I know you were just expressing your personal opinion. And I respect that. But C'MON MAN! :topsy_turvy:
The Monkees were a group of actors who played the parts of goofy musicians in a fake band for a teens TV show.
OK, after all these years I see the Monkees myths are still alive and well, even after multiple busting on this very forum.
With all due respect for you my fellow forum-ite, here come the big guns in full barrage mode:
In fact, both Mike Nesmith AND Peter Tork were accomplished musicians on the folk circuit before showing up for the auditions.
And Davy actually played drums, too, but was deemed too short for the set so Micky was placed there and was the only one who had to learn an instrument (he'd been a guitarist).
Nesmith has even acknowledged Tork as being a better musician than himself, as he also played guitar (Guild F30, at least 2 of 'em!) and keyboards, besides (GUILD Jetstar) bass.
Mike Nesmith's "Mary, Mary" was covered by no less than the Paul Butterfield Blues Band on the landmark
East/West in '66, before the Monkees ever recorded it.
The Monkeees DID play some parts and sang the vocals on the first 2 albums, their primary beef with Kirshner was that he released the second album without their approval, in violation of their contract.
Ironically, it was Nesmith himself who screwed the pooch during the contract dispute with Kirshner by announcing to the press that the Monkees' first 2 albums were largely done by studio musicians, something known as standard operating procedure within the industry but shattering the illusionary myth promoted by the industry and dear to the hearts of millions of teenyboppers, including Beach Boys fans.
(BTW< Did you know Glen Campbell was an "official" Beach Boy for a '65 tour just so they could present the tunes as tightly as possible, in concert, while Brian was incapacited by panic attacks and dealing with growing clinical depression issues?)
Anyway, and ironically, it was Nesmith's statement that actually spawned the myth that the Monkees couldn't play.
Actually, they
could and
did:
By the time the 3rd album,
Headquarters came out, they were in complete control of the playing and recording and the session men who did play on it were brought in at THEIR request as collaborators not "stand-ins".
That album yielded "For Pete's Sake", written by Tork, which became the show's closing theme for the second season.
In my personal taste I prefer that tune to any Beach Boys single you can name.
The Monkees also introduced millions of teenyboppers to Frank Zappa on the next to the last show, and Tim Buckley(playing a Guild 12-er, think it's an F212) on the very last show; and (at primarily Mickey's instigation) Jimi Hendrix was brought on astheir opening act on their (and his) first American tour.
In fact the core audience was so clueless and uncomprehensive of Jimi's style that a face-saving story was fabricated that due to Jimi's stage act, the shows were being being boycotted by the Daughters of the American Revolution so they had to "fire" him.
.
Yeah that's Jimi playing one of Mike's Gretsches.
More cool creds, from here:
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/the-monkees-final-episode/
"As the second season unfolded,
the Monkees themselves became more involved directing episodes and giving more input into how the show looked and sounded. Hippie-esque clothing replaced the JC Penney garb as the spirit of 1967 was in full bloom, and various references to drugs, war, and the counter-culture in general were freely sprinkled throughout. In the next-to-last episode, Mike Nesmith brought in friend Frank Zappa for a guest appearance, and in the final episode, directed and co-written by Dolenz, all hell broke lose.
Titled "The Frodis Caper," the episode begins with a sunrise scene as the boys awaken to the sounds of the Beatles' "Good Morning Good Morning," which was the first time the Beatles had allowed their music to be used in a non-Beatles arena. The episode is, in short, about the evil Wizard Glick (played by Rip Taylor) who is on a mission to control people's minds via their television sets. The airwaves beam out a hypnotic eye that is, well, hypnotizing its viewers, a not-so-subtle comment on the brain deadening effects of television. "This is my attempt to address the manipulation of the American mind by the media," said Dolenz...
Eventually, the boys discover that a creature called the Frodis plant had been captured when its spaceship landed on Earth...They realize they must rescue the Frodis and return it to its spaceship. Upon rescue, the plant emits this cloud of smoke, and in the process, seems to mellow out Glick and his cohorts, "I'll let you work out that reference, folks," adds Dolenz.
As the story part of the episode ends, on walks the late singer-songwriter Tim Buckley to perform a solo acoustic version of his classic "Song to the Siren."
Buckley was a friend of Dolenz, who thought he should be introduced to the world. The beautiful song had, at the time, not been released. It remains one of Buckley's finest moments.
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As well:
The movie
"Head" had both Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper in the cast andwas a direct antecedent of "Easy Rider": Producer of the Monkees show and "Head", Bert Scheider, used some of the proceeds to fund Easy Rider, his very next movie.
Except for Dennis Wilson, the Boys were still at the sock hop in '67/68 when the rest of the country (including 18-year high school senior males) were starting to ponder just what their futures held.
No snark intended, but tell me who the Beach Boys turned America on to, besides themselves?
Bombshell:
Charlie Manson, who had aspirations to be a pop star in '67-'68.
Yep, every year new fans are startled to learn that Dennis actually introduced Charlie to mega-producer Terry Melcher, and that Melcher's subsequent dissing of Charlie was what led him to Melcher's house on Coelho drive in search of retribution, that fateful night in '69.
But Melcher didn't live there any more. Sharon Tate did.
The Beach Boys Even covered one of Charlie's songs, "Never Learn Not To Love".
From Wiki's
Dennis Wilson page:
"In late spring 1968, Dennis was driving through Malibu when he noticed two female hitchhikers, Patricia Krenwinkel and Ella Jo Bailey. He picked them up and dropped them off at their destination.[9] Later on, Dennis noticed the same two girls hitchhiking again. This time he took them to his home at 14400 Sunset Boulevard.[3] He recalled that he "told [the girls] about our involvement with the Maharishi and they told me they too had a guru, a guy named Charlie who'd recently come out of jail after 12 years."[10] Dennis then went to a recording session; when he returned later that night, he was met in his driveway by Charles Manson, and when Wilson walked into his home, about a dozen people were occupying the premises, most of them young women. They were later known as members of the "Manson Family".[3]
Dennis was initially fascinated by Manson and his followers, referring to him as "the Wizard" in a Rave magazine article at the time.[11] The two struck a friendship and, over the next few months, members of the Manson Family – mostly women who were treated as servants – were housed at Wilson's household, costing him approximately $100,000 (equivalent to $700,000 in 2017). Much of these expenses went into cars, clothes, food, and penicillin shots for their persistent gonorrhoea.[3] In late 1968, he told the magazine Record Mirror that "when I met [Charlie] I found he had great musical ideas. We're writing together now. He's dumb, in some ways, but I accept his approach and have [learned] from him."[10] Some of Manson's songs were recorded at Brian's home studio.[11] These recordings remain unheard to the public.[12] Dennis also introduced Manson to a few friends in the music business, including the Byrds' producer Terry Melcher, whose home at 10050 Cielo Drive would later be rented by director Roman Polanski and his wife, actress Sharon Tate. Less than a year later, Manson family members would murder Tate and several others at this home.[11]
In September 1968, Dennis recorded a Manson song for the Beach Boys, originally titled "Cease to Exist" but reworked as "Never Learn Not to Love", as a single B-side released the following December. It was credited solely to Dennis. Angered by this, Manson threatened murder.[13] When asked why Manson was not credited, Wilson explained: "He didn't want that. He wanted money instead. I gave him about a hundred thousand dollars' worth of stuff."[14] According to Beach Boys collaborator Van Dyke Parks: "One day, Charles Manson brought a bullet out and showed it to Dennis, who asked, 'What's this?' And Manson replied, 'It's a bullet. Every time you look at it, I want you to think how nice it is your kids are still safe.' Well, Dennis grabbed Manson by the head and threw him to the ground and began pummeling him ... I heard about it, but I wasn't there."[15]
Yeah I know it's coming off snarky, but them's the facts, folks.
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I'll be darned.
For the first time in my employment here, I've hit the post size limit of 10,000 characters.
I've only seen that happen once before.
I'll have to split it up here.