V01-T16 First National Rag

.....The last track of volume 1 is a free-standing piece but has all the characteristics I look for in a good interstitial. It's short, it speaks directly to the listener and is self-referential in the sense that it acknowledges its format. It could only be used as the end of a two sided format however, and wouldn't translate very well to one-sided digital discs, which is a shame.

Volume 1: THE PITCHFORK APPROACH, track 16

• 00:21 "FIRST NATIONAL RAG" (music by Orville Rhodes)
• performed by Mike Nesmith
• original source: LP MAGNETIC SOUTH RCA Victor LSP 4371 (US) 1970
• and my source: CD MAGNETIC SOUTH Awareness AWCD 1023 (UK) 1991

.....Michael Nesmith produced a lavishly orchestrated album of songs he had written for the Monkees (some of which they hadn't recorded or released) while he was still with the group in 1968. Depending on who you listen to it was an in-joke or a vanity project or a tax write-off or serious resume building. When the group gradually fell apart over the following two years he rebounded most easily. He spent the first half of the 70's recording six underappreciated albums for RCA, the first of which was MAGNETIC SOUTH. He then formed the Pacific Arts label to release his new albums, reissue the RCA ones and eventually pioneer music video formats.

.....The instrumental portion of this track was written by band member Red Rhodes and named for the First National Band, Nesmith's group for the first three albums. (Yes, he also formed a Second National Band.) Rhodes was a talented and much in demand session man on the west coast, possibly the second go-to guy for pedal steel guitar after Sneaky Pete. There was something in there that appealed to me, that sound that reminded me of a vinyl record that isn't warped but sounds like it's being played on a record player that isn't maintaining a consistent speed. There's an irony to consciously choosing an experience unique to playing vinyl records to replicate on a cassette and there's a parallel in the choice for the final track on Volume 2.

.....Speaking of Volume 2, I'm going to be taking a two day break to gather my notes from 1993 and do some appropriate updating and maybe a few 'where-are-they-now's. On my 'off-days' I'll recommend things that I've noticed among current releases.