April 09, 2016

Don't Know and Don't Care about the "Rock Hall" but I Do Like What Mike Nesmith Says Here

Here's Mike Nesmith on a Facebook post, working his way towards explaining why he doesn't feel he has or can have a useful or interesting opinion on whether or not the Monkees or anyone else should be in the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." Like it says, I couldn't care less about the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" but I was struck by this conceit of "people sitting in the center of their own hurricane." I think it's quite insightful, and true:

When The Beatles were recording Sgt. Peppers, Phyllis and I spent a few days with John and Cynthia at their home, and one in the studio with “the boys." That’s where those pictures of John and I come from – the “Day in the Life” session.

The minute I had the wherewithal –cachet and money – I raced to London and looked up John.

During the ‘60s it seemed to me London was the center of the World and The Beatles were the center of London and the Sgt Pepper session was the center of The Beatles.
It was an extraordinary time, I thought, and I wanted to get as close as I could to the heart of it.

But like a hurricane the center was not stormy or tumultuous. It was exciting, but it was calm, and to an extent peaceful. The confidence of the art permeated the atmosphere. Serene – and really, really fun.

Then I discovered the reason for this.

During that time in one of our longer, more reflective, talks I realized that John was not aware of who The Beatles were. Of course he could not be. He was clueless in this regard. He had never seen or experienced them. In the strange paradox of fame, none of The Beatles ever saw The Beatles the way we did. Certainly not the way I did. I loved them beyond my ability to express it.

As the years passed and I met more and more exceptional people sitting in the center of their own hurricane I saw they all shared this same sensibility. None of them could actually know the force of their own work.

With no intention of comparison of work, I am in something of the same position with The Monkees. It was one of my private hurricanes – long gone and calm now, leaving me with great memories and artifacts – but with a critical element hidden to me in a most profound way.

Indeed. I don’t even know what the element is.

(via Ann Althouse, who gets there via Steve Miller.)

Posted by Dr. Frank at April 9, 2016 03:01 PM