Everybody's got something to hide except for me and The Monkees

Case Study

Missing Links, Volume Two (Rhino 70903)

Explication by Charles Olver, criticaster

It's a testimonial to the Monkees' (yes) cultural impact that no-one I know doesn't have an opinion about their music. And that opinion is likely to be one of the following

(A) The Monkees? Just leave me alone, man.

(B) Yeah, they were fun. "I'm a Believer" was alright. "Pleasant Valley Sunday" had a cool riff, I guess. (Yawn.)

(C) A lot of their stuff was crap, but they had a slew of dynamite singles, and there was a more than fair amount of gold hidden in them thar LPs.

(D) The Monkees are God. Especially Davy.

In case you couldn't guess, (C) is for Charlie. And lest you put undue stress on the first part of that statement, let's put the matter into perspective

Between mid-1966 and mid-1968, four young TV actors filmed two seasons of a remarkably innovative (if poorly scripted) television series, in the process inventing and perfecting what is now known as rock video (I know, I know, Beatles movies, Elvis movies, yeah yeah yeah but did you ever see that party scene in the first season that had Micky in drag [on prime-time TV ca. '66, mind you], singing about "taking a giant step outside your mind" as if his life depended on it, while Mr. Clean boogalooed with the attendant nubiles? Words can't begin to do justice, it's pure audio-visual poetry... not even Ringo could've come up with that); made a flawed but brilliant feature film (Head) and an hour-long TV special; financed Easy Rider and helped establish the careers of Jack Nicholson, Harry Nilsson, Michael Martin Murphy, Frank Zappa, Tim Buckley, Jimi Hendrix, Three Dog Night and Neil Diamond (okay, okay, but how could they have known?); willed themselves to become an honest-to-gosh rock and roll band (yes, they did play their own music for the most part), in the process inventing country-rock (yeah, but good country-rock) before Gram Parsons got the chance; made several record-breaking tours of the U.S., Canada, England, Australia, and Japan; released no less than six albums, with two more finished or near-finished albums and at least five more albums' worth of out-takes, alternate takes, single sides and live tracks in the can (most of which they also produced themselves)...

So, what the hell have you done in the last two years?

I suppose it's about time I got off the defensive long enough to tell you about this second in a series of collections of out-takes and sundry.

Given some of the rubbish that the boys saw fit to release while they were still around (I'm disregarding the reunions for the sake of convenience), I wasn't sure just how badly I wanted to hear such a collection. So imagine my surprise at least half of this generous (19 song) CD comp is downright nifty, if not essential, and the remainder of it is better than a lot of what came out at the time.

(If, at this point, you find yourself somewhere between opinions [B] and [C] above, forget this one for the time being start with their fourth album, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., and proceed from there if you're still interested.)

Just for funsies, let's continue with the categorization...

General category #1 Alternates, or early versions of songs that were subsequently re-recorded and released. Sub-categories

Shoulda Stayed In The Can "Valleri" (clum-zee), "Words" (I know usually the backwards section is the best part of a song, but this one hurts), "I Wanna Be Free" (yick and I like the song).

As Good As The Official Version, Or Close Enough "The Crippled Lion" (not quite as good as on Mike's Magnetic South album, but that one's out of print), "You Just May Be The One" (bonus points for having a great beat without benefit of an audible drum track). And in sub-sub-category Big Surprise "Circle Sky." More than one ex-Monkee has been heard to complain over the years that this live version from the Head movie is the one that should have been on the soundtrack LP. I've never agreed, but this vibrant remix has enough raw energy (really!) to make me reconsider.

Better Than The Official Version "Some Of Shelly's Blues" (as good as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's), "Hold On Girl" (for what it's worth), "Mr. Webster" (ditto). Sub-sub-category ...But The Song Still Really Sucks "I'll Be Back Up On My Feet."

General Category #2 Yer Actual Previously Unreleased Tunes.

Sub-categories

Shoulda Stayed In The Can "All The King's Horses," "If I Ever Get To Saginaw Again" ("What Am I Doin' Hangin' 'Round" revisited this guy gets around), "Come On In" (more soap opera, and Peter sings). Sub-sub-category Coulda Been A Contendah "Do Not Ask For Love." Also known as "Prithee," or "Thou Makest Demands On Me." The song has potential, and I dig Elizabethan literature as well as the next guy, but this Michael Murphy song almost moves me next-door to Gene Simmons, who once said of Shakespeare "'Thee,' 'Thou'... the guy sounds like a faggot." Any song that can induce me to quote a member of Kiss is definitely on my shitlist. A consolation prize to Michael for coming up with the "Everybody's Been Burned" chord sequence before David Crosby did.

Obligatory Oddball Michael Nesmith Song "St. Matthew." About a girl. A little too oddball, like a lot of his, but it's growing on me.

Obligatory Great Nesmith Song "Michigan Blackhawk." This gritty rocker could have made a dandy filler track (no slight intended) on The Monkees Present, which was apparently the idea. Sounds more than a little to me like a subsequent John Entwistle song, but I'm not sure which one "Postcard," maybe, or "Success Story." Neat-o.

Non-Obligatory Davy Jones Song "Changes." Well, gol' damn this is actually not half-bad. Almost, though. Bonus points for not being on the album of the same name.

Obligatory 16th-Century Spanish Christmas Carol (Acapella Division) "Riu Chiu." Nice. Docked a point for not being in a language I understand.

Pleasant Surprise Peter Tork's setting of the theme from Pete Seeger's Goofing-Off Suite. The drums don't really work, but it's a lovely tune from a sadly obscure album. Go, Pete!

I should mention too that, despite the vintage of the recordings, this is one of the best sounding CDs I've ever heard.

(I could say the same for the CD of the Monkees' aforementioned fourth album. Both were remastered by Bill Inglot and Ken Perry. Go, Bill and Ken!)