Michael Nesmith - And the Hits... / Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch

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Free Music Notes for And the Hits... / Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch

Free Music Review: It's Not For Nothing--
Hit: 5 Stars

Included on this compilation are two of Michael's solo works, the first of which, "And The Hits Just Keep On Comin'" is argueably his best work (and my very favorite of his albums). If you have a passion for real country music, then you need to check this out. If you adore the cry of a steel guitar, then you absolutely must buy it. Spotlighted on this album is Michael with his acoustic rhythm guitar and the legendary O.J. "Red" Rhodes on the pedal steel. Rhodes may have been the greatest pedal steel player of all time, and here he's playing some of the best material from one of the finest songwriters of all time. (To my mind, the only steel player who comes close today is Gary "Truckstop" Morse, currently playing with Dwight Yoakam's band.)

"And the Hits..." is a solid body of work, breathtakingly beautiful in its simplistic presentation. It opens with the tear-soaked "Tomorrow & Me" and closes with the upbeat, optimistic "Roll with the Flow," which features a seemingly endless fade-out of steel and acoustic. For me, as a stand-alone CD, "And the Hits Just Keep On Comin'" can be played on continuous repeat for hours without getting old.

However, here it is backed up with another of Michael's solo works, "Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash."

"Ranch Stash" is a fairly straightforward country-rock album, much more country than most of what radio calls country music today. There are only seven tracks on the single album "Ranch Stash," but between Michael's own mournful "Continuing" to the sweet and gentle "Prairie Lullaby" (written by Billy Hill), there is enough music to more than make up for a seemly small number of songs for an album. His own version of "Some of Shelley's Blues" may not be quite as bluegrass in flavor as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's more popular cover, but on the whole, I prefer Michael's more solid take on the tune.

Michael Nesmith is undoubtedly one of the fathers of today's pioneering country-rock, and I can't help but think if more so-called "country" singers today would find and listen to his early 70's work they might understand why country fans are so disillusioned with what "country" radio is feeding them.

Michael has stopped making music for various reasons, and it's a tremendous loss -- but every so often he takes up his pen and writes again. In this age of cookie-cutter pop-fluff, some of Michael's introspective, thoughtful lyrics and heart-touching, always original melodies would be a welcome change.

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