Reply With Quote
Mike Nesmith 'disowned' the Monkees some time ago.
Daydream Believer is my favourite song of theirs.
I have been a fan of The Monkees since I was seven, when I had their,"Little Bit Me A Little Bit You " single as a birthday present. It was the first time I ever requested an adult record. The song was magic to me as was the b side,"The Girl I Knew Somwhere.
A couple of years after they split up in 1970, I borrowed their Pieces Caprcirorn and Jones album which I playd to death.
Many years later I got back into the Monkees when I bought someof their re-issued original albums on the Rhino label.
Early albums like The Monkees and More of the Monkees were a right mish mash of styles. There were the bubblegum material that they were forced to sing on the tv soundtrack for the Don Kirshner organisation and there were some fine songs from the brill buildng writers like Neil Diamond and Carole King, Davey Jones did some decidedly dodgy numbers, neo music hall songs and twee recitations. Mike Nesmiths compositons were also thrown in the mix.
After the series was cancelled there was the soundtrack from the movie, "Head" and their latter day offering like Monkees Present and Instant Replay made for interesing listening.
As far the hit singles were concerned there was hardly a dud amongst them, I loved Daydream Beliver and Pleasant Valley Sunday.
Over the years they have reformed, their live summer tour recorded in the early part of this decade is captured on DVD.
A reasoably enjoyable show, Mickey Dolenz is still in fine fettle, I am not sure what to make of Davey Jones he is a little embarassing but very engergetic, Peter Tork was very impressive, an underrated talent, Mike Nesmith wasnt on this tour.
Mike Nesmith 'disowned' the Monkees some time ago.
Daydream Believer is my favourite song of theirs.
Enjoy some of their music very much and "Head" was a fun, crazy film.
I saw them on a reunion tour sans Mike in 1986. They were really great! Mickey is still my favorite Monkee. My favorite songs are "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" and "Last Train to Clarksville."
name='torinfan']"Last Train to Clarksville."
Did you know that this song was a protest at the Vietnam War?
name='Dandelion']Did you know that this song was a protest at the Vietnam War?
Yes, I did. Boyce and Hart wrote is as a protest song. Of course there were other protest songs from that era too, like Graham Nash's "Oh! Camil (The Winter Soldier)".
Neil Young's Ohio....
Nesmiths lyrics for "Going To Rio" song are great
And I think I will travel to Rio
Using the music for flight,
There's nothing I know of in Rio,
But it's something to do with the night.
It's only a whimsical notion
To fly down to Rio tonight,
And I probably won't fly down to Rio,
But then again, I just might.
I was staggered to learn that the record 'Sugar Sugar' by The Archies was intended to be the next big hit for The Monkees before the boys flexed their artistic muscle and sacked their song-writer. 'Sugar Sugar' was the first Single I ever bought with my own money.......
I used to love their TV show. Which came first? That? or Help!
I love the steel guitar in RIO. I believe HELP came before the Monkees TV show...
Someday Man is probably my fave Monkees track.
Help! (1965)name='Dandelion']I love the steel guitar in RIO. I believe HELP came before the Monkees TV show...
"The Monkees" (1966)
I wonder who made the most money.................
They had some pretty cool guests on too... IMHO
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIkCz504HX8]YouTube - Tim Buckley - song to the siren[/ame]
Saw Peter Tork at Leicester Arts Centre about 8 years ago and was goodly impressed. Bought his album 'Stranger Things Have Happened' at the gig - not a bad little album, must dig it out and listen again. Remember a really good song called 'Sea Change' and a nifty one called 'Milkshake' which had Mickey and Mike on backing vocals, though think this was a cover version of someone or other.
Mike Nesmith is a very underrated musical talent IMHO and his albums with the First National Band are well worth getting.
My old mate Hal Blaine played on some of their recordings.
The Monkees played on some of their recordingsname='vincenzo']My old mate Hal Blaine played on some of their recordings.
Steve
So did Larry Knechtel, Joe Osborn, Tommy Tedesco, Glen Campbell and Leon Russell.
The Monkees are often ridiculed because session players were on the records and not them and because they were a "manufactured" band.No one complains about the Beach Boys using session players on many of their recordings,it was and still is common practice for chart orientated acts.The band was put together primarily as actors to appear in a series about a pop group.The music was a by-product.I have seen the old chestnut that none of the Monkees were musicians many times.Nesmith had chart action in Texas before the Monkees came along and Peter Tork was a folk musician.Jones had a background in musical theatre(as had Steve marriott of the Small Faces).The headquarters album features at least Nesmith and Tork among the sesion players and is a good mid 60's pop/rock album.They were never going to be as good musically as the Dead or the Airplane but they are much better than their reputation in some quarters of the music press would suggest.
Nesmith's post Monkees albums are excellent.
name='Moor Larkin']
I was staggered to learn that the record 'Sugar Sugar' by The Archies was intended to be the next big hit for The Monkees before the boys flexed their artistic muscle and sacked their song-writer. 'Sugar Sugar' was the first Single I ever bought with my own money.......
Interesting that the monkees were a manufactured group and the Archies didn't exist as a group with Sugar Sugar either, IIRC
There's a difference between using session musicians as backing musicians and having the session musicians as the only musicians on the recordname='woody']The Monkees are often ridiculed because session players were on the records and not them and because they were a "manufactured" band.No one complains about the Beach Boys using session players on many of their recordings,it was and still is common practice for chart orientated acts.
Steve
mike nesmiths mum invented tipex
Posting Permissions
