrics: Oh man, when Nez gets weird he gets ''really'' weird. Just... makes no sense, man.
* WordSaladTitle: ''Elephant Parts'', anyone?
* XtremeKoolLetterz: "Thanx for the Ride".
* YourCheatingHeart: Wouldn't be country without it, would it?
----
to:
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michael_nesmith_8077.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[Franchise/TheMonkees Monkee]]. Songwriter. Innovator. BadassBeard.]]
'''Robert Michael Nesmith''' (born December 30, 1942) is an American SingerSongwriter, producer, and actor. Perhaps best remembered as a wool hat-wearing Texan [[Franchise/TheMonkees Monkee]], "Papa Nez" has had quite the storied and innovative career. From helping codify early country rock to basically inventing MTV and music videos with his Grammy award-winning "visual album" ''Elephant Parts'', Nesmith's influence cannot be underestimated. Oh, and his mom invented liquid paper.
As a Monkee, Nesmith had always brought a country sensibility to his vocal spots, and composed a fair few songs that juxtaposed country music with other genres in hitherto unheard ways. Once The Monkees dissolved, in 1970 Nesmith formed The First National Band, one of the first country rock groups, continuing his odyssey of off-kilter country musings, with a trilogy of albums. Nesmith began edging towards pop and rock as the decade progressed, with social commentary becoming an increasingly bigger factor in his works.
In the late '70s, Nesmith began creating small musical segments for ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''. This eventually led to the creation of a larger-scale project in ''Elephant Parts'', and... the rest, as they say, is history. His subsequent career has seen him release the odd album and a few books, create a virtual online concert stage, partake in several Monkees reunions, and continually speculate about possible future technologies, many of which have not only seen the light of day, but have also become household items.
!!Discography:
* ''Magnetic South'' (1970)
* ''Loose Salute'' (1970)
* ''Nevada Fighter'' (1971)
* ''Tantamount to Treason, Vol. 1'' (1972)
* ''And the Hits Just Keep On Comin''' (1972)
* ''Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash'' (1973)
* ''The Prison'' (1975)
* ''From a Radio Engine to the Photon Wing'' (1976)
* ''Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma'' (1978)
* ''...Tropical Campfires...'' (1992)
* ''The Garden'' (1994)
* ''Rays'' (2006)
!!Tropes associated with Michael Nesmith:
* AbortedArc: You'll notice there is no ''Tantamount to Treason, Vol. 2'' in the discography listing.
* AntiLoveSong: Heard throughout his discography.
* BadassBeard: Sported a notable one from around the late '70s to the early '00s, featured lovingly throughout ''Elephant Parts''. His Monkees days also saw him with legendary, dense sideburns.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Yeah, no other mind could birth the insanity that is ''Elephant Parts''. Also, his Facebook profile regularly features messages ostensibly written by his dog, Dale.
* ConceptAlbum: ''The Prison'', released with a book intended to be read while listening to the record. ''Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma'' is also full of commentary on popular culture of the '70s.
* ConceptVideo: Ah, Mr. Nesmith, what would the anatomy of music video tropes be like today without your guiding hand? ''Elephant Parts'', for one, has got a trunkfull of 'em.
* CoolHorse: The Beauty from "Horserace", beats the Magnum Force by a mile.
* CoverVersion: Three Nashville standards were recorded for each installment of his trilogy with the First National Band: "The One Rose (That's Left in My Heart)", "I Fall to Pieces", and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds".
* CreatorCameo: Appears as a race official in ''Timerider'', and his song "Dance" is briefly heard when someone's messing around with Swann's bike... this serves as a plot point as it alerts the bandits to the presence of Swann's "riding machine".
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''The Prison''.
* EpicRocking: "[[LongTitle The Back Porch and a Fruit Jar Full of Iced Tea]]", a two-part medley clocking in at nearly eight and a half minutes.
* FaceOfTheBand: It ''is'' Michael Nesmith & The First National Band, after all.
* FadingIntoTheNextSong: "The One Rose" -> "Blue Horizon", "Texas Morning" -> "Tumbling Tumbleweeds".
* FakeRadioShowAlbum: ''The Michael Nesmith Radio Special'', which intersperses cultural and social commentary with cuts from his album ''Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma''.
* GreatestHitsAlbum: A few, but most famously a two-parter which split his discography up to 1989 into ''The Newer Stuff'' and ''The Older Stuff''.
* IAmNotSpock: Doesn't seem to like people assuming that he and his Monkees character are one and the same. He is credited with playing "Mike Nesmith" rather than himself in ''Film/{{Head}}'', after all.
* IdiosyncraticCoverArt: His trilogy with the First National Band. Each features some sort of picture motif in a circular frame, surrounded by one of the colors of the United States flag: ''Magnetic'' (blue) features the American bald eagle; ''Salute'' (red) features a war veteran (and a rat) making a salute; and ''Fighter'' (white) another bald eagle (in profile this time).
* {{Instrumentals}}: He recorded an album of country instrumentals, ''The Wichita Train Whistle Sings'', while still a Monkee. Subsequently, his solo career had a few here and there.
* InsufferableGenius: At his worst.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: "Different Drum".
* {{Kaiju}}: The pleasantly understated opening of ''Elephant Parts'' features a seemingly innocuous performance of his 1970 hit single with the First National Band... umm, "Rodan"? Uh oh, there goes Nezilla destroying Tokyo again...
* LargeHam: A kind of understated, restrained kind, but when he goes all out... oh boy!
* MoodWhiplash / SomethingCompletelyDifferent: "The Candidate" off the ''And the Hits...'' album is a strange, dissonant rumination over the fleeting world of politics... and it opens the second side.
* NewSoundAlbum: The 1976 release of ''From a Radio Engine to a Photon Wing'' (in case the name didn't clue you in) marked the beginning of Nesmith's new style of experimental pop with a finger on the pulse of popular consciousness. No country to be found in here.
* NiceHat: His infamous wool cap, of course, but also his array of cowboy hats.
* NonAppearingTitle: Nez was ''very'' fond of these.
* NonindicativeName: ''And the Hits Just Keep On Comin'''. Ironically, one of the songs on the album -- his own version of "Different Drum" -- was a hit... for Linda Ronstadt, that is.
* OneHitWonder: The First National Band had two hit singles, but only "Rio" made any sort of impact as far as Nesmith's solo career is concerned.
* PopStarComposer: For ''Film/TimeriderTheAdventureOfLyleSwann'', albeit being his own creation.
* RearrangeTheSong: The two later installments of his trilogy included re-recordings of "Listen to the Band" and "Propinquity (I've Just Begun to Care)", originally recorded under The Monkees' name.
* RecordProducer: Notably, one of the first instances of The Monkees' wresting control from their "puppet master" Don Kirschner was Nesmith becoming producer. This, of course, was under the stipulation that he would not be performing in any sessions he produced.
* RecycledTheSeries: ''Television Parts'', a short-lived series in the same vein as ''Elephant Parts''.
* RealMenLoveJesus: "Dedicated Friend".
--> "Has anybody here seen [[LargeHam GEE-SUSS]]? / He is gone from where I laid him down..."
* RefrainFromAssuming: ''Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma'' appears to parody this somewhat with the parenthesized titles on the album cover. Most of them fit, anyway.
* RuleOfThree: His album trilogy, natch. What's more, each album cover bears one of the three colors of the American flag, and each includes one classic country cover.
* RunningGag: In ''Elephant Parts''.
-->"We [performed outlandish experiment X]... Just to prove a point!"
* SingleStanzaSong: "Beyond the Blue Horizon".
* SpiritualSuccessor: ''The Garden'' is this to ''The Prison'', being referred to as a sort of companion piece.
* StudioChatter: Fitting in with the informal feel of his country albums, Nez is prone to tell Red Rhodes to "play [his] magic steel" or words to that effect, whenever a solo section approaches.
* SubliminalAdvertising: ''Ranch Stash'' has a "buy this record" message hidden in Nez's ear, giving off this vibe.
* TakeThisJobAndShoveIt: "Bye, Bye, Bye". Might even be autobiographical.
-->"And then I cabled my folks / I said call my boss / And you can tell him / Where I left [[VerbalTic thee]] truck / And then I went out and stocked up / On enchiladas and beer"
* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: ''And the Hits...'' consists of precious little else than Nez and his guitar, longtime compatriot Red Rhodes on pedal steel, standard country chords and the truth.
* TimeCapsule: The song "Capsule" is one in audio form. Intended to be opened "a hundred years from now" ("now" being 1978), it paints a rather bleak picture of late '70s consumer society.
-->"...We all kept pluggin' like a salmon up [[VerbalTic thee]] stream... some of us were dancing, but some us were screaming, but we tried; oh, how we tried."
* TropeCodifier: As touched upon in the intro there, Nesmith pretty much invented modern music video, expanding on the concept of "promotional videos" that had been around for decades.
* VerbalTic: Has a notable habit of pronouncing "the" as "thee".
* WordSaladLyrics: Oh man, when Nez gets weird he gets ''really'' weird. Just... makes no sense, man.
* WordSaladTitle: ''Elephant Parts'', anyone?
* XtremeKoolLetterz: "Thanx for the Ride".
* YourCheatingHeart: Wouldn't be country without it, would it?
----
[[caption-width-right:350:[[Franchise/TheMonkees Monkee]]. Songwriter. Innovator. BadassBeard.]]
'''Robert Michael Nesmith''' (born December 30, 1942) is an American SingerSongwriter, producer, and actor. Perhaps best remembered as a wool hat-wearing Texan [[Franchise/TheMonkees Monkee]], "Papa Nez" has had quite the storied and innovative career. From helping codify early country rock to basically inventing MTV and music videos with his Grammy award-winning "visual album" ''Elephant Parts'', Nesmith's influence cannot be underestimated. Oh, and his mom invented liquid paper.
As a Monkee, Nesmith had always brought a country sensibility to his vocal spots, and composed a fair few songs that juxtaposed country music with other genres in hitherto unheard ways. Once The Monkees dissolved, in 1970 Nesmith formed The First National Band, one of the first country rock groups, continuing his odyssey of off-kilter country musings, with a trilogy of albums. Nesmith began edging towards pop and rock as the decade progressed, with social commentary becoming an increasingly bigger factor in his works.
In the late '70s, Nesmith began creating small musical segments for ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''. This eventually led to the creation of a larger-scale project in ''Elephant Parts'', and... the rest, as they say, is history. His subsequent career has seen him release the odd album and a few books, create a virtual online concert stage, partake in several Monkees reunions, and continually speculate about possible future technologies, many of which have not only seen the light of day, but have also become household items.
!!Discography:
* ''Magnetic South'' (1970)
* ''Loose Salute'' (1970)
* ''Nevada Fighter'' (1971)
* ''Tantamount to Treason, Vol. 1'' (1972)
* ''And the Hits Just Keep On Comin''' (1972)
* ''Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash'' (1973)
* ''The Prison'' (1975)
* ''From a Radio Engine to the Photon Wing'' (1976)
* ''Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma'' (1978)
* ''...Tropical Campfires...'' (1992)
* ''The Garden'' (1994)
* ''Rays'' (2006)
!!Tropes associated with Michael Nesmith:
* AbortedArc: You'll notice there is no ''Tantamount to Treason, Vol. 2'' in the discography listing.
* AntiLoveSong: Heard throughout his discography.
* BadassBeard: Sported a notable one from around the late '70s to the early '00s, featured lovingly throughout ''Elephant Parts''. His Monkees days also saw him with legendary, dense sideburns.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Yeah, no other mind could birth the insanity that is ''Elephant Parts''. Also, his Facebook profile regularly features messages ostensibly written by his dog, Dale.
* ConceptAlbum: ''The Prison'', released with a book intended to be read while listening to the record. ''Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma'' is also full of commentary on popular culture of the '70s.
* ConceptVideo: Ah, Mr. Nesmith, what would the anatomy of music video tropes be like today without your guiding hand? ''Elephant Parts'', for one, has got a trunkfull of 'em.
* CoolHorse: The Beauty from "Horserace", beats the Magnum Force by a mile.
* CoverVersion: Three Nashville standards were recorded for each installment of his trilogy with the First National Band: "The One Rose (That's Left in My Heart)", "I Fall to Pieces", and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds".
* CreatorCameo: Appears as a race official in ''Timerider'', and his song "Dance" is briefly heard when someone's messing around with Swann's bike... this serves as a plot point as it alerts the bandits to the presence of Swann's "riding machine".
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''The Prison''.
* EpicRocking: "[[LongTitle The Back Porch and a Fruit Jar Full of Iced Tea]]", a two-part medley clocking in at nearly eight and a half minutes.
* FaceOfTheBand: It ''is'' Michael Nesmith & The First National Band, after all.
* FadingIntoTheNextSong: "The One Rose" -> "Blue Horizon", "Texas Morning" -> "Tumbling Tumbleweeds".
* FakeRadioShowAlbum: ''The Michael Nesmith Radio Special'', which intersperses cultural and social commentary with cuts from his album ''Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma''.
* GreatestHitsAlbum: A few, but most famously a two-parter which split his discography up to 1989 into ''The Newer Stuff'' and ''The Older Stuff''.
* IAmNotSpock: Doesn't seem to like people assuming that he and his Monkees character are one and the same. He is credited with playing "Mike Nesmith" rather than himself in ''Film/{{Head}}'', after all.
* IdiosyncraticCoverArt: His trilogy with the First National Band. Each features some sort of picture motif in a circular frame, surrounded by one of the colors of the United States flag: ''Magnetic'' (blue) features the American bald eagle; ''Salute'' (red) features a war veteran (and a rat) making a salute; and ''Fighter'' (white) another bald eagle (in profile this time).
* {{Instrumentals}}: He recorded an album of country instrumentals, ''The Wichita Train Whistle Sings'', while still a Monkee. Subsequently, his solo career had a few here and there.
* InsufferableGenius: At his worst.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: "Different Drum".
* {{Kaiju}}: The pleasantly understated opening of ''Elephant Parts'' features a seemingly innocuous performance of his 1970 hit single with the First National Band... umm, "Rodan"? Uh oh, there goes Nezilla destroying Tokyo again...
* LargeHam: A kind of understated, restrained kind, but when he goes all out... oh boy!
* MoodWhiplash / SomethingCompletelyDifferent: "The Candidate" off the ''And the Hits...'' album is a strange, dissonant rumination over the fleeting world of politics... and it opens the second side.
* NewSoundAlbum: The 1976 release of ''From a Radio Engine to a Photon Wing'' (in case the name didn't clue you in) marked the beginning of Nesmith's new style of experimental pop with a finger on the pulse of popular consciousness. No country to be found in here.
* NiceHat: His infamous wool cap, of course, but also his array of cowboy hats.
* NonAppearingTitle: Nez was ''very'' fond of these.
* NonindicativeName: ''And the Hits Just Keep On Comin'''. Ironically, one of the songs on the album -- his own version of "Different Drum" -- was a hit... for Linda Ronstadt, that is.
* OneHitWonder: The First National Band had two hit singles, but only "Rio" made any sort of impact as far as Nesmith's solo career is concerned.
* PopStarComposer: For ''Film/TimeriderTheAdventureOfLyleSwann'', albeit being his own creation.
* RearrangeTheSong: The two later installments of his trilogy included re-recordings of "Listen to the Band" and "Propinquity (I've Just Begun to Care)", originally recorded under The Monkees' name.
* RecordProducer: Notably, one of the first instances of The Monkees' wresting control from their "puppet master" Don Kirschner was Nesmith becoming producer. This, of course, was under the stipulation that he would not be performing in any sessions he produced.
* RecycledTheSeries: ''Television Parts'', a short-lived series in the same vein as ''Elephant Parts''.
* RealMenLoveJesus: "Dedicated Friend".
--> "Has anybody here seen [[LargeHam GEE-SUSS]]? / He is gone from where I laid him down..."
* RefrainFromAssuming: ''Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma'' appears to parody this somewhat with the parenthesized titles on the album cover. Most of them fit, anyway.
* RuleOfThree: His album trilogy, natch. What's more, each album cover bears one of the three colors of the American flag, and each includes one classic country cover.
* RunningGag: In ''Elephant Parts''.
-->"We [performed outlandish experiment X]... Just to prove a point!"
* SingleStanzaSong: "Beyond the Blue Horizon".
* SpiritualSuccessor: ''The Garden'' is this to ''The Prison'', being referred to as a sort of companion piece.
* StudioChatter: Fitting in with the informal feel of his country albums, Nez is prone to tell Red Rhodes to "play [his] magic steel" or words to that effect, whenever a solo section approaches.
* SubliminalAdvertising: ''Ranch Stash'' has a "buy this record" message hidden in Nez's ear, giving off this vibe.
* TakeThisJobAndShoveIt: "Bye, Bye, Bye". Might even be autobiographical.
-->"And then I cabled my folks / I said call my boss / And you can tell him / Where I left [[VerbalTic thee]] truck / And then I went out and stocked up / On enchiladas and beer"
* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: ''And the Hits...'' consists of precious little else than Nez and his guitar, longtime compatriot Red Rhodes on pedal steel, standard country chords and the truth.
* TimeCapsule: The song "Capsule" is one in audio form. Intended to be opened "a hundred years from now" ("now" being 1978), it paints a rather bleak picture of late '70s consumer society.
-->"...We all kept pluggin' like a salmon up [[VerbalTic thee]] stream... some of us were dancing, but some us were screaming, but we tried; oh, how we tried."
* TropeCodifier: As touched upon in the intro there, Nesmith pretty much invented modern music video, expanding on the concept of "promotional videos" that had been around for decades.
* VerbalTic: Has a notable habit of pronouncing "the" as "thee".
* WordSaladLyrics: Oh man, when Nez gets weird he gets ''really'' weird. Just... makes no sense, man.
* WordSaladTitle: ''Elephant Parts'', anyone?
* XtremeKoolLetterz: "Thanx for the Ride".
* YourCheatingHeart: Wouldn't be country without it, would it?
----
