Get Well Soon, Marianne Faithfull! #5: The Monkee And The Fox

Today is the final day of Get Well Soon, Marianne Faithfull! Week.

Today’s quote comes from a man whose songwriting and performances shaped my consciousness—for better and worse—far more than I’d normally admit.

And when this man did whatever it was he did that started MTV, he shaped the consciousness of the whole modern world—for better and worse.

But more importantly than this consciousness-shaping stuff, this man actually has met Marianne Faithfull.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mike Nesmith:

I was staying with John Lennon during the recording of the Sgt. Pepper album. He would come home and play the acetates from the day’s sessions. “What do you think of that sound? Do you think there’s too much bass on there?” And of course I just didn’t have any way to talk to him because he was just rearranging my musical realities at the time. I said, “This is just miraculous. This is some of the most innovative and creative and interesting stuff I’ve ever heard.” And he showed me a picture of the album cover. So when he said, “Do you want to come down and hang?” I was there. The only thing I can really remember about the sessions, however, was Marianne Faithfull—whoa. I thought, “This is the rock and roll mama of all time.” And I was unabashedly just stricken. She was with Jagger. When she wandered into the room, I thought, “Oh, this is what the fuss is all about.” She was some stone fox, I’ll tell you.

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Marianne Faithfull, you stone fox, get well soon!