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Part 3 - The Monkees - Changes
THE MONKEES - CHANGES (1968)
View attachment 542771
Side One
Porpoise Song
Auntie's Municipal Court
St. Matthew
Tapioca Tundra
Daydream Believer
Side Two
Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again? Or, The Karma Blues
P.O. Box 9847
Can You Dig It
(I Prithee) Do Not Ask For Love [1]
Circle Sky
Reprise [2]
"We expected innovation from The Beatles, but Spring '67 The Beach Boys pipped everyone to the post. A lot of people weren't prepared for that. I've always loved The Beach Boys, but they lacked a certain credibility in some sections of the industry at that time. Smile was shock to a lot of people who'd looked down on The Beach Boys. We couldn't help but notice that at Monkees HQ.
But Smile wasn't important on its own, the fact they followed it with Wild Honey was the thing I think sent a message to guys like us. There was a pressure building on groups to choose if they were gonna be 'serious' or not. Either you're with the hippies or you're just entertaining the kids and for some reason that was a bad thing in those days. The Beach Boys said 'do both'. Here's Smile, they can outgun any 'progressive' music out there. Now here's Wild Honey, they can make people dance.
The Monkees were from all over, but we were LA guys at heart and that idea was a real boost to a lot of bruised egos in this town. Even some of the trippy bands felt they had to stoop down and prove their pop credentials. You've got Vanilla Fudge rushing out an album of three minute pop songs, just to show that the ten minute jams were their choice, not because they didn't know when to stop. All four of us had a little spring in our step after that.
OK, we'd done it the wrong way round. Headquarters was our garage band album and Pisces was the psychedelic one, but we went into 1968 confident we could keep up with anyone.
Michael and Peter, who were not the closest of friends before, started making plans and they agreed to keep Chip [Douglas] in on the decision making process. Everybody was being very co-operative. I guess another thing we have to thank Brian Wilson for was everyone seeing a shrink. After the pot and the acid, there were a lot of people about who were mellow because of therapy. Didn't last of course, but anyway.
Meanwhile back at the ranch Raybert [the company that made the TV show] were pressing for us to make a movie. Bob Rafelson wanted to take on the American media and the whole Monkee phenomenon. Peter and Mike however want to make a great album and a movie of the album. They started talking about maybe a documentary about this amazing album they were sure we were going to make, maybe a concert film, too. Davy wanted to make a 90-minute Monkees episode, I wanted to have a good time and Columbia wanted a return on their investment. Us being us, we ended up with a Monkees episode, that turned into a satire that turned into a documentary that ended with a concert. I had a good time making it and it returned Columbia's investment, but not as much as they hoped. Everybody seems to love 25% of the film and wishes the other three-quarters would go away. Except me, I love the whole thing."
- Micky Dolenz
View attachment 542772
[1] If you want to compile your own version of this, I use the recording that's just Peter and guitar
[2] This is the last 1:10 of Porpoise song, the bit after the false ending
View attachment 542771
Side One
Porpoise Song
Auntie's Municipal Court
St. Matthew
Tapioca Tundra
Daydream Believer
Side Two
Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again? Or, The Karma Blues
P.O. Box 9847
Can You Dig It
(I Prithee) Do Not Ask For Love [1]
Circle Sky
Reprise [2]
"We expected innovation from The Beatles, but Spring '67 The Beach Boys pipped everyone to the post. A lot of people weren't prepared for that. I've always loved The Beach Boys, but they lacked a certain credibility in some sections of the industry at that time. Smile was shock to a lot of people who'd looked down on The Beach Boys. We couldn't help but notice that at Monkees HQ.
But Smile wasn't important on its own, the fact they followed it with Wild Honey was the thing I think sent a message to guys like us. There was a pressure building on groups to choose if they were gonna be 'serious' or not. Either you're with the hippies or you're just entertaining the kids and for some reason that was a bad thing in those days. The Beach Boys said 'do both'. Here's Smile, they can outgun any 'progressive' music out there. Now here's Wild Honey, they can make people dance.
The Monkees were from all over, but we were LA guys at heart and that idea was a real boost to a lot of bruised egos in this town. Even some of the trippy bands felt they had to stoop down and prove their pop credentials. You've got Vanilla Fudge rushing out an album of three minute pop songs, just to show that the ten minute jams were their choice, not because they didn't know when to stop. All four of us had a little spring in our step after that.
OK, we'd done it the wrong way round. Headquarters was our garage band album and Pisces was the psychedelic one, but we went into 1968 confident we could keep up with anyone.
Michael and Peter, who were not the closest of friends before, started making plans and they agreed to keep Chip [Douglas] in on the decision making process. Everybody was being very co-operative. I guess another thing we have to thank Brian Wilson for was everyone seeing a shrink. After the pot and the acid, there were a lot of people about who were mellow because of therapy. Didn't last of course, but anyway.
Meanwhile back at the ranch Raybert [the company that made the TV show] were pressing for us to make a movie. Bob Rafelson wanted to take on the American media and the whole Monkee phenomenon. Peter and Mike however want to make a great album and a movie of the album. They started talking about maybe a documentary about this amazing album they were sure we were going to make, maybe a concert film, too. Davy wanted to make a 90-minute Monkees episode, I wanted to have a good time and Columbia wanted a return on their investment. Us being us, we ended up with a Monkees episode, that turned into a satire that turned into a documentary that ended with a concert. I had a good time making it and it returned Columbia's investment, but not as much as they hoped. Everybody seems to love 25% of the film and wishes the other three-quarters would go away. Except me, I love the whole thing."
- Micky Dolenz
View attachment 542772
[1] If you want to compile your own version of this, I use the recording that's just Peter and guitar
[2] This is the last 1:10 of Porpoise song, the bit after the false ending
- Guajolote
- Word Count: 620