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Pleasant Vally Sunday-Monkees


10K-DB

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I remember growing up and watch the Monkees on TV on Saturday mornings. Brings back,some interesting memories.

 

WTF was that with Davy Jones playing bass? Pretty bizarre. 😳

lol,,yea I think that hes playing bass,,although hes kindof slapping it about,,not sure if hes REALLY doing the bass on that recording,,it moves right along.

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I'm another who watched the show regularly.

I still like their stuff. Good, happy, enjoyable, hummable tunes.

 

Fun Fact: In the mid-'60s there was an English singer/songwriter named Davy Jones who changed his name to avoid confusion with the Monkee. He became 'David Bowie'.

 

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This one is fab also,,ya know,,,someone should do some modern versions of some of these [wink]...

Thanks for posting that one, 10K; it was new to me.

Is it my imagination or are there strong shades of 'The Mamas and the Papas' in there?..........eusa_think.gif........

 

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Many years ago I wrote an article about the Monkees for a now defunct guitar players website. Here's some excerpts from that article:

 

... Say it’s 1965 and there is a movie studio that wants to be in the rock & roll business. They see a market that they haven’t tapped and is full of hungry consumers for pop music. The Beatles and Elvis are the biggest things in the entertainment industry, and everyone is scrambling for a piece of the pie. The studio runs an ad in two Los Angeles trade papers for three days that reads:

 

Madness!!

Auditions

Folk & Roll Musicians-Singers

For acting roles in new TV series.

Running parts for 4 insane boys, age 17-21.

Want spirited Ben Frank’s types.

Have courage to work.

Must come down for interview.

 

400 kids answered the ad, and in a matter of weeks Columbia-Screen Gems pictures had manufactured a rock band – THE MONKEES - Michael Nesmith, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork.

 

... Below is a list of musicians and songwriters that contributed to the Monkees “project”. I’ve only included the R&R and best known jazz musicians, although there were also a host of other jazz guys that also appeared. Remember this was about ’66-’70, some of these guys were yet to make their mark in the industry. It also seems there were about 3 or 4 songs recorded for each one that made it to release, so they did not all actually appear on Monkees records.

 

Guitarists:

James Burton

Glen Campbell

Stephen Stills

Tommy Tedesco

Howard Roberts

Lowell George

Ry Cooder

David Crosby

Neil Young

 

Drums:

Jim Gordon

Buddy Miles

Dewey Martin

Dallas Taylor

Hal Blaine

 

 

Keyboards:

Billy Preston

Leon Russell

Neil Sedaka

Harry Nilsson

Dr. John

 

Horns, etc:

Jim Seals

Tom Scott

Jim Horn

Tim Weisberg

Conti Condoli

 

Background Vocals:

Neil Diamond

Bobby Sherman

 

Songwriters:

Gerry Goffin – Carole King

Tommy Boyce – Bobby Hart

Neil Diamond

Neil Sedaka – Carol Bayer (Sager)

Harry Nilsson

Paul Williams

Michael Martin Murphey

Pete Seeger

Leiber/Stoller

Fred Neil

Antonio Carlos Jobim

Richie Valens

Barry Mann – Cynthia Weil

David Gates

 

 

That’s quite a list of heavy hitters, or soon to be giants in the music business. With all that Hollywood money behind them the corporate execs pulled out all the stops. All that said, whether you likes them or not, they had a short run of incredible success, and are quite an interesting story and study in the music business. The Monkees were a complete rock & roll TV/movie/record industry success created entirely by Hollywood executives from four guys that answered an ad in a trade magazine. I would have to think that manufacturing of the Monkees is a case study on what is happening in the music business today. The entertainment industry works in mysterious ways...

 

Credits: Some of the above information came out of the dark recesses of my brain, but most of it came from the book: “The Monkees, The day-by-day story of the ‘60’s TV pop sensation”, by Andrew Sandoval, published by Thunder Bay Press, copyright 2005, and used exclusively without permission, either written or otherwise.

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Thanks for taking the time to post that reply, Larry!

 

msp_thumbup.gif

 

It would be fascinating to read which performers played on which tracks. Was Graham Nash playing truant?

Personally my #1 check-out's would be Messrs. Lowell George, Ry Cooder and whatever was written by A. C. Jobim...as well as the CS(no N)Y input...

 

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