A RETROSPECTIVE ON THE DEATH OF DAVY JONES
The Monkee’s were like a “Gateway Band” for me. After the first album, “The Monkees” in 1966, I bought a tambourine. I beat the hell out of that tamborine, singing "I'm A Believer" at the top of my lungs. Then came “More of the Monkee’s” and I took my allowance down and bought some Maracas.
Davy Jones looked so good playing the Maracas, and he always got the girl. But it was Peter Tork, the really goofy one, that I was busy modeling myself after.
By the time “Pleasant Valley Sunday” came out on “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones”, I was beating the bongos pretty darn hard, and I was only 11 years old. Over the next year or so, I had completely given up my musical sensibilities that were so deeply rooted in Mary Poppin’s “Spoonful of Sugar”, and had moved from the Monkee’s to the Partridge Family, with a huge lust for Susan Dey. . I advanced through the soloists like Neil Diamond, to the edgier Norman Greenbaum; I decided that even though "Sugar Sugar" was the sexiest song ever, the Archies were pure bubble-gum and fell for the mysticism of Tommy James and the Shondells; discovered the Hollies and had to hide my Frijid Pink under the mattress along with Sly and the Family Stone; down I went from ‘Chirpy-Chirpy-Cheep-Cheep” to “Indiana Wants Me”; deeper still to ”Me and You and a Dog named Boo” and it was no great leap from there to the really hard stuff, like T-Rex's "Bang A Gong" or Chicago's “25 or 6 to 4”.
It was gradual, I barely even noticed the decline- hooked on The Beatles, and Three Dog Night, and god help me…the Grass Roots!
It wasn’t too long after that I traded in my bongos for a bong, and Tony Orlando and Dawn for Led Zeppelin 3.
And it all started with the Monkee’s.
Trouble with a capital T.
5 comments:
Great first hand rock 'n' roll memories. I have always regretted being born in the wrong time.
Guess whom I bought cd's from today? The Byrds (Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde), which I'm listening to now and I like it... so far, although this 4th track is not so good; and Sly & The Family Stone's Stand (which I had already).
Rest in peace, Davy Jones.
It is. But that's not a song I like very much: such angry mouth harp. Brrr.
But 'I Want to Take you Highter' and 'You Can Make it if you Try' is the shit!
Funny, cowboy....I of course went for all those pre-adolescent dream men: Davy Jones, David Cassidy, gawd help me Donnie Osmund ???!!! No wonder I'm bonkers. I redeemed myself with Cat Stevens ....bwahaahaaa!
xxx
Red, somewhere a future mass-murderer is laying down some Bieber.
Monkees Headquarters was the first album I ever bought in 1966.
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