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THE
MONKEES (ARTIST BIOGRAPHY)
Several reunions of The Monkees have taken place. The
first reunion lasted from 1986 to 1989 while another regrouping took
place between 1996 - 1997. The Monkees last worked together in 2001.
Created by producers of a TV series to be an American Beatles, the
antics of the Monkees band members on the television series were
very reminscent of Beatles’ antics in films like ‘Help’ and ‘Hard
Day’s Night’. Indeed, in songs like ‘Forget that Girl…’, the
band and even the lead singer could sound just like the Beatles.
With songs provided by Don Kirschner from such writers as Neil
Diamond and Carole King, among others, the Monkees were assured of
pop success. However, in the beginning, the four group members were
hired only as actors to front the band and to provide the vocals
whilst studio musicians recorded the backing music. These recordings
were provided by Kirschner. Things changed though after the success
of the single Last Train To Clarksville, the first hit, leading to
demands that the band play live gigs. Having learnt to play the
music, the band were angry when their second LP was recorded (by
Kirschner) only with studio musicians. They therefore demanded and
obtained control of the music.
However, this move contributed to the death knell of the band and
the TV series. The music just did not sound the same as it had in
the successful format used by Don Kirschner, his studio musicians
and his writers (though many argue the subsequent albums show a more
mature-style of Monkee studio trickery). Michael Nesmith was the
first to produce his own songs with Peter Tork on guitar. But it was
Nesmith who revealed that the band did not perform on their records.
He was also instrumental in getting Don Kirschner sacked, but
thereby also losing the talents of some of the most successful
writers in pop music. Some of the best studio musicians had also
been used, a group of musicians known as ‘The Wrecking Crew’. They
had been used on Phil Spector recordings, and on tracks by The Byrds
and Beach Boys and on Motown tracks. They are reputed to have also
been used on Simon and Garfunkel sessions. Further disaster then
followed: Mickey Dolenz was even allowed to write a bad TV episode,
the last one. Members of the band may simply have taken themselves
too seriously. The show ran for only two seasons and the musical
actors then found themselves effectively out of work. The band
itself folded the next year.
There has, however, been a resurgent interest in The Monkees’ music
(and their completely insane 1968 art-house acid-trip film “Head”,
written by Jack Nicholson and Bob Rafelson). Rhino Records has been
instrumental in restoring all their albums, adding bonus tracks, and
equipping them with complementary liner notes and stories.
DISCOGRAPHY (from www.themonkees.net):
The Monkees (1966)
More Of The Monkees (1967)
Headquarters (1967)
Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. (1967)
The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees (1968)
Head (1968)
Instant Replay (1969)
Present (1969)
Changes (1970)
Pool It! (1987)
Live 1967 (1987)
Missing Links Vol 1 (1987)
Missing Links Vol 2 (1990)
Missing Links Vol 3 (1996)
Justus (1996) |
