Customer Reviews

Head (1968 Film)

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the soundtrack to the Monkees' only feature film. It only has six songs, the rest of the soundtrack features sound collages assembled by Jack Nicholson, of all people. The songs are all great, it's some of the Monkees most mature work. The sound collages range from a few seconds long to five minutes long, and they are actually fairly interesting. The CD adds six great bonus tracks. On the alternate take of "Ditty Diego", you can hear Jack Nicholson instructing the boys to be "sillier". The alternate "Circle Sky" is the live version featured in the movie. There is a short recording of the other Monkees singing "Happy Birthday" to Mike. The alternate version of "Can You Dig It" features Peter on vocals instead of Micky. The alternate version of "Daddy's Song" features Mike on vocals instead of Davy. The CD closes with a radio advertisement for Head that is an incomprehensible sound collage which makes no mention of the Monkees, or even the fact that Head is a motion picture. With advertising like that, no wonder the movie flopped!

"Head" was the last Monkees album to feature all four original members. Guitarist Pete Tork left the band shortly after finishing the album.

Though it's a soundtrack and not a regular album it contains some of the Monkees' finest recordings. Especially the two Carole King songs "Porpoise Song" and "As We Go Along" are outstanding. Also Tork's "Can You Dig it" and Nesmith's "Circle Sky" are Monkees classics.

Only 6 tracks on the original album are actually music. The rest of it is soundclips and dialouge; some of it quite entertaining.

Taken from the sleeve notes Jack Nicholson played a big part in the album's/movie's creation, which sounds to be pretty weird.

The bonus tracks are mostly alternate takes - most interesting is the fine live version of "Circle Sky" recorded in May 1968.

The list of guest musicians is impressive, featuring names like Leon Russell, Bill Chadwick, Dewey Martin, Carole King, Neil Young and Ry Cooder.

Head is the soundtrack album to a true cult classic and underrated film. After the Monkees' TV show was cancelled, the band decided to make a movie that would destroy the Monkees' myth and image. They got together with Bob Rafaelson & Jack Nicholoson, smoked alot of dope and came up with this true gem. The film opens with the killing off the group by having them jump off a bridge. What follows is a stream of conscious film that jumps between scenes at a break neck pace. The soundtrack follows that same style. The album mixes songs with dialogue from the movie and it makes for an interesting and enjoyable listening experience. The songs are all top notch including the psychedelic "The Porpoise Song" which contains sounds from actual porpoises, Mike Nesmith's powerful "Circle Sky", the middle-eastern flavored "Can You Dig It?", "As We Go Along" is the prettiest song the band has ever done, "Daddy's Song" has a vaudevillian feel with good horn play and "Do I Have To Do This all Over Again" is the best song Peter Tork sang lead on for the band. Not what you would expect from the Monkees and it shows that the group were more than just a bunch of hired actors.

My earliest childhood memory of listening to any kind of music, was having the pretty red and white Colgems 8-track tape of The Monkees album "Head" put in my parent's Hi-Fi for me, and I would listen to it over and over, at any opportunity. I was probably around 3 years old at the time. I was born in 1968, the year that the movie "Head" was released in theatres, but oddly enough, I did not get to see this film until the age of 15...Which may have been a good thing, because, looking back, I probably would have not understood the sad messages and imagery contained in this film, and been able to compare it to the happy-go-lucky Monkees I always watched on TV.
As said in "Porpoise Song" from this album,..."an overdub has no choice, an image cannot rejoice" which is part of what they were trying to express about their situation...but now I understand what they meant by that.
This album, and the later CD version, is a hallucinogenic journey into the world of The Monkees and their beautiful and unique entity, as four very talented and creative people. As the Guru says in the soundtrack on cut 14, "The central nervous system, which feeds its impulses directly to the brain, the conscious and the subconscious, is unable to discern between the real and the vividly imagined experience...." (paraphrasing Dr. Maxwell Maltz, by the way...) So go ahead and play this album, 8-track, or CD and imagine for yourself that you are there, and all this is happening now....just go with it, and let it carry you away. If you don't cry during Mickey Dolenz singing "As We Go Along" which is my favorite song in the universe, you might have a heart made of stone.
To program the CD to play in the exact order as the 8-track tape, enter the tracks in this order: 1,2,13,7,3,4,6,8,9,10,11,5,12,14. (skip the 6 bonus tracks.)
[...]

Head sounds like nothing that the Monkees ever did before. This is the soundtrack to their very trippy movie which reminds you of a '60s version of Pulp Fiction. First of all, if you're looking for the bubblegum pop of "Daydream Believer" or "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You", you won't find it here. The album itself is six tracks mixed in with snippets from the movie. Yes, it's a short album, even with all the bonus tracks it's only 45 minutes. Having said that, some of their best tracks ever are here. "Porpoise Song" was a great single and the most psychedelic song they'd ever release. Peter Tork's tracks "Can You Dig It", with its Eastern melodies, and "Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again" are excellent tracks. Michael Nesmith's "Circle Sky" is perhaps the best rock song they've ever performed. The acoustic "As We Go Along", with a great vocal by Mickey Dolenz, and the 1920's-sounding "Daddy's Song" are strong as well. The snippets from the movie are interesting. If you enjoy the movie, you'll love them. Otherwise, you may deem them unnecessary. The bonus tracks feature a killer live version of "Circle Sky" and the radio advertisement for the movie which is downright hysterical. Best way to put this, you'll either love it or hate it.

The Monkees' sixth long player was the soundtrack to their trippy 1968 film HEAD. Like the movie the album was an acid experience. Despite it utterly drugged out mood, six of the finest songs the Monkees ever recorded are featured here.

THE PORPOISE SONG(THEME FROM HEAD) is an awesome Carole King song that sound like something that came out of the Beatles White Album era. Nesmith's awesome rock tune CIRCLE SKY also appears here and has gained quite a popular reputatin in the recent years.

Peter Tork's self composed CAN YOU DIG IT is a fine experimentation of Eastern style sitar music by the "pre fab four". AS WE GO ALONG is probably the prettiest song the group ever recorded check out that guitar work and beautiful vocals! DADDY'S SONG is a really fun song performed by Davy. It fits into his broadway style of music. And finally Peter's vocal performance on LONG TITLE: DO I HAVE TO DO THIS ALL OVER AGAIN is one of his finest.

The famous Jack Nicholson was the album coordinator and it often makes me wonder what Jack was on when I hear the trippy dialouge he mixed into the record. THE OPENING CEREMONY does not even show up in the film. DITTY DIEGO-WAR CHANT is really neat but the rest of the dialoudge makes no sense unless you have seen the movie.

The bonus tracks are really neat . First there is a hilarious outake of DITTY DIEGO. Then their is the far superior live version of CIRCLE SKY played by the Monkees. After that are two outakes of CAN YOU DIG IT sung by Tork and DADDY'S SONG sung by Nesmith. Both are decent tracks but are weak compared to the originals. Th cd closes with the wildly uncommercial RADIO SPOT which proves why the movie was a box office disaster because the ads for it were really repulsive.

In conclusion the HEAD SOUNDTRACK is not for the casual listener. It's essential to all hardcore Monkee fans but if you want it get the movie first. As for people who are just normal fans of the show buy a different album from the four because this may be too weird for some. Recommended
to people who love psychadelic music.

Rhino Records has always handled The Monkees music with such care and devotion. This release from their Handmade division is no different. The HEAD soundtrack fared a little better than its film counterpart, but not by much. Initially charting at #45, it was The Monkees first true flop. Every album The Monkees did before hit the top 5, so this would be essentially the beginning of the end. The album consisted of a sparse 6 songs (7 if you count "Ditty Diego", a mockery of The Monkees theme), with audio clips from the film interspersed throughout the record. Jack Nicholson actually arranged the album, and is given credit on the original back sleeve. The songs are among the best The Monkees ever recorded: "Porpoise Song (Theme From 'Head')", "Circle Sky", "Can You Dig It?", "As We Go Along", "Daddy's Song", and "Long Title: Do I Have to do This All Over Again". With any Monkees album, they had the best songwriters at the helm. Carole King and Harry Nillson, along with Monkees Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith, round out the song credits. Had they been released a year or so earlier, they would have been surefire hits for The Monkees.

That being said, it's sort of a minor miracle that the "HEAD" soundtrack is getting the royal treatment from Rhino. The box set is similar to Rhino's "The Birds, the Bees, and The Monkees" reissue, including a full color booklet with liner notes and a history on the movie and soundtrack, a 45 RPM record with instrumental tracks for "Porpoise Song" and "As We Go Along", a button featuring the original movie poster, and three discs chock full of unreleased bonus material. The first disc is the entire original stereo album complete with alternate takes and mixes of the songs. The final track on this disc is about 20 minutes of studio chatter rehearsing for "Ditty Diego". A bit long, but interesting for die hard Monkees fans.

The second disc includes all the songs in their original mono mixes. "HEAD" was the first stereo-only album from the Monkees, so no true mono mix was ever available (mono releases in other countries were fold downs of the stereo mix). The songs were all mixed to mono for the film, and the preview single ("Porpoise Song" and "As We Go Along) was the last Monkees single available in mono. So for the first time, we get a true mono release for "HEAD". I have to say that these songs sound a lot better in mono. There aren't a lot of differences as you sometimes find with late 60s mono and stereo mixes, but the sound is more full and punchy. It's worth the price of admission alone. There are other mono mixes available on this disc, including mixes that were only found in the film. The final few tracks of the second disc are the songs performed for the mini concert filmed for the movie. They actually uncovered the introduction, where some guy in charge informs the kids in attendance of what is happening (he calls the movie "Untitled", its original name), and entices them to make noise for the arriving Monkees (which is all used in the film). According to the guy in the intro, The Monkees rewarded the kids for their participation with a full concert for free. They perform the three Nesmith songs from "Headquarters" and "Circle Sky", which was used in the film. Really cool that this stuff still survives and is included on this set.

The final disc features something I had no idea existed, an entire interview with Davy Jones in 1968 to hype up the theatrical release of "HEAD". It runs about 45 minutes with some of the "HEAD" songs interwoven with the interview. It's fairly interesting, and serves to at least explain what The Monkees were thinking when they made "HEAD". Davy seems very proud of the movie as he talks about it, and speaks with a lot of enthusiasm. The sound quality is best of the best on the set, but I imagine the source material wasn't the best to work with. That said, it's not bad or anything, and it shows how good Rhino was with the rest of the set.

This is kind of a tricky recommendation to make. Die-hard Monkees fans are going to want this set, as it is as inclusive as you can get when it comes to the "HEAD" soundtrack. The mono mixes alone are worth picking up this set for, as the songs really sound better in this format. The only thing I found missing was the movie mix for "As We Go Along". The mono mix used in the film had noticeably more reverb in the beginning of the song than other versions. Perhaps the master tapes no longer exist, but the included movie mixes for "Can You Dig It?" and "Daddy's Song" sound like they are taped right from the film's soundtrack. They are among the worst sounding tracks on the set, so if that's the case, why couldn't they have done the same for "As We Go Along"? Regardless, the sound quality is top notch except as noted, and the bonus material is up to Rhino standards.

Casual Monkees fans will find this set too expensive and unnecessary. After all, there are only 6 real songs, and while Rhino stretches that material as far as it can go, most people won't care to hear all the alternate mixes and varying versions of those 6 songs. With its $60 price tag, it will scare off all but the devoted Monkees fan. Even if a fully restored DVD or Blu-Ray of the film was included, the price will be too steep for most. The 1994 Rhino reissue is still available, including the original stereo album and a few of the bonus tracks featured here. This is recommended for most fans, as the album is good enough to warrant an $8 purchase.

I'd give it 5 star recommendation for hardcore Monkees fans, since they are the ones would would most likely spend $60 on a 3-Disc Box Set from an obscure 1968 movie soundtrack. It's not as awesome as the "Birds, Bees" reissue was, but those sessions simply produced more material. While it can get a little repetitive, fans can now own almost the entire recorded sessions for "HEAD". The packaging is top notch, and it sounds incredible. Not so hardcore fans will be satisfied with the 20 track CD from Rhino that's still in print for a fraction of the price. If you're interested, I'd hurry, as the "Birds, Bees" box sets are almost permanently sold out, and "HEAD" won't be far behind!

Disc 1 - The Original LP & Bonus Material:
1. Opening Ceremony
2. Porpoise Song [Theme From "Head"]
3. Ditty Diego-War Chant
4. Circle Sky
5. Supplicio
6. Can You Dig It
7. Gravy
8. Superstitious
9. As We Go Along
10. Dandruff?
11. Daddy's Song
12. Poll
13. Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again
14. Swami-Plus Strings
15. Porpoise Song [Theme From "Head"] (Alternate Stereo Mix)
16. Ditty Diego-War Chant (Alternate Stereo Mix)
17. Circle Sky (Alternate Stereo Mix)
18. Can You Dig It (Peter's Vocal - Stereo Rough Mix)
19. As We Go Along (Alternate Stereo Mix)
20. Daddy's Song (Remix with slow verse)
21. Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again (Alternate Stereo Mix)
22. Swami-Plus Strings (Alternate Stereo Mix)
23. Happy Birthday To You (Alternate Stereo Mix)
24. Ditty Diego (Session)

Disc 2 - Outtakes and Rarities:
1. Head Promo "Coming Soon"
2. Porpoise Song (Mono Single Mix)
3. Ditty Diego-War Chant (Mono Mix)
4. Circle Sky (Mono Mix)
5. Can You Dig It (Mono Mix)
6. As We Go Along (Mono Single Mix)
7. Daddy's Song (Mono Mix)
8. Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again (Mono Mix)
9. Porpoise Song [Theme From "Head"] (Rough Mono Mix)
10. Ditty Diego (Alternate Version)
11. Circle Sky (Alternate Mono Mix)
12. Can You Dig It (Peter's Vocal)
13. Daddy's Song (Mike's Vocal)
14. Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again (Rough Mix Acetate)
15. Can You Dig It (Mono Movie Mix)
16. Daddy's Song (Mono Movie Mix)
17. Head Promo "Now Playing"
18. Introduction To Live Show
19. You Just May Be The One (Live)
20. Sunny Girlfriend (Live)
21. You Told Me (Live)
22. Circle Sky (Live)
23. California, Here It Comes

Disc 3 - Head Open-End Radio Special Platter With Davy Jones
1. Circle Sky (Excerpt)
2. Davy Jones Interview [Part 1]
3. Can You Dig It (Excerpt)
4. Davy Jones Interview [Part 2]
5. Daddy's Song
6. Davy Jones Interview [Part 3]
7. Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again
8. Davy Jones Interview [Part 4]
9. Porpoise Song [Theme From "Head"]
10. Davy Jones Interview [Part 5]
11. Can You Dig It (Excerpt)

Bonus 7" Single
1. Porpoise Song (Instrumental Mix)
2. As We go Along (Instrumental Mix)

Their fight with Don Kirshner for control of their own destiny was over; their show failed to garner a third season renewal; and their 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee TV variety show bombed; fame is fleeting - in less than two years this made-for-TV band did the impossible, ascending the heights of the pop machine and rivaled even The Beatles in popularity, then fell from grace after guitarist Mike Nesmith and bassist/keyboardist Peter Tork came out that the band had been "faking" it on the records -- but that changed with Headquarters. Still, the damage was done and the group, already rife with four individual ego problems (particularly Nesmith), decided that the best thing to do was to give TV the finger and all the critics as well -- they managed to pull together as a unit, and with the help of a few friends (including Jack Nicholson!) they created their most ambitious project, the film HEAD. The film was a critical disaster and their teenybopper fans hated it, but decades later the film -- and soundtrack album -- are considered the band's swansong to a degree, as it was truly a creative, artistic statement that did indeed rival anything anyone else was doing at the time in terms of quality, entertainment value and artistry. The film and the album have a very stream-of-consciousness feel and in-between bizarre vignettes of Mike and Micky taking bets on whether a girl will actually jump off a rooftop and plunge to her death and Frank Zappa walking around doling out critical analysis with a talking cow, you get snippets of self-mocking cleverness, such as Peter worrying about a scene where he has to hit a woman, and how it will effect his image as a peace-nik; Davy getting his "million dollar face" smashed and bloodied by boxer Sonny Liston; Mike's creepy horror at being left alone in their flat (the same one from the TV show) by the others (whom he thinks are playing a prank on him) and threatening outloud, "You think they call us plastic now baby, well wait till I tell em how we do it!" Then later on, his cynical response to a surprise party; and Micky's whacked-out desert battle with a Coke machine. Then you get the most telling moment of all, when all the film's characters chase the band to a bridge, where they commit suicide.
As for the music - the only complaint I have is that there are only 6 songs here. It would have been cool if they could have padded out the rest of the album with some of the many outtakes found now on the three Missing Links collections. Still, its interesting to hear scenes from the film cut and pasted in-between each track: the theme song, Porpoise Song, is haunting (the extended version with coda section is even moreso) and stands as one of the group's best ever (even finding its way into the film Vanilla Sky); Davy's Broadway rocker Daddy's Song actually works here, and was, interestingly enough, originally going to be a Mike song (heard as a bonus track); speaking of Mike, he turns in a great rocker Circle Sky. The live version from the film is here as well as a bonus track; and Peter, who was on the verge of quitting the band, turns in his best efforts with Do I Have To Do This All Over Again (featuring a blistering lead guitar) and Can You Dig It? (sung to great effect by Micky Dolenz); and Dolenz turns in a fine performance of the ballad As We Go Along. All in all, if you can handle the brevity, this album is very much worth owning, as well as the film.

Following hot on the heels of the stunning 'Birds And Bees And Monkees' boxed set, Rhino Handmade gives us the same treatment for the Monkees 1968 soundtrack album 'Head'. I have to say when I found out about this I was floored, and ordered it ASAP. To me, ANY Monkees deluxe album is a must-have, and I was still basking in the glow of the 'Birds And Bees' set.

Maybe I was expecting too much.

While I won't say that this set is bad, it does fall a long way short of its predecessor. For one thing there's just not that much material to work with. 'Head' only featured seven actual songs, and tracks that might have been considered for the film (such as 'War Games') already appeared on the 'Birds And Bees' collection. Not that this seemed to matter - one of the tracks on 'Head', an alternate mix of 'Do I Have To Do This All Over Again' - is the same recording that was just used on the 'Birds And Bees' set. Not only that, but many of the other tracks here have been issued already as parts of other Monkees collections. It's nice to have them all in one place, but still...

In addition the track 'California Here It Comes' appears, even though it was from the Monkees '33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee' TV special. Interestingly, it is presented here in a slightly different mix (missing the skipping effect at the end). This gives hope that maybe Rhino has found at least some tapes from that special, even if they are only in mono. This brings me to what I feel is a missed opportunity here: why not include the soundtrack for the entire '33 1/3' as disc 3? While the open end interview with Davy about the 'Head' film is no doubt a rarity even a rabid fan like me must face the fact that now that I have played it I'm not likely to give it too many listens. I WOULD play the '33 1/3' soundtrack though, even if (like I said) most or all the tracks were ripped directly from the soundtrack. I'm sure with current technology Rhino could do a bang-up job!

However, I don't want to give the impression that this set is not worthwhile (just maybe not worth the price tag). One of the highlights for me was the unreleased rough mono mix of 'Porpoise Song' which (almost) completely buries Davy's vocal, allowing it to come across as a solo Micky Dolenz performance. 'Porpoise Song' is one of my all time favorite tracks and I love the way Mick and Davy's voices work together, but this rough mix sends me because it's so novel and appreciably different from the familiar version. Also a delight to hear are the four in-concert recordings (of which only 'Circle Sky' was used in the film). The recordings here are a bit brittle, but mighty fine additions to the set (painfully long 8 minute introduction by a local DJ not withstanding). I'd love to see these on film if that survives, but the audio is cool on its own. As has been pointed out by others, the direct-from-the-film recording of 'Daddy's Song' and 'Can You Dig it' have relatively poor sound; the rips I made years ago onto my computer from the Rhino DVD sound cleaner.

The set is packaged the same way as the 'Birds And Bees' collection, in a nice 10 inch box with a reflective cover to show your own 'Head' as you look at it (haven't seen a copy like that since my old original LP). The booklet is full of rare pix and stories about the making of the film and its impact on the participants, but it is seriously lacking in song details. The 'Birds And Bees' booklet is full of such info, but of course doesn't have to fill in details of a movie in its pages. Still I would have like more details about the 'Head' soundtrack songs.

The mastering is good (as with the other set some tracks are acetate needle-drops but are well cleaned). There are some strange editing decisions, though - sound bites from what must have been some sort of ads about the film are jammed in between a couple of tracks which to my ears disrupt the flow, but i suppose I'd rather have them than not. Also the original album tracks (1 to 14 on CD one) don't sound to my ears as well remastered as the 1994 version. On a couple of tracks I can hear distortions that were not on the old CD version. So would I recommend this set? Yeah, with the caution that you really, REALLY need to be into The Monkees to appreciate it in any meaningful way, shortcomings and all.

BTW - the bonus 45 single, instrumental mixes of 'Porpoise Song' and 'As We Go Along' are excellent as it allows you to appreciate the musical complexity of each track. But given the space left over on the CDs, these should have just be included on the set.