The Monkees: All Things Monkees (Official Thread)

[Hurdy Gurdy Man]

I just hate to see squandered natural talent.Sometimes I think about the people who auditioned for the Monkees but didn't make the cut.Stephen Stills,Harry Nilsson, and I think one of Three Dog Night.Even after all their wonderful post-Monkees audition greatness,would they have been stuck with the same "one of the Monkees" stigma for life too?And,then,of course,there's Mike Nesmith,a man largely responsible for the advent of MTV and who played a sizeable role in the development of Country-Rock.No matter what he accomplishes,he'll always be "Wool Hat" in the minds of the average under-informed oldies radio listener.

 

[METALPRIEST]

45 Years Ago: The Monkees’ ‘The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees’ Album Released



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By the time they released ‘The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees’ in April 1968, the Monkees had been on a nonstop roller-coaster ride for a solid 15 months. Record after record, live appearances and shooting their TV show made for an exceptionally busy schedule. Except for the soundtrack to their movie ‘Head,’ which came out later in the year, ’The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees’ would be the last album released by the original group.

Featuring more than half of its material written by band members, ‘The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees’ ranks as a favorite among longtime fans. Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork supply guitar and are aided by familiar names from Los Angeles’ famous studio brigade, including Al Casey, Joe Osbourne and Hal Blaine.

The album kicks off with one of Davy Jones‘ finest compositions, ‘Dream World,’ followed by one of Nesmith’s best, the Micky Dolenz-sung ’Auntie’s Municipal Court,’ which casts a glowing haze of country psychedelia and is co-written by Paul Revere and the Raiders guitarist Keith Allison. Another Nesmith winner, ‘Tapioca Tundra,’ follows, and it’s still hard to pin down 45 years later. The band even pulled this one out of mothballs on their tour last year to the delight of many Nez-heads.

‘Daydream Believer’ is one of the Monkees most beloved songs and for good reason: It’s one of the most perfect pop songs you’ll ever hear. Davy Jones’ signature tune hasn’t aged a bit. Nesmith’s ‘Writing Wrongs,’ on the other hand, features a darker, ominous vibe accompanied by heavy pounding drums and moody organ. Then, out of nowhere, the song changes course midway, soaring into a weird jazz odyssey that borders on proto prog before returning to the heavy thud that dominated the first half of the song. Clocking in at more than five minutes, ‘Writing Wrongs’ is the last thing you’d expect from a “manufactured pop group.”

Things get back to normal for ‘I’ll Be Back Upon My Feet’ and ‘P.O. Box 9847,’ which is penned by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, who were responsible for so many of the Monkees’ early hits. John Lennon was inspired by an old show poster for ‘Sgt. Pepper’s”’ ’Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite’; ‘The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees” ’The Poster’ tries to tell a similar tale, but it’s not nearly as good as the Beatles song. ‘Magnolia Simms,’ another oddball Nesmith cut, attempts to replicate an old 1920s recording with vinyl pops and hisses and a skipping needle. Even though Nesmith hated ‘Valleri,’ another hit single, it stands out on the album and features great work by session guitarist Louis Shelton.

The record ends with ‘Zor and Zam,’ one of the group’s all-time best. Set to marching-band drums, the song slowly builds over an antiwar tale. “Two little kings playing a game / They gave a war and nobody came” may have gone over the heads of the Monkees’ preteen audience at the time, but it served as a perfect complement to the album’s jazz-inspired freakouts, vintage ragtime riffs and psychedelic pop. Maybe because of this, ‘The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees’ was the first of the group’s albums to not reach No.1 (it stalled at No. 3). But it did sell a million copies, primarily fueled by the chart-topping ‘Daydream Believer.’ Still, it’s one of the band’s finest records, a great representation of the era and an even better pop album.
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[Hurdy Gurdy Man]

I was just recently considering getting that one along with maybe the soundtrack of "Head".More often than not,a decent selection of Monkees on vinyl is available at favorite "used" shop.Even some original Colgems pressings."Valerie" is probably my favorite Monkees single.Good ol' Boyce and Hart for ya!

 

[METALPRIEST]

I was just recently considering getting that one along with maybe the soundtrack of "Head".More often than not,a decent selection of Monkees on vinyl is available at favorite "used" shop.Even some original Colgems pressings."Valerie" is probably my favorite Monkees single.Good ol' Boyce and Hart for ya!

Birds Bees and The Monkees is a killer album. Out of the two you mentioned I would stand by HEAD

 

[Hurdy Gurdy Man]

As much as their attempts at more serious pop forms didn't particularly impress too many critics,I've really enjoyed what I've heard of it.Maybe this phase of their career as a band is a bit of a fringe taste sort of thing.You have to admire the Monkees' hutzpah in at least trying to deviate from their earlier bubblegum meaderings.Peter Tork's and Mike Nesmith's talents and visions in particular weren't done must justice by their inclusions in the project.Of course,most more casual Monkees fans may not be aware that the band was the first in the major artist area to incorporate the Moog synthesizer into their works and that Mickey Dolenz actually owned one of the instruments first ones made available for sale.Similarly,the Beatles actually lost some of their fan base when THEY ventured out into the world of the ethereal and esoteric.Some critics actually HATED "Sgt. Pepper" upon its June 1967 American release because people in large numbers only wanted the breezy innocence of lighter idioms such as ones provided by "She Loves You" and "I Want TO Hold Your Hand",etc.They failed to recognize the fact that these were REAL PEOPLE of growth and maturity and not just establishment puppets.Particularly John and George.

 

[Mr. Bob Dobolina]

The Monkees have announced a summer tour. Micky, Mike and Peter will be hitting the road again. According to Micky, the response to their brief tour last year, which was a tribute to their fallen band mate Davy Jones, was so positive they felt they needed to do it again. He also said that Mike is really enjoying playing the old tunes again. They'll do two dates in Southern California (one in San Diego, the other in Long Beach). I'll be there, for sure.

 

[METALPRIEST]

I saw that!! Very cool they are going out again

 

[METALPRIEST]

46 Years Ago: Jimi Hendrix Joins Monkees Tour



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What do you get when you cross a psychedelic guitar genius with one of the world’s bestselling pop bands? A frustrated guitarist, a disappointed band and a bewildered and confused audience.

As unlikely as the match-up sounds, the Jimi Hendrix Experience joined the Monkees during the summer of 1967 for a short run of concerts. The rising guitarist joined the tour on its first date in Jacksonville, Fla., on July 8, and stuck it out for six more shows, exiting after a run of three concerts at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in New York City on July 14, 15 and 16.

Both Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork had attended the Monterey International Pop Festival in June and saw Hendrix’s groundbreaking performance. Like everyone else, they were knocked out. “Micky said, ‘We gotta get this guy,’” recalled Tork in the documentary ‘The Monkees Story.’ “Micky was just enthusiastic about his music.”

“You can’t imagine what it must have been like for an act like Jimi Hendrix opening for the Monkees,” Dolenz wrote in his autobiography ‘I’m a Believer.’ “It was evident from the start that we were witness to a rare and phenomenal talent. I would stand in the wings and watch and listen in awe.”

Tales from the tour reveal that everyone involved got along great. “He was such a sweet guy,” said Tork. “It was really just a pleasure to have him around for company.” But the group’s young audiences, as well as their parents who often accompanied them at shows, didn’t feel the same way.

“[The parents] were probably not too crazy about having to sit through a Monkees concert,” said Dolenz, “much lees see this black guy in a psychedelic Day-Glo blouse, playing music from hell, holding his guitar like he was f—ing it, then lighting it on fire … Jimi would amble out onto the stage, fire up the amps and break into ‘Purple Haze,’ and the kids in the audience would instantly drown him out with, ‘We Want Davy!!’ God, it was embarrassing.”

Tork said that “it didn’t cross anybody’s mind that it wasn’t gonna fly.” But rumors began to surface that Hendrix was asked to leave the tour after the Daughters of the American Revolution complained about his “lewd and indecent” conduct during performances.

Legend has it that Hendrix flipped off the audience as he left the stage on that final date. Either way, Hendrix decided enough was enough, and asked to be released from his contract. “I was sorry to see him go,” wrote Dolenz. “We did have some great times, running around the New York City psychedelic scene like kids in a candy store, tripping at the Electric Circus and jamming until all hours of the night in the hotel room.”

Shortly after Hendrix left the tour, both ‘Purple Haze’ and ‘Are You Experienced?’ started to climb the charts, revolutionizing modern music in the process. And in certain parts of the world, the Monkees were viewed with just as much respect. While they were considered mostly a disposable pop band in the U.S., in the U.K. the Monkees were seen in a different, more kaleidoscopic light. A Melody Maker critic wrote about the band’s tour of England in 1967: ”I suddenly realized the Monkees were actually freaking out properly and much better than many of the much vaunted psychedelic groups.”
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[METALPRIEST]

45 Years Ago

HEAD Premieres!!!!



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[bohohippybeatnic]

A great and much maligned band.

The UNCUT Monkees Live Summer Tour 2001 King Bicuit DVD - YouTube

Daydream Believer Monkees TV Movie - YouTube

Hey Hey It's The Monkees (TV reunion 97) - YouTube