It’s been over twenty years since I got my hands on the first reissue Rhino Records released of The Monkees’ third and fourth LP’s. Those reissues were made available on vinyl and cassette in 1986 during the Monkees 20th anniversary resurgence, courtesy of MTV. Rhino has just released deluxe editions of “Headquarters” and “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones LTD” in celebration of the LP’s 40th anniversary.
“Headquarters” has long been one of my favorite Monkees’ LP’s – the only album in their original catalogue to feature the self-contained band sound. Coming off the mega success of “More Of Monkees” and the exit of music supervisor Don Kirshner – Mike Nesmith, Davy Jones, Peter Tork, and Micky Dolenz got together to entertain with an extraordinary blend of folk, country, garage pop/rock and more all within the LP’s original 14 songs. The banjo fueled intro “You Told Me” shines in all of it’s two and a half minutes – while a reworking of Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart’s “I’ll Spend My Life With You” is given the stripped down folk treatment. “Forget That Girl” bubbles up with one of Davy Jones’ best vocal showings – a song that couldn’t have been sung by anyone else. Nesmith’s “You Just May Be The One” is the only true group performance – it features Peter Tork on double tracked Bass (producer Chip Douglas played most of the Bass guitar on the LP along with John London). The LP contains some of the Monkees best performances captured on magnetic tape – “Shade’s Of Gray”, “For Pete’s Sake”, and the cool breeze of “Early Morning Blues And Greens” - all classics. The album closer, Micky Dolenz’s “Randy Scouse Git” – about his trip to England – hanging out with the Beatles, Samantha Juste, and even a bit of social commentary – spotlights Micky’s newfound/short lived songwriting style. The Deluxe edition adds even more to this already timeless LP – featuring both the stereo and mono mixes – and adding some fine previously unreleased sonic candy.
After their first successful release as a self-contained group, The Monkees decided the best route in making their latest LP (with time schedules, the show, concerts, etc) was to go back to the original formula – recording with studio musicians – but with The Monkees involvement musically and artistically. It would be the perfect mix, resulting in arguably the bands best LP: “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, & Jones LTD.” (released at the end of 1967 and produced once again by Chip Douglas). The album would be previewed by a single release – the double-sided hit “Pleasant Valley Sunday” and “Words”. Michael Nesmith again took a high profile on the LP with the excellent cuts: “The Door Into Summer”, “Love Is Only Sleeping”, “Don’t Call On Me”, and the Byrdsy “What Am I Doing Hang’in ‘Round?” Davy Jones shines on Nilsson’s “Cuddly Toy” and on the snazzy “Hard To Believe.” A second recorded version of “She Hangs Out” appears but never quite measures up to the far superior Jeff Berry produced version. Micky Dolenz resurfaces on Nesmith’s psychedelic “Daily Nightly” complete with moog synthesizer – one of the first to be used on a pop record – showing you just how experimental The Monkees could be. The albums 13 original tracks played from top to bottom are by far The Monkees at their best.
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