Where's That Sound Coming From Presents: Questions But No Answers with Brian Marchese
Dateline December 30 2023. The spinoff is now the main event. Welcome to Where's That Sound Coming From Presents: Questions But No Answers! Yes, WTSCF has become what might be the only podcast centered on the musical career of a person whom I consider to be one of the most creative, if underrated and misunderstood, musical minds of the mid-late 20th Century: the late, great Michael Nesmith. I made a list of 75 songs he recorded between 1965-2016 which I feel support my opinion (mostly original, but I had to include a handful of wonderful cover versions) and I intend to devote a 30-60 min episode to each song (though if appropriate I might clump two together in one episode). True to Nez's own philosophy of letting ideas unfold in time and space to allow for growth, I only have a general idea of what I want these episodes to be like. There will indeed be academic presentation of facts, dates and names. There will also be, when applicable, comparative airings of different versions of the featured songs (demos, live versions, alternate versions, even interesting cover versions; and if the featured song IS a cover, I'll go into old school WTSCF mode and play/discuss the original). If I'm strapped for time or if I've already said what I wanted to say in the past, I might repurpose an old WTSCF episode that sufficiently discusses, say, "How Insensitive" or "She Thinks I Still Care". I'd like to have occasional guests to banter about the featured song--distinguished friends to start, but if a notable stranger with relevant, amazing stories or knowledge gets in touch, I might ask them to come on as well. I already have interviews I've done (between 2013-2022) with drummer John Ware, bassist David MacKay and Nez himself to draw on, but you never know who might come out of the woodwork. Why did I decide to call this new series "Questions But No Answers" and not, say, "Marble Canyons of the Sky" (my second choice) or "Listening" (a perfectly succinct title suggested by Andrew Sandoval, to whom perhaps I should have "listened" to ha ha). Well, because, while I want to always be accurate and correct when presenting facts, I also would like to whimsically muse about unknowables. Like, where in the world did "Writing Wrongs" come from? Or did Neil Young or The Eagles ever site "Propinquity" as inspiring certain songs? (you'll have to tune in to Episode 2 to hear which ones). I want to have fun with some mental gymnastics, as well as with amusing but relevant soundbites, and when guests come on I want to have engaging and enlightening but fun conversations and repartee. As the series progresses and grows, we'll also note Nez's growth as an artist--the singer, songwriter and guitar player. And yes, the complex person. However, I don't want to spend more time than necessary delving into his personal life or his non-musical ventures. There will be little to no time spent on Repo Man, Neftoon Zamora, Videoranch, Liquid Paper, wives or girlfriends. There'll be passing references to weed or metaphysics, but only if relevant. I plan to make this chronological because, again, I like charting the growth and evolution and out-of-(seemingly) nowhere ideas that marked his musical career. Please get in touch at wheresthatsoundcomingfrom@gmail.com with comments, questions, ideas, suggestions, stories and substantial monetary donations. I do all this myself, at home--the research, the script, the recording and editing--sometimes with a cat sleeping on my lap or reaching for the headphone and microphone. I do hope you enjoy this series. I realize this shift might lose some listeners that hoped I would continue the old format, or thought I might evolve into a Grateful Dead podcast. But crikey--there are enough of those to wade through and nothing left to say. Ah, but PodWorld is sorely in need of a series on Michael Nesmith. Disclaimer: though I was hired by Nez himself to write for Videoranch in 2017, this series is all me. Enjoy!
Episodes
The Summer of Love has begun and psychedelia is in the air. This episode features two songs that were recorded on June 19, 1967 and which reflect the trippiness that defined the moment. Two of the players on these tracks had spent the previous days and nights at the Monterey Pop Festival and somehow still retained enough brain cells to be at the studio 300 miles south the next afternoon, ready to put in a 10 hour day. I’ll...
A fine addition to the list of pop song "Don't"s...(Don't Bother Me, Don't Let Me Down, Don't Wait For Me, Don't Be Cruel, Don't Worry Baby, Don't Cry No Tears, Don't Ask Me Why, Don't Forget Me, Don't Leave Me, Don't Lie To Me, Don't Make Promises, Don't Stand So Close to Me, Don't Stop Believin', Don't Think Twice...ARRGH! So many restrictions! And that's just off the top of my head..). Anyway..."Don't Call On Me", writt...
I'm starting off 2025 by interrupting the chronological flow of this series, but it's well worth it. This is an interview I conducted in 2022 with bassist David MacKay, whose playing, in my opinion, is as responsible for the sound of late 70's Nez as Red Rhodes' steel was to early 70's Nez. Why did I wait three years to publish this? A timeline might be in order:
--Spring 2019-No longer with Videoranch but still on goo...
Happy 2025 to all! Especially to those of you who have been digging QBNA and telling your Nezhead or Nezcurious friends. Who doesn't love an unplanned quickie? Here's a five minute rundown of what I've got planned for 2025. Enjoy. HOWEVER... shortly after recording this I listened to an amazing, eye-opening, heartwarming interview that I conducted in 2022 with a very important, yet seldom mentioned player in the Nez story,...
Nesmith sneaks a Byrds-y country rocker about better living through chemistry onto an album marketed to 11 year olds. He also borrows the intro to a Stones song. With Nesmith on 12-string rhythm guitar, Tork on 6-string lead guitar and John London on bass (and Dolenz on drums) I kinda wish this was the touring lineup. Woulda been a more versatile, impressive sounding band with a fuller sound. I meant to riff on this though...
I'm back! Is anyone still here? Sorry about the longer-than-intended break. Life happens. Also, excuse the fact that I introduce this as Episode 9, disregarding the summer reruns. I'll be taking those down so it's not so confusing. This episode traces the life of one of the best, most concise pop songs Nesmith ever wrote and I think the only song in the Monkees catalog that was released in a session musician version as wel...
I decided to sneak one more in before my summer break! It's short, like the episodes were supposed to be when I started this series.....What a perfect little power folk pop song this is, and the first song on the legendary Headquarters album (Nez thought up that title, ya know). The four Monkees, plus Chip Douglas, jangleburst their way through the door into real band-ness, saying "here we come, but FOR REAL this time!!"...
A song described as “A Breezy Little Pop Tune” by its author, Michael Nesmith, “The Girl I Knew Somewhere” was too poppy for Jon Herald, too sloppy for Don Kirshner, but just exactly perfect to be the world’s first taste of The Monkees performing as a real band when it was released on March 8, 1967, as the B-side to “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You”. The A-side represented the past, the B-side, the future (at least the v...
Where is Mary going to? Is she safe from the persistent creepo who won't leave her alone? Is this the same Mary as in "Walkin' the Dog"? Was Michael Blessing much more of a manufactured image than Monkee Mike? Is Bloomfield's guitar solo the best part of the Butterfield version? Why isn't Micky ready? How great of a live band were The Monkees on the 1968 fall tour? When is the only time that Nez seriously pissed off your h...
Q: What happens when the most stubbornly independent Monkee is forced by a man he dislikes to do something he dislikes, such as co-write a song with strangers who happen to be one of the most successful songwriting teams of the century? A: We get a great song with a lot of versions to hear and discuss. What we don't get is a lot of facts, so this episode, while guest-free, does have some voice-acting and creative nonfictio...
"Papa Gene's Blues" is one of Michael Nesmith's most endearing and enduring songs. I didn't set out to make this a 90 minute episode, but it's an important song with a lot of history; plus I had two guests and they were both full of so much insight. Firstly there's Lynda Wiles of Cornwall (UK), a Nezhead since the BBC debuted the Monkees television series on New Years Eve 1966. She runs multiple Nez-related web destination...
"All The King's Horses" seems like a song that Mike Nesmith would've written specifically for a Season One Monkees TV show romp (and indeed it was used as such), but in fact, he wrote and recorded it during the Mike and John and Bill period. It also seems like an instant bubblegum pop classic that Don Kirshner would have wanted to include on either of the first two Monkees albums, but it never found its way onto an album u...
Use two four-syllable words that each contain a "q" in a sentence. Oh, that's easy. Ready?
Michael Nesmith's composition "Propinquity" is one of the most ubiquitous in his catalog.
How ubiquitous? There are three studio versions, five live versions and many cover versions. I don't cover them all in this episode but I do my best to play and discuss most of them. The first version of it that I ever heard gave me a ve...
Happy 2024 and welcome to the first episode of Questions But No Answers. Before he auditioned for, and got the part on The Monkees television series, thus altering the course of his music career and indeed his life, Michael Nesmith was an ambitious, industrious and prolific new singer-songwriter trying to make a name for himself, first as a folkie on the San Antonio, TX scene and then as a "folk n' roller" in his new home ...
Dateline December 30 2023. The spinoff is now the main event. Welcome to Where's That Sound Coming From Presents: Questions But No Answers! Yes, WTSCF has become what might be the only podcast centered on the musical career of a person whom I consider to be one of the most creative, if underrated and misunderstood, musical minds of the mid-late 20th Century: the late, great Michael Nesmith. I made a list of 75 songs he rec...
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