https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6qB8fECsWU

Michael Nesmith performs Metaphysics, November 1975

Michael Nesmith’s visit to London in late November 1975, to promote The Prison: A Book with a Sound Track gave him the opportunity to perform his metaphysics for an audience.

“I was in one of the self-concept moments where I wanted to be the travelling poet,” Nez reflected this Thanksgiving. “I wanted to do it like an academic does a travelling lecture series.”

Recordings survive from two shows. There is a broadcast recording from his short solo set at the Paris Theatre for BBC Radio, recorded November 27, 1975. The set showcases Nez’s songwriting and guitar playing. When asked about his stand out guitar performance on Silver Moon at the Paris Theatre, Nez said, “I’m never better than when I play by myself.” It is one of the few surviving recordings from the 1970s of him playing solo without Red Rhodes or a band. That night he played three hit songs then gave a summary performance of The Prison. He embedded the metaphysics into the book with a soundtrack format and story itself. “Now lateral shift out here with me for just a minute,” Nez said while introducing Dance Between the Raindrops, before launching into an explanation of how the mental state associated with listening while reading is “the place.” He teaches a similar metaphysical lesson later at Drury Lane.

Unfortunately only a bootleg remains of his full concert at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, recorded November 30, 1975. The concert is unique in that Nez “opens” for himself. “It seemed like there was a natural bifurcation in the show between the academic metaphysics, the academic cosmos, and the spiritual play life of music, song, and dance,” Nez explained while reflecting on the concert.

The first set of the night was for “music, song, and dance.” Nez played his Gibson J200 with a full band: Red Rhodes on pedal steel guitar, Steven Leach on electric guitar, Dave Pegg on bass, and Dave Mattacks on drums. As Nez shares between songs, the band only got together that day. The arrangements are understandably loose, but what they communicate is incredible. The audience hears the beautiful bones of the songs. Red’s playing is particularly fluid, painting chromatic colorscapes that reflect the soundwaves, guiding the band through the notes. Nez plays many of the same guitar arrangements as he did at the BBC. At times Nez’s voice and Red’s playing harmonize to create a sound that resonates into physicality like a musical orb before the listener. It is exquisite. I wish we could hear better.

In November 1975, Nez was an experienced searcher on the brink of his discovery: the teachings of Paul Stark Seeley. These concerts came just months before he formally studied Christian Science and began music video, his second multimedia invention. At Drury Lane, he opens his second set by telling a story about being “worried” because a fan had accused him of being on a religious trip. The story is clearly ironic, but it also draws attention to the inadequacy of the phrase “religious trip” when describing someone’s metaphysical journey. These are not small or irrelevant ideas. At its root, The Prison is about healing and Love — found in the Infinite.

If you’re new to his solo works, these two concert recordings are an enlightening introduction to his artistic ideas and self-deprecating, bizarre humor — not to mention Red Rhodes’s magnificent musical landscapes.

Written by Melodie Akers

Listen to Paris Theatre on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/77yYFgRJziFtXXPAMuE32x?si=rO7Mzcr3R8m6R

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