Remembering Peter Tork 1942-2019

Peter Tork died on February 21 of complications from  adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare form of cancer. He was 77, and the second Monkee to pass away. (Davy Jones died in February 2012,). He had battled cancer on and off for ten years. Peter died at his family home in Connecticut.

When Davy died,  it was a total shock. I sought solace with other fans through social media. I started a Monkees blog with two Millennial girls and learned more about my childhood idols than I’d ever imagined.

Now, with two Monkees gone, there's more of a numb resignation to the passage of time, and a tendency to celebrate the past and have more of a rock version of a "jazz funeral" along with traditional  mourning. We were so lucky to have Peter, and the rest of the Monkees, as part of our lives for so long.

Peter was known to the general public as the Monkees' lovable, dim-witted bass player, but  loyal fans knew him as an accomplished musician, free spirit, intellectual, and a constant, low-key presence in the Monkees-sphere.

When we were kids, everyone had their favorite Monkee (Micky was mine), but we loved ‘em all.  After watching two seasons of episodes, we appreciated them all and knew everything about all four Monkees from the fan mags.

Peter was third in line as a teeny-bopper idol after Davy and Micky. That’s hard to believe when you see his beautiful dimple and big doe eyes – shows you the wealth of looks and talent in that group.

There was so much more to Peter than being the Monkees’ third (or fourth) wheel, depending on your tastes.) There were several stages of Peter’s career, in and out of the Monkees.

Pre-Monkees

Peter made a short film in college (circa 1962) called “The Love Potion”. 

Music was his first creative love, though.  He moved on to Greenwich Village and tried his hand as a folk singer. He first met Stephen Stills in the Village. Later, they both auditioned for the Monkees. Stills was passed over due to his bad teeth, and suggested Tork audition for the role.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Peter was cute as a button and sharp-witted, as evidenced in this clip of his audition.

Pete’s auditions starts at 8:58

During the first season, Peter’s character (‘the lovable dummy”) was always getting in trouble. He was kidnapped by gypsies in search of the Maltese Vulture in  “Son of a Gypsy.” As a six year old, I was very worried about Peter in those early episodes, “Mommy, is Peter gonna be all right?” I would ask my Mom. I would always root for him when he couldn’t fly in the sky like the other Monkeemen “C’mon, Peter, you can do it,” I’d say.

In “Monkees Vs. Machine” Peter becomes flustered when a computer (DJ-61) interviews him for a job at a toy company. (Mike steps in to save the day and causes the computer to overheat.)  Peter’s character steals a portrait of Valerie the debutante in “One Man Shy” and the guys teach him the proper way to woo a lady.

 And look at his adorableness in this clip featuring "For Pete's Sake".

He was always wore his belt buckle to the side and often sported mismatched socks.  His most well-known musical contribution on the TV show was the wacky “Auntie Grizelda”. In the real world, Peter played the banjo, guitar, harpsichord, piano and organ as well as the bass.  

I liked the second season of the shoe better than the first..The clean-cut boys of the first season had turned into hippies! Davy and Peter dressed in Nehru jackets and love beads and Micky had an Afro. Mike wouldn’t have any of that nonsense. He still wore his wool hat occasionally, but favored brighter shirts.

We loved the way hippie Peter dressed, in his two toned leggings, flowered tunic, suede boots, and love beads. And, oh that beautiful, sandy blonde hair! He didn’t just dress like a hippie, though, he was one. At the end of one episode, he explained the difference between hippies and free people in San Francisco.

Peter’s comments about free people start at the 17:46 mark

During the second season, Peter (unknowingly) sold his soul to the devil for a harp in “The Devil and Peter Tork”. Considered the best episode of the series by most people, it ends with a moving speech by Mike about the power of love.

Peter  has his paintings snatched by gangster security guards, trades his guitar to a con artist for a treasure map, and becomes involved with a professor’s kidnapping. Davy only had to  fall in love, Micky had to be kooky, Mike had to be sensible and stoic, but Peter had to act dumb and/or disappear.. Sure, most of the episodes had repetitive, one-note plots, but they worked because of the boys’ charisma and chemistry.  

We remembered every bit of Peter’s obscure dialogue, just like we did with the others When my boyfriend an I saw a sign directing us to go down the alley to a punk rock club, we looked at each other and said, “Down the alley?”, imitating Peter in “Monkees Blow Their Minds.” as he walked to the storefront of Oraculo, the charlatan mentalist. 

That episode, the second to last one broadcast, had Peter walking around as Oraculo’s catatonic assistant. Even in the last episode “Mijacogeo (The Frodis Caper),”, he spent much of the story catatonic again, this time from watching the Frodis eye on the TV.

Post TV Show, Pre-Reunion

When I was in college, a friend of mine had a framed photo of Peter on her dresser. I didn’t recognize him at first. He had long, unkempt hair and had a “Jesus” look. When she told me who it was I felt a tinge of sadness. Could this be our sweet, goofy Peter?

Peter was the first one to leave the Monkees. After the TV show ended, he

had a band called Release with his second wife, Reine Stewart, on drums. He played CBGBs and other rock clubs as a solo artist. None of his post-Monkees musical projects met with much success.   

The early ‘70s were a hard time to be an ex-Monkee. Micky was a hard-drinking Hollywood Vampire, along with his buddy Harry Nilsson.  He appeared in a few B movies, including the infamous “Night of the Strangler. Davy appeared on “The Brady Bunch” and released a bunch of nondescript singles.

Mike didn’t need to deal with it, though. He forged ahead as a country rock trailblazer before inspiring MTV with such projects as “Elephant Parts” and “Pop Clips”.   

This 1979 video shows Peter holding his own against a smarmy interviewer. (Only a guy this smart could play a convincing dummy.)

 Peter joined Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart onstage at Disneyland in 1976, released singles that went nowhere, and played shows at CBGB’s and other clubs. (Chrissie Hynde, Joan Jett, and Tommy Ramone were allegedly present for some of the recording sessions, according to Wikipedia.)

Peter worked as a teacher, baseball coach, and even a waiter before the Monkees reformed in the ‘mid-80s, He was his bouncy, joke-cracking self on the “Win a Date with Peter Tork” skit on David Letterman’s Show in 1982.

The '80s and '90s

Peter and Davy toured Australia just before the official mid-1980s reunion, when MTV reruns reignited the Monkees’ fame. The Monkees made the covers of teen magazines -four 40-something guys competing with the likes of Duran Duran, Kirk Cameron and Corey Haim for a Tiger Beat cover. But this time it wasn’t so much about being heartthrobs as it was about being everyone’s kooky adopted uncles.

Mike rejoined joined briefly in the mid-90s, with the release of “Justus”, the 1997 TV special. He joined Peter, Micky and Davy for a handful of shows. The ‘90s version of the Monkees gets short shrift in the history of the band, but the album Justus had a few bright moments, including Peter’s song “Run Away From Life.”

His longest ongoing band, beside the Monkees was Shoe Suede Blues. Ever the rapscallion, he had a lot of fun with post-Monkees songs, like “Milkshake” (from  his 1994 solo album Stranger Things Have Happened and “Dress Sexy for Me” from 2002’s Saved by the Blues with Shoe Suede Blues.  

In 1996, Peter released the album “Two-Man Band” with James Lee Stanley, a collection of blues and acoustic numbers that Allmusic.com selected as an Album Pick. 

2012-2018

Peter was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer of the salivary glands in 2009 After successful surgery, he continued touring with Mike, Davy and Micky.

Davy’s passing took everyone by surprised. The 2012 tour was a heartfelt tribute to Davy and Mike’s return to the stage with as a Monkee.  Micky was the consummate show biz professional, Mike had a dry sense of humor, and Pete was the quirky, sensitive one.  

In 2013, Peter went on a solo tour where he reminisced about the Monkees and his career and played an acoustic set (with lots of his trademark banjo.)  He performed lesser-known and unreleased songs, such as Come on In.

During an interview to promote the album Good Times! and 2016's 50^th anniversary tour, Peter teared up when mentioning Davy. They’ve removed the video from the CBS YouTube channel, but here's an article based on the interview. 

Davy and Peter two were the sensitive, sweet ones, even in real life. Peter’s difficulties seemed to be encapsulated in one span of time in the ‘70s, Davy’s hard times were scattered on throughout the decades. (Read his book “They Made a Monkee Out of Me” for more details.) 

 In an interview with the St. Petersburg Times in 2000, Peter remarked that “Micky's the best pal, but my heart connection is biggest with Davy. Davy is capable of as much heart as anyone I've ever met. I kind of had a crush on Davy for a while.”



After the 2016 tour, Peter played occasional shows with Shoe Suede Blues and made personal appearances at fan conventions with Micky.  He released his last album with Shoe Suede Blues, “Relax Your Mind”, a tribute to Leadbellly, in 2018. It included a musical appearance by his brother, Nick Thorkelson  (Nick is a cartoonist and illustrator by trade.)

Peter  always had a few creative surprises up his sleeve, even in his golden years.In 2015, he composed "Moderato ma non troppoa" a classical piece for piano and orchestra, which was performed by the Orchestra Kentucky of Bowling Green, Kentucky. In a total non-sequitur move, he acted in a 2017 indie horror movie called“I Filmed your Death”.

He stopped by The Institute for The Musical Arts in Goshen, Massachusetts in 2010, and played a set to raise funds for the non-profit. IMA is dedicated to helping girls and women succeed in the music business. The IMA was established by June Millington of the rock group Fanny and Ann F. Hackler. 

Peter sang lead vocals for “Angels We Have Heard on High” for the Monkees “Christmas Party” album, which was released in October 2018. You could hear in his voice that something was seriously wrong. The song is Peter’s last released recording.

People can contribute to The Institute for The Musical Arts’ scholarship fund in Peter’s name, per his family's wishes. Read more about IMA here.

http://www.petertork.com/

Looking Back and Living in the Now: Good Times and 50 Years of the Monkees

I found a copy of Spy magazine from the mid-1990s when I cleared out some storage boxes the other day. Spy was a nothing’s sacred snarkfest for the hip cognoscenti of the time. I don’t know why I kept this particular issue – probably some tenuous connection with someone who worked there, or who was related to somewhere who worked there.  I flipped through it, chuckling at some of the irreverent skewering of public figures and fads. That is, until I got to a page containing a calendar of “The Worst Events in History.” The calendar included events like the Hindenberg explosion, the Titanic, and "on December 30^th, Davy Jones was born in Manchester, England".  

I tossed the magazine. (Yes, I know. It's all a hoot til they make fun of someone you like.)

 Davy Jones was to snarky music people of the ‘60s –‘00s what Justin Beiber is to today’s snarky crowd. A convenient teenie-bopper idol and scapegoat for all that was (perceived to be) uncool, Davy and the rest of the Monkees were relegated to the remnants table of musical history for a long time after the TV show ended.   

They were “the pre-fab Four, they don’t play their instruments, they don’t have any talent, blah-blah”. Reality proves the nay-sayers wrong on all counts. Davy Jones and Mike Nesmith had solo recording contracts before they were Monkees. Micky Dolenz played in a band and recorded a few singles, and Peter Tork was a folk singer in Greenwich Village. Of course, other musicians (Frank Zappa, Jerry Garcia, etc.) defended them. They hung out with the Beatles. Tork introduced Buffalo Springfield at Monterey Pop and dated Janis Joplin.

Oh, and let’s not forget “Headquarters” the Monkees’ third album. Fed up with not being allowed to contribute more than a few self-penned songs or play their instruments on their first two studio albums, they rebelled. In a defining moment that would do a punk rocker proud, Mike Nesmith punched a plasterboard wall in a Beverly Hills Hotel room during a meeting with musical director Don Kirshner. He told Donnie (allegedly) “That coulda been your face, motherfucker.”

Kirshner went on to the Archies, and Headquarters went on to top the Billboard charts upon its release in May 1967 – until the Beatles Sergeant Pepper usurped it the following week. 

Still, some people persisted in trashing them.  And this continued throughout the 1970s, where any mention of the Monkees as an entity was greeted with a snicker, except by loyalists and young kids who watched Saturday morning reruns of the show.

This changed after the 1986 reunion. And even the reunion was short-lived in the mainstream. By the end of the 1980s, interest had waned for all but the loyal fans. Micky, Davy and Peter continued to tour as the Monkees for the next few decades. Mike joined them to record the Justus album (and tape a TV special) in 1996,  but both projects failed to capture the public's interest.  

P.S.- I still think “Regional Girl” would been a hit in ’96 if the Monkees had used a cloaked advertising campaign ala the Alarm  and used a young band in the video.

Fast forward to 2016. The Monkees and Rhino release the album Good Times. Produced by Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne, with new songs written by Rivers Cuomo, Andy Partridge,  Ben Gibbard  and Noel Gallagher/Paul Weller. All cool young –ok-middle aged guys - with a bunch of indie cred. Micky sings with his old Hollywood Vampire buddy Harry Nilsson, through the miracle of digital technology on the title track.  There’s a reworked versions of Davy singing “Love to Love”,  Peter singing “Little Girl”, a song he originally wrote for Davy, and  the album-closing “I Was There (And I’m Told I Had a Good Time),” based on one of Micky’s stock interview responses.

Ben Gibbard joins Micky to sing Me & Magdelena in Seattle

The release of Good Times coaxed out older Monkees fans who had remained undercover for years. It debuted at #14 upon its release in May the band’s highest charting album since 1968, and was #1 on Billboard’s vinyl release chart.

Legions of fans have now joined social media regulars to post about their love for the Monkees. The fandom-oriented site Tumblr is full of teens and twentysomethings who like the Monkees.  The Tumblr fandom was at its peak for a year or two after Davy died, and leveled out to a calmer pace for this year’s 50^th anniversary. Now, Facebook and Pinterest host the brunt of Monkees’ photos and discussions.

To accompany the album and Monkees renaissance, a slew of books about the band have been released in the past few years The most recent, The Monkees, Head and the ‘60s by Peter Mills, examines the movie that closed out the bands’ first era and all the events of the 1960s that influenced its making and the TV series.

A Little Bit Me,A Little Bit You: the Monkees from a Fan's Perspective by Fred Velez is a memoir by a lifelong fan of the group.Interview with the author here. 

Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture by Roseanne Welch gives an academic look at the TV show and the Monkees phenomenon.

Monkee Magic: a Book about a TV Show about a Band by Melanie Mitchell is a fun look into the specifics of each episode, with no wardrobe choice or co-star left unexamined.

Michael Nesmith’s Last Show as a Monkee – September 16, 2016, L.A.'s Pantages Theater

A few weeks before the Monkees, I mean Twokees, show at L.A.’s Pantages Theater, the band announced it would be Micheal Nesmith’s last live performance as a Monkee. Tickets for the show, which were already scare, disappeared.

I attended the show, and it was truly sold out. I spied not one empty seat. People flew in from England, Japan, New York and all points in the U.S., and the crowd was in a boisterous mood.   

Micky, Mike and Peter took the stage and, after a preparatory huddle, the band blasted into” Last Train to Clarksville”. There weren’t any obvious references made about the show being Mike’s last.

Despite their ages (Peter’s 74), you get the feeling they’ll keep going, together or separately, til they’re 100, or maybe 105 in Micky’s case. (He just keeps going and going like the Energizer Bunny.) It’s hard to believe any concert by any boomer artist is actually the last one. How many last tours have we seen from the Who, Kiss and Black Sabbath? With 20 years of farewell concerts under our belts, how can we believe anyone’s proclamation that this will be the last concert? It’s not over until someone’s dead and buried, and even then, their holograms make an appearance. 

Clips from the episodes played on the screen in the background; it was hard not to take your eyes off the stage for a sec and look. (I saw Peter sneak a peek a few times.)  

It was a flawless, fast-paced show from Micky, Mike, Peter and their backing band. Coco Dolenz (Micky’s sister) & Circe Link were sublime on backing vocals. Mike’s son Christian Nesmith on guitar, drummer Rich Dart, bassist John Billings , keyboardist Dave Alexander and lead guitarist Wayne Avers provided a rich and textured, but totally rock sound to the festivities. This wasn’t a “Vegas backing band” type experience.

Highlights - A softer, reworked version of Sometime in the Morning leading into Mike and Micky’s voices blending perfectly on the haunting Me and Magdalena.

Micky, Mike and Peter and the crowd at the Pantages singing the chorus to Daydream Believer as the Rainbow Room video of the song - with a recording of Davy singing - played.

Mike singing a heartfelt version of Tapioca Tundra and talking about what inspired the song (the band’s first live show in Hawaii).

The energetic versions of "Listen to the Band", "Circle Sky", "Mary, Mary" and "Do I Have to Do This All Over Again?" verged on hard rock. The back-up band really cooked on these songs, and the guys belted out the vocals with gusto. How is it that the guys are in their early 70s and their voices are stronger than ever - even Peter!

In the lyric booklet for Good Times, Gibbard wrote “I spent countless hours in front of the TV in the ‘80s, watching Monkees reruns and wishing I could climb through the screen and be with them.” There’s not much difference between what a young, non-musician girl in the ‘60s or a young, musically inclined guy in the ‘80s felt when watching the show or listening to the music. When I was a kid watching the original broadcasts in the 1960s,  I hated it when the show ended. I wanted to go live with the band and share their adventures with all week.

The Monkees deserve to be in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. While the value of the hall itself is debatable, we all know they should be enshrined with their peers. Maybe their trajectory was different, but they left an indelible imprint on pop culture, more so than many bands that were "real" from the start.

The guys have forged a musical and emotional connection with countless fans through the past 50 years. The bond is pretty intense and rivaled only by the affection and reverence felt by Beatles fans.

It looks like the Monkees got the last laugh on those snarky journalists and know-it-alls.

Music Reviews: Micky Dolenz:The MGM Singles Collection and The First Bobby Hart Solo Album

Micky Dolenz--The MGM Singles Collection

The First Bobby Hart Solo Album

7A Records

This September marks the 50^th anniversary of the Monkees TV show, and the introduction of Davy, Micky, Mike and Peter into music and pop culture history. The TV show’s two year run is the most beloved creation featuring the guys, but the following 48 years the guys stayed active, recording and touring either solo or together in various formations. The causal fan on the street may only remember the various reunion tours, Mike’s solo career, and have a vague recollection of “Pool It” or  Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart  You’d really need to be a hardcore fan to remember the other projects Davy, Peter and Micky participated in between the end of the 60s’ Monkees and their reunion in the ‘80s.  

England’s 7A Records, the brainchild of broadcaster Iain Lee  and music executive Glenn Gretlund, both long-time Monkees fans. The label’s name comes from the spoken intro at the beginning of “Daydream Believer”, when Davy asks, “What number is this, Chip?”, and receives the curt response “7A!”The label is dedicated to releasing long-lost Monkees related gems, including music by affiliated artists. 7A recently released The First Bobby Hart Solo Album by songwriter Bobby Hart of Boyce and Hart fame.   

The label’s first release, Micky Dolenz--The MGM Singles Collection arrived on July 15^th , 2015, and is available as a vinyl LP and digital download. Most songs on this collection have been floating around Youtube and been shared as MP3s on various message boards for years. Thanks to 7A, they’ve finally gotten a proper release.

After being on a highly rated TV show, with a whirlwind of  hit songs and tours, Dolenz had to start over from square one (as did Peter and Davy), given how ex-teenie bopper idols were typecast  in the 70s (or anytime, really.) Writing and recording at his home studio and at other locations throughout L.A., he began recasting his music career.  

Admittedly, the songs on the MGM Singles Collection aren’t the cream of the crop, but Micky still had the vocal chops of his Monkees days. Any extracurricular activities with the Hollywood Vampires didn’t diminish it. Speaking of the notorious party animals, Dolenz’s Hollywood Vampire partner-in-crime, Harry Nilsson, wrote “Daybreak” a vibrant calypso number, and the album has four different versions of the song. 

There's the traditional, bouncy pop of "Easy on You", and the plaintive commentary on human nature in "It's Amazing to Me", songs that are easy on the ears, but not particularly memorable. The quirky “Unattended in the Dungeon” has some dicey lyrics, but, after all, it was the ‘70s, the decade of “Angie, Baby” and “Run, Joey, Run”

Dolenz and producer Michael Lloyd formed a duo they dubbed Starship in 1972, and worked together on their version of “Johnny B. Goode”, (the song Dolenz performed during his audition with the Monkees) and several other tunes. 

In the audio interview included with the download, Dolenz tells Lee says he recorded the songs just for fun, without any expectations of having a hit single. Mike Curb and MGM promoted the songs just the same, but despite the PR efforts, the records sank without a trace.

The accompanying booklet reveals some interesting tidbits abut the sessions. Among, them - the late, great Cozy Powell played drums on some of the recordings (which ones aren’t indicated), and Dolenz recorded “Family of Man” (later a hit for Three Dog Night) and “Since I Fell for You” and other American standards.

7A Records promises more Monkees-oriented releases, including (fingers crossed) a DVD release of Keep Off My Grass, a marijuana themed comedy from 1975 starring Dolenz. You can find more info on their website. (See links at the end of the review.)

Micky Dolenz- The MGM Singles Collection is an interesting addendum to Monkees history, sure to be enjoyed loyal Monkees fans and collectors of lesser-known musical side trips.

The First Bobby Hart Solo Album

7A Records 

You’ll do a double take when you hear “Funky Karma” the first song on the re-release of The First Bobby Hart Solo Album. When you think of Bobby Hart you think of “I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonight” and other Boyce and Hart hits, or “Last Train to Clarksville” and other Monkees hits, so it’s a surprise to hear the R and B tinged songs on this album, originally released in 1980. Boyce and Hart wrote hundreds of pop songs, but left to his own devices, Hart’s material is urban R & B, with an equal mix of funky grooves and tender ballads. The album opener “Funky Karma” would be right at home on any R & B playlist. “I’m On Fire” is a sexy dance floor track, and “I Can’t Fight It” draws from the the soul hits of the Moments and Delfonics with disco on the side. “You’re Breaking My Heart/Street Angel”, about a carousing lover, is underscored with a slinky rhythm. “First Impressions” deals with the hopefulness of new love.

“Hurt So Bad,” penned by Hart, Randazzo and Weinstein, was a big hit for Little Anthony and the Imperials in 1965, and has been covered by Linda Ronstadt and many other artists. The composer’s take is pure slow jam as evidenced in this clip from a TV show in Hong Kong. 

The re-release has three previously unissued tracks –“Runnin”, “I’m Just Takin’ the Long Way Home”, and the upbeat disco of “You Can’t See Thunder”. All of the tracks were written or co-written by Hart, with collaborators Bobby Weinstein, Teddy Randazzo and Barry Richards. 
The 24 page booklet included with the CD contains many photos from Hart’s personal collection, lyrics, album credits, and an interview Iain Lee conducted with Hart.

Produced by Hart, with Richards as associate producer, the album was recorded in Hollywood in 1980. It initially received a limited release in a few countries, including Germany, Scandinavia and Italy. This 7A release marks the first time the album been officially available in the U.S. and UK.

Links:

7A Records

Micky Dolenz

Bobby Hart/Boyce and Hart

Monkees 

Book Review : They Made a Monkee Out of Me by Davy Jones -2014 Reissue

They Made a Monkee Out of Me
Davy Jones with Alan Green
A Book’s Mind, 248 pages

Davy’s long out of print autobiography, They Made a Monkee Out of Me, is now available as a paperback and Kindle e-book on Amazon.com. For years, you had to either find an expensive, dog-eared copy from a reseller or buy it as an audiobook, with Davy reading it! The audiobook is still available.

The 248 page reissue is a informative, fun and sometimes melancholy trip through Davy’s life from his upbringing in Manchester to the 1986 Monkees reunion. (The book was first published in January 1987).


Some of the book is silly and over the top like Davy could be, but its also much more than that. Davy’s memoir is funny and self-deprecating, but it’s also brutally honest and self-aware. His co-author, Alan Green, contributes excerpts that are a bit more journalistic and even handed in their approach.

Davy sugarcoats the chapters about his childhood with humor, but you can still sense the pain. There’s s a sadness to his childhood the prose can’t hide. His family lived in a working-class neighborhood in Manchester, and Davy’s Mom Doris died when he was still in school. He went right from this hard-scrabbled but loving childhood to a jockey apprenticeship and then onto showbiz, appearing on Coronation Street in the UK and Oliver! in the UK and on Broadway.

He writes about the non-stop practicing and improvising in the early days of the Monkees, his friendships with Keith Moon and Harry Nilsson, and encounters with crazy fans (and nice ones!)
As for his Monkee bandmates, he seems to have the most reverence for Peter. Sure, he makes fun of Peter’s brown rice and waterbed phase in the ‘60s, but also says Peter was the most talented musician in the group. Peter also adds a short anecdote to the book, writing about  slugging Davy during the filming of “The Monkees’ Paw”.

About his first meeting with Mike, he jokes “I didn’t like the looks of this. He was slim, dark-haired and good-looking.”

Davy reserves a bit of rancor for Micky, nicknaming him “Skillet Face.” He obviously had a lot of admiration and respect for Micky, but they had a love/hate relationship, at least at the time the book was written in 1986. They hadn’t talked for years before the 1986 reunion.
Davy makes a lot of funny asides about his drinking in the book. His drinking problem was a lot worse than he let on, but at least he was self aware about all his problems, including bad business decisions.

I get the sense Davy was on his own most of the time in regards to business matters (or he was led astray by people he trusted). He got swindled a lot because of it. There are several pictures of contracts and business letters attesting to this. Of course, Davy being as stubborn as he was, maybe he wouldn’t have listened to legitimate business advice anyway! And there was a lot of underlying sadness from his childhood, his father’s death and all the clutter caused by the Monkees’ quick fame.

A few Davy quotes from the book –

 About breaking the ice when Mike got combative with Micky and Peter:

 “Pick on someone your own size.”  I was looking him straight in the stomach.

 About being broke in the early ‘70s:

 “A lot of people are surprised you came out of that whole thing with so little,” says a radio interviewer.
 “Not at all. Can you lend me a fiver?”

 About Micky:

“We rub each other the wrong way – like whenever we’re in the same country.”

Davy writes about his pursuit of - and marriage to - his first wife Linda, doing an impromptu striptease at the Caddyshack premiere in London (in front of his mortified second wife Anita), showering himself with salad in front of his new bandmates at a Denny’s, and other typical Davy antics. He even donned scuba gear and clown nose to get a laugh out of a humorless theater co-star during his post-Monkees days. (It didn’t work.)

Even if Davy’s not your favorite Monkee, you should read They Made a Monkee Out of Me. It doesn’t look like Peter or Mike will write autobiographies. (Peter started one, but shelved it. I think some pages from it appeared on Naked Persimmon). So that means we just have Micky and Davy’s side of the story. It shows how debilitating the rags to riches to rags phenomenon can be. As Davy wrote near the end of the book, “Everything we promoted we got to keep…except ourselves.”

A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You: The Monkees from a Fan’s Perspective : Interview with Author Fred Velez

Fred Velez’s book, A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You: The Monkees from a Fan’s Perspective, recaps his journey from childhood Monkees fan to  achieving every loyal fan’s dream of meeting- and occasionally working with-  his idols.  He’s also a blogger at Monkees.net and emcee at various Monkee-related events. A loyal fan since he first heard the Monkees’ music in the 1960s, he’s followed the group and their solo careers through the lean days of the 1970s to the 1980s MTV revival and onward to the current day.  I spoke with Fred a few weeks ago about his experiences as a Monkees fan and his new book, which is available on Amazon.com.

 

How did you first discover the Monkees?

I’m a first generation fan and I got to hear their music first on the local Top 40 radio station where I live in the New York City, so I had WNBC and WMCA And stations like that. I heard the music first without even seeing the TV show. I liked the songs Last Train to Clarksville and, I’m a Believer Later I discovered the same guys who were singing these songs had a TV show. I didn’t realize they were on TV right away. I used to watch Gilligan’s Island, which was on at the same time as the Monkees.  I never forgave Gilligan for a long time!

When did you first meet the Monkees?

I was fan from ‘67 til  the point where they broke up in 1970. (After that)  I found out about their exploits through teen magazines. I kept following what they were doing -   Michael  Nesmith when he went solo and collecting all of his records and Davy with his solo projects and I did my best to find out about Micky’s solo projects and get his records.  Peter was out of the picture for a long time.

I actually got to see them for the first time live  in 1976 when Micky and Davy united with songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart performed as Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart They played inside the Riverboat (Nightclub) in New York City. I think it was the first time I got their autographs personally. I didn’t get to really know them yet.  

Peter didn’t get back in the limelight until 1979, 1980. I saw him in a few clubs in the 1980s in New York City. He appeared on the Uncle Floyd Show, a take-off on the old-time kiddie shows of the 1960s.  unce Floyd used to have lots of performers on this show.  including the Ramones and Jan and Dean. Peter made one of his early comeback TV appearances on the Uncle Floyd Show.

I had friends who worked on the Uncle Floyd show and they told me about Peter’s second appearance there and came up to the studio to meet him. I got to meet Peter and get to know him for the first time there. I appeared on the show with him and Uncle Floyd and showed off my Monkees memorabilia and Peter was very supportive and we’ve had a rapport since then.

Davy, I got to know on a more personal basis in 1984, when he made a trip to New York City on the QE2  with his then wife Anita and young daughter Jessica. Maggie McManus, who did the Monkee Business Fanzine.  I was a writer for (Monkee Business) I had connected with Maggie in the late 1970s, early 1980s and started writing articles for her magazine. Maggie arranged for Davy to appear on some TV shows in New York -  The Today Show and Regis Show.  She asked my advice for other shows, and I recommended Uncle Floyd because I knew Peter had been on it. I knew people on the Uncle Floyd Show, so I got in touch with them, so Davy made appearances on the Today Show, Regis Show and Uncle Floyd Show. We had the audience on the Uncle Floyd Show in Monkees hats.  So that’s where I got acquainted with Davy. 

Didn’t you work on a book with Davy?

Yes I did.  In early 1990-91, I was  working on a job I wasn’t very happy with and I took a chance and sent Davy a note asking if he was looking for an assistant or anything like that, I’m available. I mailed it off and thought, well, I don’t know if I’m going to hear from him or not. And then a few weeks later, I’m in the other room watching television I hear the telephone in my other room ringing and I let the answering machine pick up. Once I got to my room,  I turned on the machine to hear the message, and it was Davy saying “Hey, Fred, I got your note.  If you’re interested in working on a project, give me a call.”

After the initial shock, I gave Davy a call He was working on his book Mutant Monkees with his partner at the time Alan Greene and asked if I wanted to help out. He wanted to get a fan’s perspective on some things that fans might want to see in the book.  So I made arrangements to met Davy in (his home in) Beavertown, PA.. Davy’s partner Alan Green picked me up and I stayed at Alan’s house.  Then we went to Davy’s house and  Davy gave me a rundown of what he wanted - random catchphrases  like “Save  the Texas Prairie Chicken” and “You must be joking.”  And then Davy pulled out this big trunk in his living room and said “Fred, you look through here and check and see if there’s anything here you think we can use for the book.”

I was looking through there and I thought “Wow! I’ve died and gone to Monkee heaven!” It was full of personal memorabilia, photo albums full of fantastic photographs, of his time with the Monkees and solo, pictures of Davy with Pete Townsend, Barry Manilow and people like that. I went to the photo album to pick out photographs, including pictures of behind the scenes from Head.and wardrobe photographs.  I was only there a day, day and a half because I had to get back to New York. Davy was grateful for my help on the book. He wanted to get a fan’s view of what they wanted to see in a book. The book came out about a year later and he sent me a signed copy of the book, which I was very happy about. I was thrilled to see my credit in the book, that I had added a contribution to it. I was very proud of my association with Davy in that regard.

The book is out of print, but you can find it on eBay or under Other Sellers on Amazon.  

Why did you decide to write A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You ?

For years, a lot of friends and colleagues knew about my experiences with the Monkees working with them and on Davy’s book, interviewing them on stage at various conventions, introducing them on stage, and they said “Fred, why don’t you write a book about this stuff.” I’d think “Yeah, I’m busy with other stuff,    But I had in the back of my mind I had this book in me and I needed to write it one day. And then after Davy died, I wanted to share these stories before they disappeared.  I started putting together notes and finding memorabilia and photos I wanted to use for the book.  I started the physical writing in June, July 2013 and I finished the final chapter in January 2014.   I got the book self-published it and it was ready in time for the March 2014 Monkees Convention.

How was this year’s convention?

From my perspective, it was a lot of fun. It was a great convention. For the first time Michael Nesmith made a major appearance at a Monkees convention. The last time he was at a  Monkees convention, he was at the 1989 Monkees Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony He only appeared at the convention part of the press conference, but he wasn’t involved in the full Monkees convention  like  Micky, Peter and Davy were.

This past Monkees convention, Mike was more involved. He did a Q and A onstage, he signed autographs and memorabilia for the fans, and he did his Movies of the Mind Concert at the convention. I’ve seen Michael Nesmith in concert many times, and this was the best I’d ever seen him.  He was totally animated and having a great time got feedback and love from the fans and it showed in his performance.  It was one of the best Michael Nesmith performances I’ve seen.

What is your favorite Monkees memorabilia?

One of my favorite pieces is the Mattel Monkees hand puppet. I remember that back in the ‘60s. I wanted to get that then. But I did get it later on at a memorabilia show- not too expensive.  And it’s a nice little piece.  We got a photograph of ourselves in present time with it when we did the 1980s Monkees Convention.

The second most favorite piece is an original 1965 Davy Jones Fan Club button before the Monkees when Davy was a solo artist and had a fan club.   I wore that button when I met Davy at the QE2 and the Uncle Floyd Show. And I’ve wore it to many different Monkee events – to conventions and I’ve worn it to the Davy Jones Memorial at BB King’s in 2012.

My 2^nd favorite is an original 1965 Davy Jones Fan Club button before the Monkees he was solo artist I wear that button to the QE2 and to  Uncle Floyd’s memorial for Davy in 2012. So it was a personal piece because of the connection with Davy on that.

I have two major pieces of memorabilia autographed. I have a copy of the 1986-87 Monkee Business Fanzine signed by all four Monkees at the MTV Christmas video in late 1986. I was at the taping and asked all four Monkees to sign it. The other one is a photo of myself with all four Monkees at the 1989 Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony.

Peter Tork is the one who arranged to get that photograph done. I knew the photographer Mike Bush and Helen Pantuso, who helped get the Monkees their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was one of the people who got the campaign rolling.  She had me as part of security at the Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony. We went inside the theatre with the Monkees waiting until they were called to come outside to accept the star. And I was walking with Peter, saying hello to Mike and Micky and Davy (as we walked outside) Mike Bush was taking photographs and said, “Excuse me, but you’re in the photograph.” So I said “Oh, sorry,” Peter Tork grabbed me by the arm, pulled me back in, and said, “Fred, you stay in the picture,” So I got my picture taken with all four Monkees. And the look on my face is “I can’t believe I’m in this photograph.” I’ll always thank Peter Tork for that. Later on, I did get the picture signed by Peter, Micky and Mike. Unfortunately, I never got it signed by Davy for various reasons. I have a big regret about it. At last year’s  Beavertown Memorial for Davy (2013), all four of Davy’s daughters were there, and I had them sign it. So the picture has a more personal meaning because it has the three Monkees and the four signatures of Davy’s daughters.

What is your favorite Monkees song? Your favorite episode of the TV show?

My favorite Monkees song is “While I Cry” from Instant Replay. My favorite song that Michael Nesmith wrote and recorded with the Monkees.  My favorite episode of the TV series, bar none, is “The Devil and Peter Tork” Each of the Monkees, especially Mike and Peter, had a rare opportunity to do some really fine acting. It’s the best episode they ever did.

 

Music Review: Micky Dolenz: Remember

The surviving Monkees,  Micky Dolenz,  Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork embarked on a 12-city tour earlier this month. Each show includes a tribute to the late Davy Jones, with film clips and an audience member in each city chosen to come up and sing Daydream Believer. The set list features all the pop hits we know and love - Last Train to Clarksville, Steppin Stone, Pleasant Valley Sunday, etc.), songs from Headquarters, the  psychedelic masterpiece Head and Daily Nightly, one of the first pop songs to use a Moog synthesizer. In concert, Mike’s hilarious interpretation of Moog sounds substitutes for the real thing.

The current tour resumes Thursday for four last sold-out shows on the East Coast.  There’s no word on future tour dates for the Monkees, but the boys have other solo projects in the works. Mike may launch solo tour for 2013 (according to one of his Facebook status posts)  Peter's  blues band, Shoe Suede Blues, has a new CD, Step By Step, available at CD Baby. Micky is scheduled to perform at the KLOSChristmas Concert in L.A. and at Walt Disney World in March. Micky’s latest CD Remember, released in October, is reviewed below.

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Micky Dolenz’s new CD Remember (RoboRecords/Universal Music) is much more than a nostalgia trip for the 50 and up set. Younger fans will like it too. Dolenz and producer David Harris compiled a list of songs that were milestones in the Monkees -and Micky’s- long and storied career. They put a creative spin on some iconic songs by the Beatles, Three Dog Night, Chuck Berry, and, of course, the Monkees. 

A breezy reworking of the Beatles’ Good Morning Good Morning kicks off the album.  A lighter, acoustic version, it rolls along with sunny ease. Micky visited the Beatles when the recording of Sergeant Pepper and John played him a working version of this song during his visit to Abbey Road Studios in 1967, and a snippet of the song opened the last Monkees episode, Mijacogeo, which Micky directed. 

The Paul Williams penned Just an Old-Fashioned Love Song , a big hit for Three Dog Night in 1971.  Micky originally turned the song down, but makes up for it on this version. Micky’s soulful take on this tune, comes complete with some mid-song scatting, ala Cab Calloway.

Diary, a hit for David Gates and Bread, is another song Micky passed on in the early 1970s.Remember’s version takes the listener on a  rollercoaster ride of emotions, veering from tenderness to heartache as the arrangement soars, and then  back to tenderness during the final verse. 

Neil Diamond’s I’m a Believer is one of the most well-known - and overplayed - pop songs of all-time - that goes for both the Smashmouth’s version from Shrek and the original Monkees hit, but the rockabilly arrangement here makes it fun and fresh. Now I’m listening to this one over and over.

 Sugar Sugar, originally brought to the Monkees by Don Kirshner. This song allegedly caused the mutiny that resulted in Kirshner's exit as the Monkees' music director. Cartoon band the Archies (actually singer Ron Dante) charted with the song instead, and the Monkees went on to write and produce their own music on Headquarters. Micky’s jazzy version of Sugar Sugar here is more suggestive than the bubblegum original, with a little dollop of Micky’s trademark humor at the end.

Quiet Desperation, the only original song on the CD, has all the markings of 1960s country original – that’s what I thought it was when I first hard it. Micky wrote this tune, and the phrasings on some of the lyrics are simultaneously comic and poignant. 

Sugar Sugar, originally brought to the Monkees by Don Kirschner. This song allegedly caused the mutiny that resulted in Kirshner’s exit as music director. Cartoon band the Archies (actually singer Ron Dante) charted with the song instead, and the Monkees went on to write and produce their own music on Headquarters.. Micky’s jazzy version of Sugar Sugar here is more suggestive than the bubblegum original, with a little dollop of Micky’s trademark humor at the end.

Micky played acoustic guitar and contributed 40 separate vocal tracks on Prithee (Do Not Ask for Love). Originally sung by Peter Tork on the ill-fated TV special 33 1/3 Revolutions per Monkee), this version has a classical, choral  feel to it.

The album ends with the haunting Remember, written by Micky’s Hollywood Vampire buddy, Harry Nilsson. The Monkees gave Nilsson his big break when they recorded his song Cuddly Toy in 1967. 

Micky always had one of the best pop voices of the 1960s, equally adapt at ballads and bouncy pop. On Remember, Micky’s voice sounds better than ever, strengthened by his years in musical theater. Dolenz has appeared several musicals since 2004, with roles in Aida, Pippin and and the UK touring company of Hairspray.

 
Musicians on the album included Vicki Petersson of the Bangles on rhythm guitar Will Champlin on piano, John Cowsill and Vinnie Colaiuta on drums and Bob Birch on bass. The CD booklet features photos by longtime Monkees photographer Henry Diltz.  Kudos to  producer David Harris, whose arrangements really bring out the nuances in Micky’s voice. Remember is a great audio time capsule of songs from the 1960s and 1970s. It will evoke memories for older listeners and entertain fans of all ages with its fresh takes on some classic pop tunes. 

R.I.P. Davy Jones : Memories from a Groovy 1960s Childhood

When Davy Jones of the Monkees died on February 29^th, all types of people, regardless of age, background or musical preference, posted loving childhood memories, historical appreciations or Monkees videos on their social media pages or blogs.

But here it is a week later and there are fresh postings underneath many Monkees Youtube videos and under news stories about Davy’s passing. Every time a celebrity dies, there’s a flurry of activity on Facebook,  a combination of heartfelt remembrances, simple R.I.P. postings and the occasional troll insults,  i.e. “crack is whack” referring to Whitney Houston. Usually, the virtual grieving lasts a day or two and then it’s business as usual. But Davy’s death has touched a lot of people across several generations beyond that usual first twinge of shock. There was a joy and sense of fun to the Monkees music and TV show that appealed to kids who discovered them through MTV in the 1980s and syndicated reruns as well as original viewers.

 Maybe that’s why a week later, people are still posting memories and condolences about Davy while the media has long since moved on to its bread and butter - mindless Kardashian news and political bickering. Outside of entertainment, Whitney Houston was known mainly for her drug scandals and bad behavior. That's one of the reasons her death and its aftermath are still in the news weeks later.The mainstream media pays more attention to Whitney because she was younger and more familiar to a generation weaned on MTV. Most members of today’s news organizations came of age when she was popular – Davy Jones was just some guy on an old TV show to them. Plus, her lifestyle made for better copy. You can get a lot of press mileage out of a drug addict; a nice guy, not so much.

 I was in kindergarten when the Monkees premiered. The Monkees - Davy, Micky, Mike and Peter - were the perfect “starter” rock group for a generation too young to appreciate Sergeant Pepper - era Beatles or the raunchy Rolling Stones. Davy was just clean-cut and cuddly enough that Mom could like him, too.  Every Monday night, we waited for the new episode, which always ended too soon. Most of the first album purchases for kids in the neighborhood were Monkees albums. We were very dedicated to the boys, and made a point to be home on Monday nights. God forbid, there was a delay in getting home before the show.  Once we were a few blocks from home after eating dinner at Bonanza Family Steakhouse. The car brushed an 18-wheeler (no one was hurt) and one of the truck’s wheels flew off. Luckily, all matters were resolved and we got home in time to see the show. This was later referred to as the “I don’t care if we hit a train, I wanna see the Monkees” incident.

Davy was the Monkees’ heartthrob, but he was more than just cute. He was a great dancer. My friends and I tried unsuccessfully to imitate his famous sashay dance. (Axl Rose misappropriated this move years later.) And he was as funny as he was cute. There was no such thing as the “funny” Monkee – they were all hilarious in their own way. Davy had funny catchphrases, mannerisms and memorable lines.  “You must be joking.” “It’s cuz I’m short, I know.” were two of the most popular. And who could forget that cute little hiccup sound he made when the boys were in a scary situation, right before they escaped some harebrained villain. To this day, I repeat Monkees dialogue as part of my daily routine. Naturally, 99.9 per cent of the people around me have no idea of their origin. (“What a great-looking cardboard box!” Quick! What episode is that from ?)

When people ask me how I developed my non-sequitur, smartass sense of humor,  I say “The Monkees.”  I don’t remember much about the first season. As the music became more varied -and the humor turned weirder and more random during the second season, my interest grew. I loved the way the guys would break the fourth wall and speak directly to the audience. So cute. I didn’t know, of course, that pot-smoking and whatnot fueled much of it.

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia…

When we were in high school, my friend Mary Beth occasionally brought out her Monkees albums and we’d dance around her bedroom and reminisce, singing along with lesser-known songs like Cuddly Toy (written by Harry Nilsson) and Star Collector (Goffin-King).

“Wait a second!,” Mary Beth exclaimed. These songs are about WHOOREEES! We were listening to dirty songs as kids and didn’t even know it! “Of course, she was exaggerating. The songs were more about flirtatious types than sluts, but then again, mainstream songwriters had to be very subtle  back then, lest the censors confront them with a long list of changes. In the mid-1970s, Davy toured with Micky and songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart as Dolenz, Jones,Boyce and Hart. .It was fun to see Davy grown-up but cute as ever and Micky, grown-up and manic as ever, on the Mike Douglas Show and ironically, former Monkees Svengali Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert.

 

Davy’s passing is more than saying good-bye to a beloved entertainer. It leads to other memories of a 1960s ( or ‘70s or ‘80s) childhood that are long gone. It’s ironic that Pleasant Valley Sunday was originally written as a swipe at suburbia. Now that song brings back wonderful memories of lazy summer nights catching fireflies in bottles or swimming in our above-ground pools while music blared from our transistor radios.    “Rows of houses that are all the same and no one seems to care”. Those  brick homes and their neatly-manicured lawns are now replaced by boarded up buildings defaced by graffiti, at least in my old neighborhood. The comfy JC Penny and Sears Roebuck-equipped house of my youth now resembles a graffiti-laden respite for gang members.

Davy's vocals rarely faltered.  His pitch was always spot on. Even in later years he always hit the notes in concert. He had a good rapport with his fans, he never seemed to have a bad day or a complaint from his admirers. How rare is that in the celebrity world? As Micky said in a Associated Press interview last week “What you saw is what you got. He was very much a song-and-dance man, life of the party, always telling jokes, always on, an entertainer and just a great guy to be around.”

Some Davy trivia - He originally trained to be a jockey before moving to America to perform in Oliver on Broadway  Davy and other actors from Oliver performed on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, the same day as the Beatles’ first appearance. Who could have guessed that cute little kid would be the lead singer of a band that would outsell the Beatles and the Stones a few years later?

Davy was adorable til the end. Sure, he gained some weight and often sported the standard uniform of aging Baby Boomer guys – shorts and Hawaiian shirts, but his indefatigable spirit always shone through. He last performed in mid-February in Oklahoma and seemed fine, his normal perky self.  

He was married three times, most recently to Jessica Pacheco - Jones, a Telemundo presenter 30 years his junior. She performed as a dancer on the Monkees last reunion tour in 2011.  He had four adult daughters from his first two marriages. One of them, Annabel, is a recording artist in her own right with the band Lady and the Lost Boys. Public memorials are planned in New York and Davy's hometown of Manchester, England.

Rest in peace, Manchester Cowboy. We will miss you.

"Listen to the band!
Now weren't they good, they made me happy.
I think I can make it alone."