7a Records
While The Monkees‘ Michael Nesmith currently is recovering from recent heart surgery, he’s also preparing to launch a tour next month with a new version of his early-’70s country-rock group, The First National Band. Meanwhile, a live album documenting a January 2018 concert by Nesmith and The First National Band Redux at the famed Los Angeles-area venue The Troubadour has just been released on CD and as a two-LP vinyl set.
Live at The Troubadour features mostly renditions of songs from Nesmith and The First National Band’s three studio albums — 1970’s Magnetic South and Loose Salute and 1971’s Nevada Fighter. It also includes a versions of the Nesmith-penned Monkees tune “Papa Gene’s Blues and Mike’s “Different Drum,” which the Linda Ronstadt-fronted The Stone Poneys made a top-20 hit in 1967.
“I’ve never been happier with a record,” says Nesmith. “I’ve never been more proud and pleased to get it out in front of people, and play it and leave it with the people, in their care. It’s at the top of my form. It’s the best I can do. So if I die now, that was it, guys.”
The Live at The Troubadour CD comes housed in a digipak set and includes a 16-page booklet with rare photos and extensive liner notes penned by Nesmith. The LP set is pressed on opaque gold vinyl, and includes the photos and liner notes. Signed copies of both can be purchased at VideoRanch3D.com.
As previously reported, 75-year-old Nesmith underwent a quadruple bypass operation after falling ill before a June 21 concert near Philadelphia while touring with his Monkees band mate Micky Dolenz. The last four dates of the trek were postponed.
Here are Nesmith’s tour dates with The First National Band Redux:
9/7 — Houston, TX, The Heights Theatre
9/8 — Austin, TX, The Paramount Theatre
9/9 — Dallas, TX, The Kessler Theatre
9/11 — Nashville, TN, CMA Theatre
9/13 — Chicago, IL, Old Town School of Folk Music
9/14 — Royal Oak, MI, Royal Oak Music Theatre
9/15 — Kent, OH, The Kent Stage
9/17 — Alexandria, VA, The Birchmere
9/19 — Somerville, MA, The Somerville Theatre
9/20 — New York, NY, The Concert Hall at New York Society of Ethical Culture
9/22 — Phoenixville, PA, The Colonial Theatre
9/23 — Ridgefield, CT, The Ridgefield Playhouse
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