Last weekend I was sorry to hear of the death of Mike Nesmith of 'Hey, Hey we're The Monkees' fame. In fact of the four members of the band he was the one that musically stood out for me. He especially attempted to address the situation regarding the group performing and contributing their own compositions, which The Monkees didn't succeeding in achieving until their third album release.

Initially I thought I'd just post the evergreen 'Daydream Believer' and then I discovered Mike Nesmith wrote the song 'Different Drum'. 

Originally in a band called The Greenbriar Boys, the song was released in 1966 on an album. Mike Nesmith then offered the song to the The Monkees TV show's producers, who turned him down, though he did manage to perform an intentionally awful version during an episode called "Too Many Girls" in a talent contest as a folk singer called Billy Roy Hodstetter. Go back to 6:15 on a Saturday evening in 1967 and enjoy watching the whole episode here (*) or skip to the 16:10 minute mark to witness this unrecognisable rendition. 

Anyway the song was picked up, later that year by the trio The Stone Poneys, who saw it as a folk ballad, however a more complex baroque pop version emerged and the recording saw session musicians replace regular band members Kenny Edwards and Bobby Kimmel, with only Linda Ronstadt singing the vocals. 

The single reached No.13 on the Billboard Hot 100. Fared even better in New Zealand and Australia though I can't find any information regarding the UK release. But the track did turn up on 1974 compilation LP by Linda Ronstadt. 

So this is thinking of Mike Nesmith [1942-2021]

"You and I travel to the beat of a different drum"

I first clocked the writing talents of Mike Nesmith on the 'B' side of a single, a now rather dated sounding 'Tapioca Tundra' - this oddly named song is an experimental piece of poetry put to music. Worth a listen.

(*) Each episode featured a song, this show had 'I'm A Believer' at the end.