In the summer of 1970, Mike Nesmith took a gamble that would reshape American popular music throughout the new decade.
Fresh off stepping away from The Monkees and trading prime-time television stardom for artistic freedom, he released “Joanne.” The gentle, bittersweet track, backed by the First National Band, soared into the Billboard Top 20 and caught the entire industry off guard.
The song, which appeared on his first post-Monkees album, Magnetic South, peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in late 1970. With the sounds of a pedal steel guitar and falsetto, “Joanne” didn’t just give Nesmith a signature solo hit; it was part of the groundwork for the country rock movement years before the rest of the industry caught up.
Long before the Eagles took country rock to stadiums, artists like The Byrds had already cracked the door open with 1968’s Sweetheart of the Rodeo. But when Mike Nesmith released “Joanne” in 1970, he proved a pop star could embrace genuine country roots and actually score a Top-21 hit.
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When the First National Band hit the club circuit, playing legendary spots like LA’s Troubadour, Nesmith tried to draw a line in the sand. He reportedly asked venue promoters to leave his Monkees past out of the billing, wanting his new music to speak for itself. But promoters couldn’t resist leaning on his TV fame to sell tickets.
In an interview with Creem Magazine, as reprinted by the website Cool Cherry Cream, Nesmith stated that country rock “was a style that came naturally to me. I had been playing the club circuit at that time, and music in more of a folk vein was at its peak of popularity.”
He continued, “The fusion of rock and folk wasn’t a conscious direction; it just happened as such. John London later played with me as a member of the First National Band. Anyway, we were discovered playing in a club by Frankie Laine’s girlfriend, who really liked the way we sounded.”
Nesmith discussed the song’s success. He said, “[‘Joanne’ should have been a gold single] but it wasn’t. I have sales reports from various distributors who say that the record sold 1.2 million copies. But RCA’s figures say that it only sold 325 thousand. So consequently, we didn’t receive a gold record for it.”
Monkees fans have long suspected that the success of “Joanne” wasn’t a total surprise. The bones of the song were already hiding in plain sight two years before it was released.
Nesmith wrote a song called “Magnolia Simms” for The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees. The same melody as what would become “Joanne” is present, with the addition of Red Rhodes’ pedal steel guitar. He turned a Monkees-era album track into an unforgettable classic.
If you were listening to the radio back in 1970, chances are “Joanne” holds a special place in your heart. It didn’t need flashy production or loud guitars; it just needed a beautiful melody and a little bit of heart. Over 50 years later, the song still hits all the right notes.
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