Mike Nesmith Said This One Monkees Deep Cut Was the ‘Most Requested’ During His 2012 Solo Tour
The Monkees singer and songwriter Mike Nesmith delighted fans when he scheduled a 2012 tour after an absence of 21 years from the road. The tour featured some of his greatest hits as a solo artist, country rock pioneer, and Monkees favorites. However, there was one deep cut from the seminal band‘s fifth studio album that was his “most requested” that particular tour.
Mike Nesmith took a stage hiatus beginning in 1991
In 2012, Nesmith surprised fans by announcing not one but two tours. His first run was a solo tour with his band. A second run followed, with surviving Monkees members Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork.
Prior, it had been 21 years since Nesmith hit the road with the First National Band. He wrote a hit single, “Joanne,” and the 1970 albums Magnetic South and Loose Salute helped define the genre of country rock alongside Gram Parsons and the Byrds.
He also skipped reunion tours in the 1980s with The Monkees. While some interpreted this as shunning his past, it was quite the contrary. He told Rolling Stone in 2013. “It was a nice part of the resume. It was fun for me and a great time of my life. Where do you want to be in the Sixties except in the middle of rock & roll, hanging out with the scene? London was an absolute blast, and so was LA back then. There was so much going on back then.”
Mike Nesmith said this Monkees deep cut was the ‘most requested’ during his 2012 tour
Nesmith cited one deep cut from The Monkees’ 1968 album, The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees, as a fan favorite and one of the most requested songs of the 2012 tour.
Goldmine Magazine spoke to Nesmith about the song they called a highlight. The publication asked Nesmith what inspired the tune and why he chose to play it live. His response was surprising.
“It was one of those ‘deep cuts’ from a later album and had grown in approval and acceptance over the years. When we decided to go on tour, it became one of the most requested songs for us to do,” Nesmith explained.
“The song itself is about when the performer realizes that the songs they sing belong to the people — the fans and the crowds — that love the song, and the performer is only there in service to that relationship. “It cannot be a part of me — for now; it’s part of you.”
‘Tapioca Tundra’ was honored with a prime spot in the final season of ‘Better Call Saul’
Better Call Saul writer and director Thomas Schnauz is admittedly a huge Monkees fan. He told TV Guide using “Tapioca Tundra” in the series’ final season was a watershed moment in his career.
“That’s the original Mike Nesmith demo of the song [Tapioca Tundra]. Yeah, it’s from the 1960s. He recorded it, eventually becoming a Monkees’ song much more psychedelic than the version on the record. But I’m a huge Monkees fan, I saw Mike Nesmith do that song on an acoustic guitar in concert, and it always stuck with me.
“I told our music supervisor, Thomas Golubić, you know, it’s on YouTube, him on stage, can we get it? But he found the original demo. It was on a Monkees compilation. And I was like, ‘Great; I want to use this.’ My first directing for the universe was Breaking Bad [Season 5, Episode 7], and I used a Monkees song, ‘Goin’ Down.’ This is my last directing for the universe, and I get to use another Monkees song,” Schnauz explained.
