I was among the millions of young guys who were in love with Linda Ronstadt...such a pretty girl with such a pretty voice.
I always wondered what kind of beautiful, talented kids would have resulted had she married Jackson Browne.
Way to step up Lou, nice work. I have a few things that will cause me to speak up for them every now and again as well..One more thing about Different Drummer. You know who wrote that song, which is undeniably great? Mike Nesmith.
You know, Mike Nesmith of the fraudulent, no talent, not real musicians Monkees?
What happened to the Monkees is a huge injustice, although it was probably offset by the odd 1980s Monkees revival, which got them a deserved renewal of exposure, if not respect.
The Monkees as a band, and their music, was no less legitimate than what nearly every other band of the era was doing. The "don't play their instruments" charge was especially galling, considering that the same musicians that played on the Monkees' tracks also played on everything from Beach Boys and Tijuana Brass records to the Byrds and Simon and Garfunkel tracks. You know...plenty of bands that never had the charge thrown at them of being "fake bands."
Obviously, their origin was particularly high profile, but unique only really in exposure, as bands had been assembled by puppet masters for years (and boy bands still are). And their origin as a TV band was perfectly well known long before the "fake musician" thing came up.
The idea that they got hammered for something like that, when it was 100% not in any way secret, nor different from most things on the radio, is really galling. That music, like much of the era, had the best players in the world laying down the work of some of the greatest songwriters. The music totally stands up today. The band themselves was roughly as talented as probably 100 other bands of the time...in other words...moderately. But you can't deny the vocals of Dolenz or Jones just because they didn't play drums (or tambourine, LOL) on the recording. Nesmith was a pretty talented musician and writer (see above), and Tork could play.
But there is nothing "fake" about that music of the Monkees, and the songs hold up today as well as nearly any of the era.
The fact that they got singled out and publicly tarred and feathered is a travesty. Before he died, I heard a town hall on Sirius with Tom Petty. They were talking about which covers he chooses for any given tour, and he mentioned that he likes to look for the really great songs he grew up with and were influential to him, and mentioned the Monkees. The interviewer, and the audience, burst out laughing at the mention of the Monkees like it was some joke, and he had to defend himself that he was serious, that those really are great songs. I think people still assumed he was joking...that's ridiculous. Incidentally, his station on Sirius occasionally plays his live cover of "Not My Stepping Stone" which is an excellent rendition of a truly great song, and a great example of how well many of those Monkees songs hold up.
(This is probably the third or fourth time over the years I've gotten on this particular soapbox on this board. It's one of a handful of things that means nothing to anybody, but burns my ass enough for me to put on my Don Quixote helmet when I see the opportunity to charge).
Tainted? What?!Different Drummer was written by Michael Nesmith, formerly of the Monkees. He was an outstanding singer,songwriter who’s talents were tainted by his association with the Monkees.
But you can't deny the vocals of Jones just because he didn't play tambourine on the recording.
Nesmith is also credited with helping to start MTV. BTW, nothing to be ashamed of being grouped in the Monkees, their early songs were written by the likes of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart as well as Neil Diamond. The studio musician thing was a good point but when they went on the road, they played their own instruments for the concerts.
Another, 'did you know', Jimi Hendrix opened some of their shows before he hit it big.
The studio musician thing was a good point but when they went on the road, they played their own instruments for the concerts.
I'm going to use this opportunity to again plug the documentary The Wrecking Crew for anyone remotely interested in this era of music. Absolutely fascinating insight into how the industry worked at that time. Sick talented musicians that basically played on the soundtrack of the decade. I'll listen to oldies radio and here 3-4 songs in a row that I know the Wrecking Crew played on, and 8 out of 10.
They were sick talented musicians, and creative in their own way. Producers like Brian Wilson and Phil Spector played those people like instruments themselves, they were so good.
Every major U.S. music hub had an uber-talented session community...Motown had the Funk Brothers, Memphis had Booker T and the MGs, Nashville had the Nashville Cats. It gets a wrap as "inauthentic" but it's clearly responsible for the tremendous output of phenomenal music in the 1960s. That setup, and the talent of those players compared to the player in most bands, allowed entire awesome albums to be cut in even a day or two, versus a decade later when bands were going into the studio for months and months trying to get 10 tracks down.
Is that on Netflix?
Blaine and Knechtel were incredible musicians. They played on so many great albums. Joe Osborn, so many others. I once sat next to Jack Nitzsche on a cross country flight and talked with him about his experiences with those musicians as well as his days with Crazy Horse. I later got to meet Barney Kessel at the Lake Buena Vista Jazz Lounge at Disney. Hearing some of his stories was great too. My comments earlier about the Monkees wasn’t to discredit them as much as to say that Nesmith’s association with the campiness of the show wrongfully deligitimised him in the eyes of many.It has been, I'm assuming it still is. It's really amazing, it's got tons of music in it, it's like a greatest hits of American music (well, mostly white music outside of Spector) of the 1960s.
If you really know the songs like I do, it gave me a much greater appreciation for it. Not just for the wrecking crew singles, but all of the music of that era. It was a big eye opener to listen more consciously to just exactly what is going on in the background instrumentation on songs that were otherwise pretty bubble gum. There's really, really sophisticated compositions backing the "I love my baby" lyrics, and near virtuoso playing. I was always aware of it in the Spector stuff of course because it's known for that, but I didn't really focus enough to appreciate how damn good some of the musical work under stuff from The Monkees, Grass Roots, Mamas and the Papas, etc. I just knew I loved the songs. I am not someone with a natural ear for music, I don't easily recognize and separate instruments, etc, so seeing visually what was going on behind these singles dramatically helped me recognize and appreciate it more.
If you're not familiar with the songs so much (everyone will recognize some), it's an excellent introduction to the music and exactly what kind of quality went into it, even when the lyrical narratives were fairly limited and cliche (which they weren't always).
Blaine and Knechtel were incredible musicians. They played on so many great albums. Joe Osborn, so many others. I once sat next to Jack Nitzsche on a cross country flight and talked with him about his experiences with those musicians as well as his days with Crazy Horse. I later got to meet Barney Kessel at the Lake Buena Vista Jazz Lounge at Disney. Hearing some of his stories was great too. My comments earlier about the Monkees wasn’t to discredit them as much as to say that Nesmith’s association with the campiness of the show wrongfully deligitimised him in the eyes of many.