Editing Michael Nesmith (section)

===The Monkees===
[[File:The Monkees 1966.JPG|left|upright|thumb|The Monkees in 1966 (Nesmith at bottom right)]]
From 1965 to early 1970, Nesmith, along with [[Micky Dolenz]], [[Peter Tork]], and [[Davy Jones (musician)|Davy Jones]], was a member of the television pop-rock band [[the Monkees]], created for the television [[The Monkees (TV series)|situation comedy of the same name]]. Nesmith won his role largely by appearing nonchalant when he auditioned.<ref name=":0"/> He rode his motorcycle to the audition, and wore a [[Knit cap|bobble hat]] to keep his hair out of his eyes; producers [[Bob Rafelson]] and [[Bert Schneider]] remembered the "wool hat guy" and called Nesmith back.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

Once he was cast, [[Screen Gems]] bought his songs so they could be used in the show. Many of the songs Nesmith wrote for the Monkees, such as "[[The Girl I Knew Somewhere]]", "Mary, Mary",<ref name=":0"/> and "[[Listen to the Band (song)|Listen to the Band]]" became minor hits. One song he wrote, "You Just May Be the One", is in mixed meter, interspersing 5/4 bars into an otherwise 4/4 structure.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

[[File:The Monkees May 1967.jpg|thumb|Nesmith (center) with [[The Monkees (TV series)|the Monkees]] in 1967]]

Even before Colgems and [[Don Kirshner]]'s surreptitious release of the second Monkees album, ''[[More of the Monkees]]'', without the knowledge or consent of the four musician-actors, they came to be frustrated by their studio-manufactured "bubblegum" image. Within weeks of the album's release, Nesmith successfully lobbied the group's creators, Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, that the Monkees be allowed to play their instruments on future records. During a group meeting with musical supervisor Kirshner and Colgems lawyer Herb Moelis, in a suite at the [[Beverly Hills Hotel]], each actor received a $250,000 royalties check; yet Nesmith still threatened to quit. Moelis rebuked him: "You'd better read your contract". Nesmith defiantly punched a hole in the wall, declaring to Moelis, "That could have been your face, motherfucker!" Weeks later, due to a breach of (verbal) agreement over the next single release, which was promised to Nesmith by Rafelson and Schneider, Nesmith led the charge in ousting Kirshner, effectively giving the four youths complete artistic and production control of their output. The group finally worked as a true four-man rock group on 1967's ''[[Headquarters (the Monkees album)|Headquarters]]''—despite Jones and Dolenz having limited instrumental skills, studio time being pricey and retakes being costly.<ref name="Sandoval, Andrew 2001"/>

During the band's first independent press conference, Nesmith called ''More of the Monkees'' "probably the worst record in the history of the world", partly due to rushed, shoddy studio engineering. The band took a hit to its artistic credibility when fans learned the four had not played all the instruments on the first two albums. However, sales continued to be profitable. ''Headquarters'' sold 2 million copies, down 2 million units from its predecessor, but still reached the No. 1 spot on Billboard, falling only to ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' a week later and remaining at No. 2 all through the entire 1967 [[Summer of Love]].<ref name="Sandoval, Andrew 2001"/>

For the remaining five Monkees LPs, ironically, the original Kirshner formula of hired studio musicians and songwriters again became the norm, although Nesmith, Tork, Dolenz and Jones contributed about 50 percent of the original compositions, Nesmith the majority of those.<ref name="Sandoval, Andrew 2001"/> By the end of the Monkees run, Nesmith was withholding many of his original song ideas from Monkees albums, planning to release them in his post-Monkees solo career. 

Nesmith's last contractual Monkees commitment was a commercial for [[Kool-Aid]] and [[Nerf]] balls in April 1970 (fittingly, the spot ends with Nesmith frowning and saying, "Enerf's enerf!"). As the band's sales declined, Nesmith asked to be released from his contract, despite it costing him: "I had three years left ... at $150,000 [equivalent to $1.16 million in 2022] a year."{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} He remained in a financial bind until 1980, when he received his inheritance from his mother's estate. In a 1980 interview with ''[[Playboy]]'', he said of that time: "I had to start telling little tales to the tax man while they were putting tags on the furniture."{{citation needed|date=June 2019}}

====Return to the Monkees====
Nesmith did not participate in the Monkees' 20th anniversary reunion,<ref name=":0"/> due to contractual obligations with his production company, but he did appear during an encore with the three other Monkees at the [[Greek Theatre (Los Angeles)|Greek Theatre]] on September 7, 1986. In a 1987 interview for [[Nick Rocks]], Nesmith stated, "When Peter called up and said 'we're going to go out, do you want to go?' I was booked. But, if you get to L.A., I'll play."<ref>Nick Rocks, January 1987 Profile of Michael Nesmith</ref>

Nesmith next joined his fellow Monkees for the 1986 "Monkees Christmas Medley" video for [[MTV]] appearing throughout dressed/disguised as [[Santa Claus]] until the finale, when he revealed his identity to all.<ref>{{cite web|via=[[YouTube]]|title=The Monkees – MTV Christmas Medley '86 (Better Source, Remastered) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY1zZjYnp00 |access-date=2023-07-22}}</ref>

{{Quote box
 |quote  = "The question I am most often asked is 'how does it feel to be up with the guys after all this time?' Well, it's a mixture of feelings and all of them are good. But the one that comes to mind is the feeling of profound gratitude."
 |source = Michael Nesmith, speaking about being part of [[The Monkees]] at the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] Star award in 1989.
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In 1989, Nesmith reunited with the other members of the Monkees: Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, and Davy Jones. Prior to the official kickoff of The Monkees '89 tour (on July 1 in [[Winnipeg, Manitoba]], Canada) all four Monkees gathered in Los Angeles, California, making two live radio appearances ([[KLOS]]-FM: ''[[The Mark & Brian Show|The Mark and Brian Show]]'' on June 28 and [[KIIS-FM|KIIS]] Radio on June 30) to promote their reunion concert at the [[Universal Amphitheatre]] where they appeared together as a foursome live on stage on July 9. The following day, all four band members were in attendance as the Monkees received a [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] star.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.monkeeslivealmanac.com/universal-amphitheatre-1989-all-four-monkees-reunited.html|title=Monkees at the Universal Amphitheatre 1989|website=The Monkees Live Almanac}}</ref>

In 1995, Nesmith was again reunited with the Monkees to record their studio album (and first to feature all four since ''[[Head (The Monkees album)|Head]]'' in 1968), titled ''[[Justus (album)|Justus]]'', released in 1996. He also wrote and directed a Monkees reunion television special, ''[[Hey, Hey, It's the Monkees]]''. To support the reunion, Nesmith, Jones, Dolenz, and Tork briefly toured the UK in 1997.<ref name=":0"/>  The UK tour was the last appearance of all four Monkees performing together.
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Nesmith and Dolenz.png|thumb|left|Nesmith in concert with [[Micky Dolenz]] on  "The Monkees Present: The Mike and Micky Show", 2019]] -->
In 2012–2014, after Jones's [[Davy Jones (musician)#Death|death]], Nesmith reunited with Dolenz and Tork to perform concerts throughout the United States. Backed with a seven-piece band that included Nesmith's son, Christian,<ref>"A fresh and electric look back from 3 Monkees", Chicago Tribune, November 17, 2012</ref> the trio performed 27 songs from [[The Monkees discography]] ("[[Daydream Believer]]" was sung by the audience).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vintagevinylnews.com/2012/11/set-list-monkees-open-reunion-tour.html |title=VVN Music: Set List: Monkees Open Reunion Tour @ Escondido, CA |website=Vintagevinylnews.com |date=2012-11-10 |access-date=2014-04-11}}</ref> When asked why he had decided to return to the Monkees, Nesmith stated, "I never really left. It is a part of my youth that is always active in my thoughts and part of my overall work as an artist. It stays in a special place."<ref>Green, Andy, "Q&A: Michael Nesmith on His Surprising Return to the Monkees", Rolling Stones Magazine, August 8, 2012</ref>

In 2016, Nesmith contributed to the Monkees' 50th anniversary album ''[[Good Times (The Monkees album)|Good Times!]]''. He additionally contributed a song, "I Know What I Know", and was reportedly "thrilled" at the outcome of the album.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/michael-nesmith-thrilled-monkees-album/story?id=39426908|title=The Monkees' Michael Nesmith 'Thrilled' With New Album|date=May 27, 2016|work=ABC News}}</ref> Despite not touring with Dolenz and Tork for the majority of the Monkees' 50th anniversary reunion in 2016, Nesmith did twice fill in for the ailing Peter Tork and appeared for the final show of the tour, which featured the three surviving band members (the last show to do so).

In 2018, Nesmith and Dolenz toured together as a duo for the first time under the banner "The Monkees Present: The Mike and Micky Show". The tour was cut short four dates out due to Nesmith having health issues (he was flown back home and proceeded to have [[quadruple bypass surgery]]). He contributed two songs to the Monkees' 13th studio album, ''[[Christmas Party (The Monkees album)|Christmas Party]]'' (the group's first Christmas album), released on October 12, 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hann |first=Michael |date=15 December 2018 |title=The Monkees: Christmas Party review – festive mishmash best when guests chime in |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/dec/14/the-monkees-christmas-party-review-festive-mishmash-best-when-guests-chime-in |access-date=2 February 2025 |website=The Guardian}}</ref>

In 2019, Nesmith and Dolenz reunited again to make up the cancelled dates of the tour and adding several more dates, including a planned tour of Australia and New Zealand. Nesmith and Dolenz announced a follow-up tour, "An Evening with the Monkees", to begin in early 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|title=UPDATED: THE MONKEES - NEW TOUR DATES AND LIVE ALBUM COMING IN 2020|url=https://www.monkees.com/article/updated-the-monkees-new-tour-dates-and-live-album-coming-in-2020|access-date=2021-12-11|website=Monkees.com|language=en}}</ref> The tour was delayed, however, due the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. It was announced by Nesmith and Dolenz on May 4, 2021, that the Monkees would disband following a farewell tour. Dubbed "The Monkees Farewell Tour", the tour consisted of over 40 dates in the United States from September to November. However, because of restrictions due to the ongoing [[COVID-19 pandemic]], they were not able to play shows in Canada, the UK or Australia. The final date of the tour was held on November 14, 2021, at the [[Greek Theatre (Los Angeles)|Greek Theatre]] in Los Angeles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://consequence.net/2021/05/the-monkees-2021-farewell-tour/|title=The Monkees announce 2021 farewell tour|website=Consequence.net|date=May 3, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=326339412186535&set=a.293270005493476|title=Facebook|website=Facebook.com|access-date=August 8, 2021}}</ref>