HEY, HEY, IT’S THE RIDICULOUS CLICHÉ!

I mean how many articles, blog posts, etc. etc. etc. can we take titled "Hey, Hey, They're The Monkees!"

As I mentioned in my last post, I fell in love with the music of the Monkees from the very beginning. Before the TV show ever started, as a matter of fact. Our local top 40 radio station started playing “Last Train To Clarksville” three or four weeks before the show premiered on September 12, 1966, so when that first episode showed up, I had already learned the song.

Since the Monkees were such an influence on my love of music, rather than just doing one blog post about them, I have decided to do several – starting out with one per album, and probably at least one for each of the members and a few more for the 70s, 80s, 90s, and even 21^st century activities of the group. (But not all at once. There will be lots of other subjects in between.)

So to begin at the beginning (as they say)

THE MONKEES

Peter Tork

Michael Nesmith

Davy Jones

Micky Dolenz

As I’ve already said at least once in this blog, and will probably say dozens more times, I love albums. When I was a kid, if I found a new artist I liked, I would frequently buy a single, mostly so that I could listen to the “B” side and see if I really liked them. But once I knew, I went straight for albums. And more often than not, my favorite songs weren’t the ones released as singles. My mother was disabled, so we kids did most of the work around the house, and were well compensated for it. So albums were not out of my price range, and I bought my first album (the soundtrack from the movie “Bambi”) when I was only 7. Consequently, when the Monkees first album came out, I had it quickly. And I loved it.

So here we go, song by song

Theme from The Monkees (Tommy Boyce/Bobby Hart) – The show, of course, needed a theme song and Boyce & Hart came up with a great one. The Monkees were designed to be young and hip, but at the same time, safe. So that was how they started each show “We’re too busy singing to put anybody down. We’re just trying to be friendly.”  Micky’s vocals were on the money and he did a great job on a song that would be played every day for the next forty-eight years.

Saturday’s Child (David Gates) Micky doing lead again on a great song, probably my favorite on the album (Well, depending on my mood – my favorites everywhere change frequently.) This was before Gates got to be a big name himself, but a magnificent song that could easily bring to mind his later work with Bread.

I Wanna Be Free (Tommy Boyce/Bobby Hart) Davy’s first lead vocal, and one of his better ones. Don Kirshner, producer of this album and their next, definitely had his legendary “golden ear”  – up to a point. He focused all his energies on Micky and Davy, believing that neither Nesmith nor Tork had a voice worth pursuing. Davy tended to get relegated to love ballads, and yes, he did them well – although I think that if he had been pushed into a slightly earthier style, he might have learned.  When I first got the album, I liked this song quite a bit, but both on the series and radio, this song tended to get overplayed. Consequently, I have been known in later years to hit the “skip” button when this track comes on.

Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day (Tommy Boyce / Steve Venet) Micky back on leads, and another great song from Tommy Boyce with a different partner this time. Your basic “she done me wrong” song, expressing the attitude “I’m gonna be a lot better off without you, bitch. (Okay they didn’t sing “bitch”, but if the song were written now, it would be there.)

Papa Gene’s Blues (Michael Nesmith) - The song that vies with “Saturday’s Child” for my favorite on the album.  “I have no more than I did before, but now I’ve got all that I need – For I love you and I know that you love me.” What a perfect lyric.  With lines like “Happiness is all rolled up in you” and “Free from all the helpless worry that besets a man when he’s alone” – what can I say? Magnificent. Getting to see this done live last spring when Nesmith did his solo tour was one of the great experiences of my life.

Take a Giant Step (Gerry Goffin/Carole King)  Micky’s fourth lead on the six songs of Side “A”, both the tune and lyrics here are, well, Goffin & King. What more needs to be said?  In later years, this song has become more known by Peter than Micky, but Micky’s version is terrific as well. Probably also one of the best cover versions of any Monkees song was Taj Mahal’s version of this track.

Last Train To Clarksville  (Tommy Boyce/Bobby Hart) The first single issued by the Monkees, and with good reason. Very commercial, very well sung, and a subtle, anti-war lyric.

This Just Doesn’t Seem To Be My Day (Tommy Boyce / Bobby Hart) I get the feeling that this was written by Tommy & Bobby specifically to be sung by Davy – it has a very music hall feel, the standard British style that Davy seemed to lean toward so often.

Let’s Dance On (Tommy Boyce/Bobby Hart) Your basic “let’s thrown in the names of every dance we can think of” song. By far the weakest track on the album.

I’ll Be True To You (Gerry Goffin/Russ Titelman)  Although this is a close second for the “weakest track” title. Another Davy ballad that sounds like a 14 year old’s love note. Goffin without King is like toast without butter. Dry and tasteless.

Sweet Young Thing (Gerry Goffin/Carole King/Michael Nesmith) I’ve heard that this was an attempt to get Nesmith to write something that didn’t sound quite so country, and that the songwriters did not get on well together. If so, it’s hard to tell by listening to the track, because it is strong and very well written. “I know that something very strange is happening to my brain, I’m either feeling very good or else I am insane.” Fantastic lyrics, fantastic tune. I have no idea who contributed what, but the blending of these three talents, however difficult it might have been, turned out a superior song.

Gonna Buy Me A Dog (Tommy Boyce/Bobby Hart) A rather feeble attempt at transferring the zaniness of the TV show to the record. I liked it when I was 10, but it doesn’t hold up over the years. “I wish I had a glass of water.” “Why, are you thirsty?” “No, I want to see if my neck leaks.” Yawn.

All in all, a mixed bag of an album – I have always wondered what it would have been like if the group had been given at least partial control from the start. First, I doubt that we would have had seven songs by Micky, three by Davy, two by Nez and Peter represented on the album only on indistinguishable backup guitar on two tracks. Sadly, that will always be speculation, since they didn’t gain that control until the third album.