Mike Nesmith is Better Than and More Important Than Gram Parsons

[MomsMobley]

I feel strongly both ways. When I'm traveling to the north country fair, i like to tote a great, authentic singer-songwriter record or two or a dozen, I like a man's or lady's first few, that's where it's usually at. Don't matter whose is best, you just gotta like it or love it or not. And for the record, when I go long, I go with the first two Burrito records as the benchmark recordings of Parsons' life, good sheet smokin hippy music, comparable to Workingman's and Baxter's..... let's roll another and keep me happy all the time.

Is this true, Amir? "Burrito Deluxe" kinda, mostly sucks, remember? Even side one of "Gilded" nearly fucking dies with the atrocious soul covers.

You know what's better than anything but the best parts of "Gilded"? The Hillmen album.

And the Dillards shit all over the Burritos and all Gram generally. And that's no cut on Chris per se, he was a good musician trying to make a career but compare to what what Gosdin bros did together and separately.

I try not yo "blame" Gram Parsons fans because they generally come from a background of rock-oriented ignorance but please; the extended discussion of Gram's place in country or 'country-rock' is inane.

As for Gene Clark, there's NO WAY he's 'overrated'; just because he's gotten SOME ovrerdue attention in recent years, he was a virtual non-entity for decades, Byrds excluded, and that's NOT even his best work, which includes

* Gene Clark w/ Gosdin Bros

* first Dillard & Clark lp & a few parts of the second

* "White Light" = masterpiece

* "Roadmaster" = near masterpiece

* "No Other" = towering masterpiece, Thomas Jefferson Kaye included

* contribution to the "American Dreamer" soundtrack = stunning

booze +++ took it's toll, obviously, but he comes back mostly strong w/ that RSO album (which is NOT a masterpiece, OK) and then more booze +++, more tolling, but... moments.

This was Bear's Choice, it's my choice too--

Edited January 26, 2015 by MomsMobley

[MomsMobley]

My impression of Gram Parsons isn't what it was when I was 18 and damn near worshipped the guy, but I sure don't think he's nothing. He had a spirit in him that comes through in his best work, and nothing he did was less than fine. Now, is it fair to put him against James Carr? That's not fair to anyone. Like most he's suffered his share of overinflated posthumous blabbery but that's not fair to hold against him either. Is what it is.

compare & contrast...

it's this kind of shit that makes people think hey... maybe white man is the devil! fucking ponderous & painful both... at least Roger's take reminds us of all the better Byrds records that preceded it.

Edited January 26, 2015 by MomsMobley

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

k i dont usu delve into these sort of random x-vs.x. threads, but since this is the jazz board i where i usu talk about jazz, i thought it would be fun to share how one of the greatest live rock & roll performances ive ever seen, up there with ELP 1996 and The Who 2000....was....The Monkees 2013. nesmith was amazing but it was mickey, who completely stole the show. mickey as a r&r lead singer is up there with daltrey and such, im telling you. it was insane. it was one of the most uptempo 1million m.p.h concerts ive ever seen, start to finish-

Edited January 26, 2015 by chewy

[Joe]

k i dont usu delve into these sort of random x-vs.x. threads, but since this is the jazz board i where i usu talk about jazz, i thought it would be fun to share how one of the greatest live rock & roll performances ive ever seen, up there with ELP 1996 and The Who 2000....was....The Monkees 2013. nesmith was amazing but it was mickey, who completely stole the show. mickey as a r&r lead singer is up there with daltrey and such, im telling you. it was insane. it was one of the most uptempo 1million m.p.h concerts ive ever seen, start to finish-

Saw that same tour and I gotta agree... it was pretty special. I mean, it was kind of like a touring Vegas review, but it was put together with great intelligence and even love. I was talking with an acquaintance afterward about it (I'd not known he had gone to the same show), and we were kind of laughing about the "deep cuts" the band played (e.g., "The Door Into Summer," most of the HEAD soundtrack), but, as he rather sincerely noted, "Yeah, it was like hearing THE WHITE ALBUM played live!"

[Leeway]

The Monkees = better junior high dance music.

The Byrds = better "smoking" music

At least that's how it looked in the now-dim recesses of the 1960s.

[AmirBagachelles]

Moms - I have two FBB compilations on CD, and the one I play most often only has the best from Deluxe. So I can't say whether it mostly sucks (I doubt it though) until I listen to my other comp which has all of it.... I like those Gene Clark records, yes genius songwriter and musician. I play No Other most often, and I will dig out my Dillards based on your reminder. However: I find GC's vocal style so narrow, unreaching/lazy, and ultimately fatiguing (note: first time in my life I swear that I have ever uttered "fatiguing"). I have turned off Gene Clark CDs on occasion to escape that voice. despite loving the music.

Edited January 29, 2015 by AmirBagachelles

[John L]

I would like to hear a bit more about why Mike Nesmith is more important than Gram Parsons. More important in what way? I am not a big Gram Parsons fan, myself, but Parsons did influence and inspire many people. Did Nesmith?