David Thomas Jones
(December, 30th 1945 – February, 29th 2012)
was an
English actor,
singer,
and songwriter.
Best known as a
member of the band
The Monkees
and a co-star
of the TV series
The Monkees
(1966–1968),
Jones was
considered
a teen idol
Aside from his work on
The Monkees TV show,
Jones' acting credits
included a
Tony-nominated performance
as the Artful Dodger
in the original
London and Broadway
productions of
Oliver!
and a guest-starring role
in a notable episode of
The Brady Bunch
television show
and a later
reprised
parody film.
Robert Michael Nesmith
(December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021)
was an American musician,
songwriter,
and actor.
He was best known
as a member of
the Monkees
and co-star
of their TV series
of the same name
(1966–1968).
His songwriting credits
with the Monkees include
"Mary, Mary",
"The Girl I Knew Somewhere",
"Tapioca Tundra",
"Circle Sky"
and
"Listen to the Band".
Additionally,
his song
"Different Drum"
became a hit for
the Stone Poneys
featuring
Linda Ronstadt.
After leaving the Monkees in 1970,
Nesmith continued his
successful songwriting
and performing career,
first with the seminal
country rock group
the First National Band,
with which he had a
top-40 hit,
"Joanne"
(1970).
As a solo artist,
he scored an
international hit
with the song
"Rio"
(1977).
He often played a
custom-built Gretsch
12-string electric guitar
both with
the Monkees
and afterward.
CELEBRATING TWO BIRTHDAYS
A DOUBLE SHOT
FROM
THE MONKEES
BOTH ALBUMS
IN
EXPANDED EDITIONS !!!
The Monkees
is the debut
studio album
by the American band
It was released on
October 10, 1966,
by Colgems Records
in the United States
and
RCA Victor
in the rest
of the world.
It was the first
of four consecutive
U.S. number one
albums for the group,
taking the top spot
on the Billboard 200
for 13 weeks,
after which it
was displaced by
the band's second album.
It also topped the
UK charts in 1967.
The Monkees
has been certified
quintuple platinum
by the RIAA,
with sales of over
five million copies.
The song
"Last Train to Clarksville"
was released as
a single shortly before
the release
In late 1965,
a pilot for the
TV series
The Monkees
was approved by
Screen Gems,
the television branch of
Columbia Pictures.
Producers Bob Rafelson
and
Bert Schneider
(also known as Raybert Productions),
wishing to generate funding
for experimental movies,
came up with the idea
of a sitcom about
a garage band,
inspired by
Richard Lester's
A Hard Day's Night
and Rafelson's
own experiences as
a musician.
After advertising an
open casting call
in Variety magazine
and doing several
applications with
437 aspirants,
actor/musician
Micky Dolenz,
British singer/stage actor
Davy Jones,
recording artist/songwriter
Michael Nesmith
and Greenwich
Village folk musician
Peter Tork
impressed
Raybert enough
to be chosen as
the Monkees
in September 1965.
Despite their
different backgrounds
and initial tensions,
the Monkees
got along during
the filming rehearsals.
Before the pilot was filmed
in November 1965,
songwriters
Tommy Boyce
and
Bobby Hart
were brought to the project
by their songs publisher,
Screen Gems
head of music division
Don Kirshner,
and commissioned by
Raybert to score
the episode.
There were vague promises
that Nesmith and Tork
would record
their own music.
Boyce and Hart
then composed and recorded
four songs
that were used on
the original pilot.
In February 1966,
Columbia ordered 32 episodes
of the show
after the second screening
of the pilot was a success.
Soon after,
Rafelson and Schneider
called Kirshner to be the
musical supervisor
over the show,
because he could supply
music enough to the
weekly episodes
with his extensive
portfolio of
Brill Building
songwriters in
his publishing firm.
Dubbed
"the Man with the Golden Ear",
Kirshner viewed potential
in merging television
and music,
and initially favored
Mickie Most,
Snuff Garrett,
and
Carole King
for producing
the Monkees,
but sessions with them
did not work well,
so Boyce and Hart
were called back.
Kirshner then negotiated
a partnership between
Screen Gems and RCA Victor
to enter into a
joint venture
called
Colgems Records
primarily to
distribute
Monkees records.
Recording
The album was recorded
in numerous
separate sessions
around Los Angeles
from July 5–25,
1966.
Early sessions
were produced by
the trio of
Tommy Boyce,
Bobby Hart,
and
Jack Keller;
later sessions
were produced by
Boyce and Hart.
Michael Nesmith
produced two sessions
scheduled around
the work done by
Boyce, Hart, and Keller.
Famously,
the Monkees
were not permitted
by their management
to function as a
working band
for this album.
Although the album
cover credits
the band as
playing instruments
(drums for Dolenz)
(guitar for the other three members),
the group's actual contributions
were limited almost
entirely to vocal tracks.
Seven of the album's
12 tracks
feature one
lone Monkee
singing lead vocal
over instrumentation
and backing vocals
recorded entirely by
a group of
session musicians
which varies from
song to song.
Other tracks
feature multiple
Monkees singing
over session players;
only on the two tracks
produced by
Michael Nesmith
does a Monkee
(Peter Tork)
play an instrument (guitar).
Nesmith wrote
or co-wrote
these tracks.
No tracks on the album
feature
all four Monkees.
More of the Monkees
is the second
studio album
by the American
pop rock band
released in 1967
on Colgems Records.
It was recorded
in late 1966
and displaced
the band's
debut album
from the top of
the Billboard
Top LPs chart,
remaining at No. 1
for 18 weeks,
the longest run
of any Monkees album.
The first two
Monkees albums
were at the top
of the Billboard chart
for 31
combined
consecutive weeks.
More of the Monkees
also reached No. 1
in the UK.
In the U.S.,
it has been certified
quintuple platinum
by the RIAA,
with sales of more than
five million copies.
More of the Monkees
is also notable as
the first pop album
to become the
best-selling album
of the year
in the U.S.
History
The Monkees'
popularity was at its peak
when the album
was released.
Their second single,
"I'm a Believer",
held the
No. 1 position
on the Billboard
Hot 100
and they were about
to embark on a
highly successful
concert tour.
The release of
More of the Monkees
was rushed to capitalize
on the band's popularity,
catching even its
members by surprise.
The band learned of
the album's existence
while on tour in
Cleveland, Ohio,
surprised that it had
been released
without their knowledge.
They were dismayed
by the cover image
which had been used
in an advertisement for
JCPenney
and were offended by
production overseer
Don Kirshner's liner notes,
which praised his team
of songwriters
before mentioning,
almost as an afterthought,
the names of
the Monkees.
The band,
particularly Nesmith,
was also furious
about the songs
selected for the record
from 34
that had been recorded
leading Nesmith
to later tell
Melody Maker magazine
that
More of the Monkees was
"probably the worst album
in the history of the world".
The group began
to grow concerned
over their musical output
because for this album
and their debut,
The Monkees,
they were limited to
just vocals
with scattered
instrumental contributions.
Kirshner had a strict rule
that the Monkees
were to provide
only vocals
on his productions,
although separate sessions
produced by
Michael Nesmith
usually featured
Peter Tork
on guitar.
More of the Monkees
has Nesmith
limited to
one song as
lead vocalist.
Within weeks
of the release of
More of the Monkees,
Nesmith lobbied
successfully with the
group's creators,
Bob Rafelson
and
Bert Schneider,
for the Monkees
to be allowed to play
their instruments
on future records,
effectively giving
the quartet
artistic control.
To make his point clear
to Kirshner,
who had balked at the idea,
Nesmith punched a hole
in the wall of a suite
at the Beverly Hills Hotel
during a group meeting
with Kirshner and
Colgems lawyer
Herb Moelis,
declaring to Moelis:
"That could have been your face!".
Kirshner was
later dropped
from the project.
TRACKLIST
Saturday's Child
I Wanna Be Free
Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day
Papa Gene's Blues
Take A Giant Step
Last Train To Clarksville
This Just Doesn't Seem To Be My Day
Let's Dance On
I'll Be True To You
Sweet Young Thing
Gonna Buy Me A Dog
I Can't Get Her Off My Mind
(Previously Unissued Early Version)
I Don't Think You Know Me
(Previously Unissued Early Version)
(Theme From) The Monkees
(Previously Unissued Early Version)
She
When Love Comes Knocking At Your Door
Mary, Mary
Hold On Girl
Your Auntie Grizelda
(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone
Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)
The Kind Of Girl I Could Love
The Day We Fall In Love
Sometime In The Morning
Laugh
I'm A Believer
Don't Listen To Linda
(Previously Unissued Version)
I'll Spend My Life With You
(Alternate Version)
I Don't Think You Know Me
(Previously Unissued Mix)
Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)
(Previously Unissued Long Mix)
I'm A Believer
(Previously Unissued Early Version)
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