Pieces Aquarius Capricorn Jones,LTD Monkees (1967)

Hurdy Gurdy Man

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After being nearly ruthlessly slammed by critics everywhere upon the releases of their first two Pre-Fab efforts,the Monkees decided to remedy the situation by eliminating what they saw as a major hinderance towards their critical success,the plastic approach of having studio musicians record the instrumental tracks while the boys merely provided vocals with a bit of actual playing by the "band" themselves kept to extreme minimum.The result here was "Headquarters",an LP considerably more worthwhile than its comparatively woeful predecessors.The process reached a new peak with "Pieces,Capricorn Aquarius and Jones LTD",which features the first ever rock recording to feature the Moog Synthesizer("Star Collector")as well as a wonderfully written(Carole King/Jerry Goffin)top five single("Pleasant Valley Sunday"),Among the other tunes,I've always been a bit romanced by the Tommy Boyce/Bobby Harty penned compositons "Love is Only Sleeping" and "Words".Here,the pop author duo showcases their penchant for writing stereotypical yet more than satisfying late 1960's pop.Some moments(most notably the Mike Nesmith written "Daily Nightly")do present themselves a bit pretentiously,but ther remains a certain charm about the NBC-TVengineered project that does manage to pervade throughout.The set also includes Harry Nilsson's dainty yet effective "Cuddly Toy".Along with "Daily Nightly", Mike Nesmith also provided the breezy country number "What Am I Doing Hangin' Round" and the mysteriously toned "Door Into Summer",the former of which lends credence towards claims that Nesmith was somewhat responsible for the future advent of country rock while "Salesman" is quite an apt album opener.....................
 

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