OK so I like the Monkee's big deal

Subject: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: olddude
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 04:04 PM

I do Ok, so go ahead I can take it, I even like Chongo ... I do
Hey Hey he's a monkey also .. Pleasant Vally Sunday was just on the radio. I like it ... I like it, I like it ... I even had me a Monkee's lunch box I did .. dang thing don't know where it is ..

I confess

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 04:41 PM

The Monkees? What's not to like? We've even bought Head on DVD last summer for an extra special treat. Love them. Mike Nesmith is a musical genius. The whole package. Perfect.

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Big Ballad Singer
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 04:51 PM

A lot of people don't realize that even though there were session musicians on 90% of the Monkees' recordings, at least three of them can actually play. In order of pretty-good-ness, relative least to greatest:

Peter Tork: Plays guitar and banjo that I know of. Not sure of anything else. Has a popular club act called Shoe Suede Blues, or at least he did last I looked.

Mickey Dolenz: Is a pretty good guitar player from what I understand. That, of course, means "pretty good guitar player for someone who does not make a living at the guitar by any stretch". He's also a competent drummer.

Mike Nesmith: Easily the most talented instrumentalist of the lot... he plays guitar very well, can fingerpick quite nicely. Don't know if he plays any other instruments, but he is also a heck of a songwriter. "Different Drum" was a HUGE hit for Linda Ronstadt.

I've never seen Davy Jones play anything but a tambourine... I believe he faked whatever he played on the TV show; not sure about their concerts.

Truth be told, although 3/4 of them would have had ZERO chance in the music biz without the success of that show, at least we can be grateful that there were good songs by good pop writers (Goffin/King and Neil Diamond among others) on a show aimed at teens. Certainly better than all the "Bobbys" and Frankie and his ilk.

Besides, Mike Nesmith's mom invented Liquid Paper (white-out). Nesmith was also heavily involved in the creation of what eventually became the music-video format. Just think... how many GREAT DVDs of your favorite trad bands and soloists would not exist today if it were not for... gasp... the MONKEES?!? If Nesmith had not used his royalties to work to advance the idea of music videos being made available to home viewers, you might not have Rainbow Quest or Solas or anyone else on Netflix.

Thanks, Monkees!

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 04:54 PM

I absolutely love bubble gum pop from the golden era
and would genuinely enjoy playing lesser known Archies LP tracks
live in our band if they'd only see reason...


..though we did cover (I'm not your) Stepping Stone a couple of years before the Sex Pistols had a stab at it...

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: GUEST,matt milton
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 05:03 PM

Head. Headquarters. Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and whateveritwas.

Great albums.

Fantastic for harmonizing along to in a car while driving the backroads of France. But maybe that was just me, last summer.

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: gnu
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 05:04 PM

Hey hey!

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 05:15 PM

Deke Leonard's iconic 7171551 (iconic to fans of The Manband anyway) is a direct tribute to Mike Nesmith, the title being a numeric rendering of Papa Nes. For those who've never heard it (or never heard of Man or Deke) and for those who have:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SWn2JlB3Y0

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Bobert
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 09:52 PM

Hey... These guys were good and had great material!!!

B~

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Leadfingers
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 10:34 PM

For a Manufactured Group they were a HELL of a lot better than some of todays Boy Bands

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 03:28 AM

I'm not a fan, but they were better than ANY ' boy ' band that came later, they had some good humour and fun.

Dave H

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: John P
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 02:42 PM

So there I was, taking a break from a music party, sitting in an empty room noodling some blues on my tenor guitar when three youngsters - maybe 18 years old -- walked in and one of them said, "Dude, do you know any Monkees?" I about fell off my chair. I played them I'm a Believer, You're Not My Stepping Stone, and Last Train to Clarksville. How did people who were born 25 years after the Monkees were famous know about them? How did they know to ask the one guy at a party who actually knew some of the songs? After bothering my friends with Monkees songs for years, I was actually ASKED to play them . . . weird.

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: melodeonboy
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 03:07 PM

Who is this Monkee bloke? And what's this big deal of his?

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 03:32 PM

Well one of them started as the boy in 'Champion, the Wonder Horse' (if you're old enough to remember that - I used to wonder what an arawizzon was).

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: jacqui.c
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 03:36 PM

Davy Jones is an actor - before the Monkees he was in Coronation Street as, if I remember right, Ena Sharples's grandson.

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 03:39 PM

Ena Sharple's grandson? Respect! That just adds cred to the whole concept; Zappa was an occasional Monkey guest & featured in the film. Most everyone I know loves 'em.

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: pdq
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 03:50 PM

"Daydream Believer" was written by John Stewart, perhaps the most under-appreciated songwriter in US history.

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 04:23 PM

So what if the entire purpose was cynical and manipulative
exploitation of pre-teen spending power..

The songwriters, singers, session musicians, studio production teams
gathered together to manufacture the Archies and The Monkees
were amongst the finest creative talent ever assembled together in pop history...



..dare anyone mention Josie and the Pussycats ???

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: olddude
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 04:31 PM

most everyone I know hates them except of course for me ... I loved their music ... heck it made me happy and that is all music is about

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: GUEST,Tinker from Chicago
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 05:22 PM

Dolenz once commented something like this: "People say I was a bad rock drummer. They forget that I was an actor PLAYING a rock drummer."

It's sort of like expecting Timothy Dalton to be a good spy.

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Spleen Cringe
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 05:24 PM

I like 'em too! And I really like this:

Robert Wyatt sings I'm a Believer

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Little Robyn
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 05:31 PM

Peter started out as a folkie! I used to like him best.
And I'm sure I saw Davie playing a guitar and singing on a TV show recently.
Sometimes at work, as I wheeled one of my old ladies down to the bathroom, I would sing "Here we come, walking down the street....."
When the Monkees first appeared on telly I was working at the NZBC TV1 studios so I saw the programmes regularly. I loved them!
"I wanna be free......"
Robyn

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: catspaw49
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 05:38 PM

Hey Dan.....Your "toothmate" Karen is exactly the right age and was a huge Monkees fan. They did have some great writers and were very talented in their own right as I later learned through assorted TV docus. At the time however I was more a curmudgeon of pop than a listener/ enthusiast. Additionally, the only Clarksville I had been to was real pit and I wouldn't have gone back there on a train or magic carpet for all the tea in China.

I was so much older then; I'm younger than that now.


Spaw

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Spleen Cringe
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 06:25 PM

Another great cover! Steppin' Stone (though you could say the Monkees version was a cover of Paul Revere and the Raiders...)

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: kendall
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 07:20 PM

They sang flat.

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: catspaw49
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 07:22 PM

No they didn't Kendall. I've seen lots of film of them singing standing upright...................


Spaw

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: GUEST,femuse
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 07:30 PM

I am more than old enough to remember the Monkees, and I'd rather forget about them.

<< most everyone I know hates them >>
I never hated them. I just tried to ignore them.

The 2010 bluegrass cover of "Last Train to Clarksville" by the Grascals went high on the BG charts, and for me, that was a reminder of why I never cared much for the Monkees.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIY_Aluk1hs

At the time, my favorite rock band were the Kinks.
I found that their lyrics had a lot more depth [even for a French speaking person as myself]

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Genie
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 01:37 AM

Who cares if some of them aren't instrumentalists?
Check out this a cappella rendition of Riu Riu Chiu by The Monkees.

Genie

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Gurney
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 02:55 AM

Come on, now, Old Dude! When you make a statement like the one you started this thread with, you should have the decency to hang down your head, and maybe scuff your toe a little!





Well, OK. They weren't The Beatles, but not too bad.

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 08:22 AM

I wonder what happened to my Monkees record - ans. my mum threw it away with other stuff of mine still at her place when she & dad moved out of Sydney.

Other mothers might have given warning ...

sandra (still suffering the loss)

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 10:07 AM

I liked The Monkees' music until my younger sisters started liking it. Since nothing those little twerps liked could possibly be cool, I moved on to more "mature" music like The Rolling Stones.

In a way, I wish I'd stayed a fan a bit longer. My hometown was a stop on their first tour and The Jimi Hendrix Experience was opening act. Some neighborhood friends went, but I stayed home. I wouldn't be turned on to Jimi's music for another few months, but it may have happened a bit sooner if I'd still liked The Monkees enough to go to the show.

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: olddude
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 10:10 AM

Naw Gurney, I loved them, my friends all teased me cause they hated them. I still like their music I dooooooooo

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: pdq
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 10:32 AM

In one of his songs, Fender-slinging ace Bill Kirchen referred to the Monkeys as the 'Prefab Four', affectionately of course.

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: John P
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 04:52 PM

They sang flat.

Often, yes. On the other hand, I always thought Mickey Dolenz was unusually good at putting a song across -- nice phrasing, accents, and rhythm. Nice feel. Davy Jones' voice never did anything for me.

I've been playing "I'm a Believer" with a slower finger-picking ballad feel. It works pretty well, but if there are other people around and they start singing along it seems to automatically go up to 60s pop music speed.

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Big Ballad Singer
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 05:23 PM

"I Wanna Be Free" also makes for a lovely finger-picked ballad.

I regularly play "Papa Gene's Blues" in performances. It's just a damned pretty song when you slow it down and give it the sort of country-rock feel that Nesmith gives it in his shows.

"I'm A Believer" is what turned me on to Neil Diamond's early albums. "Just For You" is an absolutely awesome pop-rock record.

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: pdq
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 08:07 PM

Isn't "Just For You" an old Sam Cooke song?

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Mark Ross
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 10:50 PM

I remember Peter showing up at the Four Winds, the basket house I use to play in back in the '60's in the Village, to do a turn for old times sake. i also remember Steve Stills doing the same thing.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: GUEST,Big Ballad Singer
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 11:01 PM

pdq, I meant "Just For You" the album, by Neil Diamond, not a particular song.

Every once in a while, there are rumors that ol' "Wool Hat" will tour again... wish he would play somewhere near me. I'd pay well, often and FAST to see him live in concert.

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Bobert
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 11:05 PM

Ummmm, gotta agree with pdq...

"Daydream Believer" was written by one of the best, and least appreciated, song writers of our time: John Stewart....

B~

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Genie
Date: 16 Jul 11 - 01:07 AM

I also like Nesmith's "Some Of Shelley's Blues."

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Jul 11 - 01:08 AM

JohnP - kewl!

OldDude, I always loved them, too!

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Dave Roberts
Date: 16 Jul 11 - 05:33 AM

Just thought I'd add my voice to teh general chorus of approval. The Monkees were brilliant. I've been a fan ever since I first heard them and nothing the musical snobs can do has ever made me change my mind.

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: fat B****rd
Date: 16 Jul 11 - 07:19 AM

Micky Dolenz was Corky in Circus Boy and didn't Stephen Stills apply for the job as a Monkee ??

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 16 Jul 11 - 07:32 AM

I was hugely in love with all of them when I was young. :0) Davy was my favourite though..although Micky and Mike weren't far behind, but then, neither was Pete.

I used to feel really happy when I knew they were going to be on the telly. Like Dan, their music touched my Happiness Gene deeply..and right now I'm sitting here listening to Day Dream Believer, with the biggest sloppy grin on my face. :0)

Thanks, Dan...for the lovely memories.

The Monkees, best darn Folk Band in the World! ;0)


And yes, Micky as Circus Boy, grew up with him in that...Ahh, Happy Days!

And cue The Fonz...

Right, gotta dash, gotta catch the last train to Clarksville...

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 16 Jul 11 - 07:38 AM

Ah yes, Circus Boy, so maybe not Champion the Wonder Horse unless he was in both. (It was a VERY long time ago and I was quite small.)

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Big Ballad Singer
Date: 16 Jul 11 - 07:46 AM

My wife met Davy about 20-25 years ago... he was booked to perform at a county fair. He acted like a total jerk because someone was late with his lobster dinner (they were selling steamed lobsters at the fair). He was very curt and rude to her and others that were excited to meet him.

Well, she got his autograph, anyway, FWIW.

Anyone ever play a Gretsch Monkees guitar? I've played several. Some were pretty good... others, like a lot of mid-level Gretsch guitars of their period, were garbage. Still, seeing the guitar-shaped Monkees logo on the pickguard... that was pretty cool.

I also once decided that I was going to buy myself a Gretsch 12-string so I could play like Mike.

Yeah... no. Turns out his blond Gretsch 12 was a one-of-a-kind instrument built specifically for him by Gretsch.

Oh, well.

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: GUEST,Don Wise
Date: 16 Jul 11 - 08:48 AM

We all have our crosses to bear.....................

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: kendall
Date: 16 Jul 11 - 09:54 AM

Genie, that video was a bit of alright.
I didn't dislike them because they couldn't stay on key, I also like Johnnie Cash. It's what they sing that makes the difference.

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 16 Jul 11 - 02:09 PM

My wife said "Because of your obsession with 'The Monkees' I'm leaving you"... at first I thought she was joking 'And then I saw her face"

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: ClaireBear
Date: 16 Jul 11 - 04:17 PM

Olddude, when I saw the title of this thread, somehow I knew you would be responsible for starting it. How? I dunno...

Anyway, I am another closet -- or not so closet -- Monkees fan, though I hadn't thought about them in years.

Mickey Dolenz came from the town I grew up in. And, Genie, that Riu Riu Chiu made me cry. Thank you!

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: Smokey.
Date: 16 Jul 11 - 04:40 PM

Just discovered the bass plays a wrong note on the very last chorus of 'Daydream Believer'. (on 'Cheer')

It's time I started getting out more..

I forgive them.

Subject: RE: OK so I like the Monkee's big deal
From: gnu
Date: 16 Jul 11 - 05:04 PM

In any case, they entertained a LOT of people and made more coin at it than I ever could have. They musta done SOMETHIN right.... I'm A Believer....