Robert Michael Nesmith, the multifaceted artist, is best recognized for his iconic blue wool hat with pompom. Born in Saint Joseph's Hospital in downtown Houston, Texas, Nesmith grew up as a self-proclaimed "failure," stating, "I just didn't do anything." He turned his life around, however, by becoming a session guitarist on the East Coast before relocating to Los Angeles with his wife Phyllis Barbour in 1965.
Nesmith secured a record contract with Colpix Records and released several 45s, as well as appearing on Lloyd Thaxton's syndicated teen-dance show. When he won the role for The Monkees, he was the first to envision the direction of the show and music. Nesmith produced tracks for The Monkees before TV series filming began, with his composition "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" being one of the recorded tracks.
The hiring of Don Kirshner ultimately led to Nesmith taking a controlling involvement in the group's albums, but the strong egos of each member led to eventual breakage. Nesmith left the group after 1969 and went on to join longtime bassist friend John London and pedal-steel ace Orville "Red" Rhodes for The First National Band, which pioneered the mixture of country music with rock 'n' roll.
The song "Joanne" off their first album, "Magnetic South," became a big hit, but The First National Band broke up after three albums. Nesmith and Rhodes continued with the Second National Band, whose records received critical acclaim but failed to achieve commercial success.
