Michael Nesmith Audio Diary Parts 1 & 2

In this rare recording, which isn’t so much a diary as it is an open letter in audio form, a young Michael Nesmith goes on a long rant about the misconceptions he feels that adults have about the youth of his time and how he thinks they can do a better job of dealing with each other. Not much is known about the tape’s provenance, and if anyone can provide any context, please do so in the comments. (Actual facts, not speculation.)

As near as I can tell from the contents, this was recorded in late 1960 when Nesmith was 17 years old (he mentions that 1910 was 50 years ago), or possibly 1961, by which point he’d have been 18 (he also mentions President Kennedy, who was elected in November 1960 and inaugurated in January 1961). The sound quality isn’t great given when the tape was recorded, but it does get better as it goes on, particularly once it gets to Side 2/Part 2 (about 45 minutes in). I’ve done the best I can in terms of boosting and improving the levels.

The recording has been available online since shortly after the turn of the millenium as MP3 downloads in two parts, but I only recently discovered it myself. The sites that had it (and still do) are https://www.monkees.net/category/music/mp3 and http://old.monkees.net/nez/sound.htm , but unfortunately, there was something wrong with Part 1 where the MP3 is flawed and unplayable. It might have been okay back in the day (early 2000s I mean), but my modern computer couldn’t do a thing with it. But with a lot of effort using older hardware and software, I was able to resurrect the flawed Part 1. Because of the rarity of this recording, I decided to make it available on YouTube so that Monkees/Michael Nesmith fans could have a chance to hear it in its entirety. Of course, no copyright infringment is intended. I just wanted to make this rare recording of the late and great Michael Nesmith available once again.