A Barrel of Monkees
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The Monkees Originally released in 1966 Reissued by Rhino |
It's tough to criticize the Monkees. We all know them as a manufactured group, an assembly of cute boys put together by Columbia pictures for a TV show about a zany rock band, a rock 'n' roll "boy band" from a time when such things were slightly less frowned upon. As such, and not knowing much of their catalog beyond the hit singles, I naively plunged into these four discs hoping perhaps I might discover the unappreciated gems of a misunderstood band. Sadly, history has it mostly right. The liner notes of these two collections make little argument to the contrary. For their first two albums, the Monkees were essentially puppets of a studio, which can hardly be held against them. No one ever claimed otherwise. It's right there in their theme song(naturally, the first song on the first album), "We're too busy singin to put anybody down".
That said, these albums are not without their pleasures. Unfortunately, I found it hardly worth the digging, as most of these could be found on a greatest hits compilation. The self-titled first album is little more than a couple of fun singles ("Last Train to Clarksville", "Theme from the Monkees") surrounded by filler tracks mostly written by in house songwriters, lesser material tossed off for an untested group of actors to sing. At this point, the music was still considered secondary to the television program, so the somewhat careless quality of much of the songwriting is understandable.
Luckily, the Monkees struck gold with "Last Train to Clarksville", selling 4 million copies of the album and earning enough respect from the studio to shift focus to the music. Thus, the second album "More of the Monkees" fares considerably better, being blessed with better singles AND filler from a more varied selection of songwriters, notably the addition of Neil Diamond, who contributed "I'm a Believer" and "Look Out(Here Comes Tomorrow", to the first albums established regulars Goffin/King and Boyce/Hart. Still, there are a few duds and the inescapable "fake band" vibe makes it hard to take any of it very seriously. Thats beside the point, of course. Don't try to take it seriously, and there's much fun to be had here, if only a little inconsistent.
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More of the Monkees 1967’s MORE OF THE MONKEES |
Which is all to say that there is little to recommend these 2-disc deluxe editions, with stereo and mono mixes of both albums, to anyone but the most avid Monkees collector. The numerous out-takes and alternate mixes are generally a lot more of a bland thing, with the occasional amusing curiosity(Davy and Mickey making eachother giggle and riffing on "I'm Gonna Buy Me a Dog" is fun once or twice.) Personally, I'll stick to the "The Best of".
Reviewed for Coffeerooms by G.Mazz - Talk about it here
Two sets: One disk is stereo original album plus many bonus; second disk is original mono mix of same, plus many DIFFERENT bonus tracks.
| The Monkees Originally released in 1966 |
Disc One ("THE MONKEES" stereo version)
1. "(Theme From) The Monkees"
2. "Saturday's Child"
3. "I Wanna Be Free"
4. "Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day"
5. "Papa Gene's Blues"
6. "Take A Giant Step"
7. "Last Train To Clarksville"
8. "This Just Doesn't Seem To Be My Day"
9. "Let's Dance On"
10. "I'll Be True To You"
11. "Sweet Young Thing"
12. "Gonna Buy Me A Dog
Bonus Tracks:
13. "(Theme From) The Monkees" - Second recorded version
14. "The Kind Of Girl I Could Love" - alternate mix *
15. "I Don't Think You Know Me" - version one with Micky's vocal
16. "So Goes Love"
17. "Papa Gene's Blues" - alternate mix *
18. "I Can't Get Her Off My Mind" - version one
19. "(I Prithee) Do Not Ask For Love" - Davy's vocal *
20. "Gonna Buy Me A Dog" - version one backing track *
21. Monkees Radio Spot *
Disc Two - ("THE MONKEES" -- )Original Mono Album)
1. "(Theme From) The Monkees"
2. "Saturday's Child"
3. "I Wanna Be Free"
4. "Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day"
5. "Papa Gene's Blues"
6. "Take A Giant Step"
7. "Last Train To Clarksville"
8. "This Just Doesn't Seem To Be My Day"
9. "Let's Dance On"
10. "I'll Be True To You"
11. "Sweet Young Thing"
12. "Gonna Buy Me A Dog"
Bonus Tracks:
13. "Kellogg's Jingle"
14. "All The King's Horses"
15. "You Just May Be The One" - TV version
16. "I Wanna Be Free" - Fast version
17. "I Don't Think You Know Me" - version one with Michael's Vocal
18. "I Won't Be The Same Without Her" - 1966 mono mix *
19. "Propinquity (I've Just Begun To Care)" - demo version *
20. "(Theme From) The Monkees" - TV version
* = previously unissued recording
| More of the Monkees 1967’s MORE OF THE MONKEES |
1. "She"
2. "When Love Comes Knockin' (At Your Door)"
3. "Mary, Mary"
4. "Hold On Girl"
5. "Your Auntie Grizelda"
6. "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone"
7. "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)"
8. "The Kind Of Girl I Could Love"
9. "The Day We Fall In Love"
10. "Sometime In The Morning"
11. "Laugh"
12. "I'm A Believer"
Bonus Tracks:
13. "Apples, Peaches, Bananas And Pears"
14. "Ladies Aid Society" - 1966 mono mix *
15. "I'll Spend My Life With You" - version one
16. "I Don't Think You Know Me" - Peter's vocal version
17. "Through The Looking Glass" - version one
18. "Don't Listen To Linda" - version one
19. "Kicking Stones"
20. "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)" - with Peter's narration
21. "I'm A Believer" - alternate mix with different lead vocals
22. "Mr. Webster" - version one
Disc Two "MORE OF THE MONKEES" Original Mono Album
1. "She"
2. "When Love Comes Knockin' (At Your Door)"
3. "Mary, Mary"
4. "Hold On Girl"
5. "Your Auntie Grizelda"
6. "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone"
7. "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)"
8. "The Kind Of Girl I Could Love"
9. "The Day We Fall In Love"
10. "Sometime In The Morning"
11. "Laugh"
12. "I'm A Believer"
Bonus Tracks:
13. "Valleri" - first recorded version
14. "Words" - first recorded version
15. "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)" - TV version
16. "I'll Be Back Up On My Feet" - first recorded version
17. "Tear Drop City" - alternate mix *
18. "Of You" - original mono mix
19. "Hold On Girl" - first recorded version
20. "(I Prithee) Do Not Ask For Love" - Micky's vocal
Posted September 18, 2006 Permalink
