Customer Reviews

Headquarters

5 star:		(74)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After escaping from the oily clutches of Donnie Krishner,the Monkees went into Goldstar studios in Hollywood determined to prove to the world that they were a bonafide group,and could play their own instruments.What resulted was HEADQUARTERS,a unique blend of rawness and beauty;all four Monkees thrashing it out in the studio with very few guest musicians.All group members shine on this release:Mike Nesmith provides some selfpenned classics (SUNNY GIRLFRIEND,YOU JUST MAY BE THE ONE);Davy Jones contributes his best vocals(SHADES OF GREY,EARLY MORNING BLUES AND GREENS, FORGET THAT GIRL);Mickey Dolenz pens two Monkee milestones(NO TIME,RANDY SCOUSE GIT);not only does Peter Tork give us the future closing theme(FOR PETE'S SAKE),he also shares a beautiful song with Davy(SHADES OF GREY).The playing on this album is honest and pure and it sounds as if the boys are having a great time(BAND 6,ZILCH,JERICHO,PILLOW TIME[written by Mickey's mother],PETER GUNN'S GUN).Just when you think you've heard it all,Mike chimes in with a demo(and supreme)version of his country ballad NINE TIMES BLUE.Chip Douglas does an excellent job at producing HEADQUARTERS(and even writes FORGET THAT GIRL).For 11 weeks thisalbum was in the number two position on th Billboard charts(behind SGT.PEPPER);as it fully deserved to be.If any of your friends claim that the Monkees were were just hype,play them HEADQUARTERS and then tell them to shut up!

If you are looking for the best Monkees album, in my opinion, this is definitely it. This is the first album after Don Kirshner was fired, which meant the Monkees were finally allowed to have more creative control and play their own instruments. Just from listening to this album, you could tell the amount of excitement and enjoyment that was put forth into making it. The sad thing is that Headquarters often gets overlooked because it hit number 1 for one week, then Sgt. Pepper's came out by the Beatles and immediately took over that position. Also, there were no singles released in the US off this album. However, every song is high quality, and I think the Monkees best work. Here is my review of the songs:

1. "You Told Me" - A Perfect way to start off the album. This is a classic Mike song that features some great banjo playing from Peter. One of my favorite Monkees songs. 10/10

2. "I'll Spend My Life With You" - This is a Boyce/Hart song that was originally recorded for an earlier Monkees album. It's a slow song that features some great vocals from Micky. In my opinion this song can be overlooked, because it's sandwiched between two amazing songs. 8/10

3. "Forget That Girl" - This song was written by Chip Douglas, and has some good vocals from Davy. Very catchy song. 9/10

4. "Band 6" - Not really a song, but just a short session of the Monkees practicing in the studio.

5. "You Just May Be The One" - Another excellent Mike song, which had been recorded earlier and featured in some Monkees episodes. This version, with them playing their instruments, is much better, and really has a classic Monkees sound. 10/10

6. "Shades Of Gray" - This is sort of a "grown up" song for the Monkees, with great lyrics that were much different from their bubblegum image. Also features a small amount of Peter vocals. 10/10

7. "I Can't Get Her Off My Mind" - Probably my least favorite song on the album (not that it's bad, but there had to be one). I think it's a little more bubble gum sounding, and kind of takes away from the rest of the album. 7/10

8. "For Pete's Sake" - Classic Monkees song, written by Peter, and perhaps the most well known on the album. It was used for the end credits in season 2 of the TV show. 10/10

9. "Mr. Webster" - Not a bad song, but not one of the standouts on the album. It's a slow song that tells a story. It features a whole lot of tambourine from Davy. 7/10

10. "Sunny Girlfriend" - Mike really puts out some great songs on this album. This has his classic country rock sound. Great song. 9/10

11. "Zilch" - Not really a song, but just a bunch of spoken words by the Monkees. Kind of entertaining.

12. "No Time" - They pick it up with a very rockin' tune here. Perhaps one of the fastest and most catchy songs on the album. I've always enjoyed it. 10/10

13. "Early Morning Blues and Greenes" - A slow, kind of toasty, Davy song, which may be another one that gets overlooked, being sandwiched between two great songs. 8/10

14. "Randy Scouse Git" - This was released as a single, and became a hit in the UK under the name "Alternate Title". This was written by Micky at a party the Beatles threw for them, and may be one of the most cult Monkee favorites. They definitely show that they are trying to shed their bubble gum image with the lyrics in this song. 10/10

This cd also features some fairly solid bonus tracks. There is a version of Mike singing "The Girl I Knew Somewhere", and a different version of "Nine Times Blue". Also, the band playing the theme from "Peter Gunn's Gun", which sounds pretty good, and some studio hyjinks in the track "Jericho". The best bonus track is "All Of Your Toys", which was at one point going to be a single for them. It's a very good song.

Altogether, I think this is definitely the Monkees best album, and I'm sure most people will agree.

This deluxe edition of Headquarters is so nicely done (much like the first two in this series), I honestly couldn't write anything nasty. It's been presented with love and care.

The sound quality is good for mono, but the stereo mastering seems a little bright and not as satisfying as the older CD version of Headquarters. It's very similar in sound quality to the Beatles Capitol Records releases that just came out recently. The bonus material is entertaining, as well as strong, I also loved some of the stuff I'd never heard before. The booklet is also really good, with lots of rare photos and the in depth story of the making of this album.

The overall packaging is very classy. It makes me hope that The Beatles get this kind of treatment through Apple records, or my favorite band, Deep Purple get this sort of stunning re-packaging from Rhino.

I grew up on the mono versions of the Monkees albums, all the way up to their fifth album "The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees" in April 1968, so I was really thrilled to see that mono finally made it to CD. I've always thought that the mono mixes were better overall, giving an overall impression of a heavier rock band sound. Though, I got the feeling that the Headquarters mono mix was a fold down of the stereo mix. As for the stereo mastering, it sounded brighter than the original Rhino CD's, with some added compression, and the signal might have been pushed harder than the older Rhino discs. But on the whole, a wonderful job. Let's hope the next two albums (released in mono & stereo) get this same kind of royal treatment.

Sure they seem to be milking the Monkee-cow, but when it's this strong, milk it baby. Next up, The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees?

I barely remembered their TV show when it first came in 1966, I was only four at the time, then I've became a HUGE fan of The Monkees since 1975 (after I started watching there shows on syndicated channels). None of there LP's existed at the time. Then Arista (bless them) released their Greatest Hits collection in 1976. A few years later, imported LP's from Japan started to come thru my local record shop. I bought their Debut thru Birds, Bees & Monkees. The sound was good, but their was not enough base sound to it. Then...1994, Rhino gave The Monkees the respect they deserve, releasing ALL their albums on CD, each in a nice special casing, liner notes AND unissued bonus tracks. Too Bad The Beatles didn't get this treatment( way over due ). In 2006 and 2007, Rhino did it again EVEN BETTER!! I have the first (and best) four of their Deluxe Editions-more bonus tracks, a lot more liner notes, PLUS the Sound Quality of both Mono & Stereo are superior to anything released before. I only hope the will do the same with the five original remaining CD's "The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees" thru "Changes". We Can Only Hope...

I get so tired of people yelling "They don't play their own instruments!" that lately I reply with "Neither did The Temptations!" (In other words, WHO cares?) Well, they did HERE! This was when the "singing group" became a "band". And WHAT an album-- one great tune after another, with a mix of pop, rock, folk, country & psychedelia that favorably compares with RUBBER SOUL. And only ONE producer! What a concept...!

My faves here: "You Told Me" (dig that banjo!), "Shades Of Gray" , "For Pete's Sake" (never mind his voice, Peter Tork can really WRITE! ), "Sunny Girlfriend", "No Time" (ROCK & ROLL!), "Early Morning Blues And Grays" and "Randy Scouse Git" (Micky goes WILD! ). Cool CD bonus tracks include the original version of "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" with Mike singing (allowing me to finally understand some of the lyrics I couldn't get before) and the first of several versions of "Nine Times Blue"-- the song that, when played BACKWARDS, became "Listen To The Band". (No, REALLY!)

My only disappointments with HEADQUARTERS over the years were that, due to their insistence that they "do it all" on this one, a TON of great earlier material was left unissued at the time, including the original version of "You Just May be The One", which was far superior to the remake here. (But thanks to Rhino's MISSING LINKS VOL.2, now we can hear BOTH!)

Released in perhaps the second most important year of rock history (the first probably being 1954), Headquarters is one of the defining albums of that year. By the end of the fabled "Summer Of Love", the Beatles seminal "Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" held the number 1 spot on the billboard charts. Numbers 3, 4 and 5 were the Rolling Stones, Doors and Jefferson Airplane respectively. Can you guess who number 2 was? That's right, the Monkees.

The Monkees were also the top selling act of 1967, but it was based on the success of their first 2 albums, the self titled "The Monkees" followed by "More Of The Monkees". However, it was the release of "More Of The Monkees" that led to the boys earning the right to record an album playing all of their own instruments (save for the bass work of producer Chip Douglas, and a horn and cello player) and also the ousting of producer Don "The Golden Ear" Kirschner.

Headquarters is, at heart, a garage band tour de force. That's right, 4 millionaires, 4 of the most popular figures in music and television in the year 1967, but the force behind this album is just so raw, I even want to use the word "punk" here!

Think about it; Micky Dolenz had been playing the drums seriously for less than a year. Nesmith and Tork were adequate at guitar, and Tork could play a bit of piano, but neither were fully polished musicians (yet). And Jones could merely sing and bang a tambourine or shake some maracas. To top that all off, Dolenz was the only one of the 4 who was commonly accepted to have held a good range of voice.

So why is this important? Well, the 4 Monkees just went into the studio and made it happen. Some of the songs they wrote, and some were written by the usual Monkees songwriting teams....but the band had total control here. They were scarcely more than amateur musicians, but they turned in a classic rock milestone that was number 1 on the charts...until the most important rock album of all time knocked it off. Holding number 2 during the summer of '67 is not a bad achievement!

Also, even given the excellent selection of tracks here, like Nesmith's country-tinged (does he usually do any other kind?) rocker "You Told Me", the excellently arranged "Shades Of Gray" (featuring perhaps Jones and Tork's best vocal work to date), the supremely catchy "For Pete's Sake" (co written by Tork), featuring wistful Dolenz vocals and brilliant Nesmith guitar work (this song was actually the closing tune to the credits of the television show during season 2), the album did not actually feature a single in the united states. (Dolenz raucous "Randy Scouse Git" was actually a big hit in the UK, were it was known as "Alternate Title".) All this and it still held down number 2 on the charts!

This CD reissue features 6 bonus tracks, including an alternate version of the admonishing yet still sunny "All Of Your Toys", a version of Nesmith's "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" actually featuring Nesmith on vocals as opposed to Dolenz, who sang the original released version, as well as "Pillow Time", featuring some great studio chatter by Dolenz.

Overall, this stands as a rock document to what the Monkees were able to do when allowed to simply be a rock band. It helps to also see this album for what it really is: the ultimate garage album.

Tired of being pushed around by Colgems powers-that-be (notably Colgems' head of business affairs Herb Moelis, the recipient of Mike Nesmith's infamous wall-punch in January 1967) as well as by critics who, out of sheer spite, castigated them for not playing on the backing tracks of their songs, The Monkees took control of their music and produced what remains a favorite.

Micky, Mike, Peter, and Davy handled virtually all instrumentation used here, other than bass input from producer Chip Douglas, Mike's longtime cohort and future First National Bandmate John London, and Douglas' long-time bandmate Jerry Yester; there is also the horn solo by Fred Sykora used in Shades of Grey. The boys remain proud of this album because it was done the way the critics said it could not be done.

The strongest tracks are the Nesmith country-rocker You Told Me (featuring Peter's show-stealing banjo mixed with bass, drums, and guitar), I'll Spend My Life With You, the somewhat audacious Forget That Girl, Shades of Grey, the rock masterpiece For Pete's Sake, the brilliant retro-50s rocker No Time (a studio jam written by Micky and Mike and then credited to engineer Hank Cicalo as a gift for his hard work, whose royalties helped him purchase a house), and Micky's delightfully overblown Randy Scouge Git - aka Alternate Title.

Also entertaining is the humorous "outtake" Zilch - one has to laugh with the boys as they chant bizarre catchphrases heard in their travels and finally break down at the end. Less effective is the "outtake" Band Six, a botched attempt to play the "Merrily We Move Along" Warner Brothers cartoon theme.

The Rhino reissue includes several excellent bonus tracks - the deceptively playful All Of Your Toys, the superlative Mike Nesmith version of The Girl I Knew Somewhere (featuring a much blusier beat and excellent harpsicord by Peter), Mike's demo of Nine Times Blue, and the brilliantly funny outtake Jericho - during "Shades of Grey" sessions Peter and Micky get into it with Chip Douglas: Micky starts about Jericho, Peter and Chip add hilarious tenor background, and finally Peter and Micky go off on a riff of the song, causing Douglas to laugh, "I have lost control of The Monkees."

However, there is a grossly incomplete aspect to this version of Headquarters, for there were multiple unfinished or unused treats (found on Rhino Handmade's limited edition HQ Sessions discs), such as - Mike's solo-vocal mix of You Told Me, his demo of Until It's Time For You To Go, the acoustic remix by Mike and Micky of Sunny Girlfriend, the unfinished lost Nesmith tune Where Has It All Gone (in two versions), the jams Memphis Tennessee and Twelve String Improvisation - all showcasing just how much power the boys could extract from their playing, this despite the excessive "room sound" (Mike's description) of the studio - Peter and Micky's stellar acoustic harmony of I Was Born In East Virginia, and the unfinished Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil rocker Masking Tape. All of these "outtakes" are of such high quality that it is a huge loss to the album that they were left out.

HQ nonetheless should have silenced the critics had they been concerned with anything but spite. It remains a superb LP.

1967 was an incredible year for pop music. Among the highlights: "Sgt. Pepper", "Pet Sounds", "The Velvet Underground and Nico", "Surrealistic Pillow", "Absolutely Free", "Album 1700", "The Doors", "Headquarters"... "Headquarters"? Yep, that's right, the Monkee's all - singing, (almost) all - playing release makes my short list of essential albums to take on a desert island. For a brief moment in their carreers, the Monkees had the power to make any album that they wanted to; they did not squander the opportunity. Hiring The Turtles' Chip Douglass to produce, the Monkees went in to make an album to please themselves only. The results still hold up 33+ years later. I can't believe that any bubblegum (a term not coined till 1968, BTW) A&R man would have let songs like 'Randy Scouse Git', 'Early Morning Blues and Greens' or 'Mr. Webster' on any album designed for teenaged consumption. My favorite track is probably 'Shades of Grey' although the banjo-driven 'You Told Me' is one of the best opening tracks any album ever had (ranks up there with 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' and 'Back in the USSR'). 'Band 6' is fun for the helluvit and 'Zilch' is an inspired bit of lunacy. There is not a weak track on the album - unless you are talking about the CD's bonus tracks. 'Jerico' showcases more of Mickey Dolenz's zaniness and works for me. 'The Girl I Knew Somewhere' is good but, I think that most of the bonus tracks belonged on another CD (titled, "Why Are We Releasing This Junk", maybe?). Program your CD player for the original 14 tracks and you can enjoy it the way we who loved it on vinyl heard "Headquarters" - but on better stereo systems and without the scratches and pops etc. Enjoy!

Headquarters is considered by many to be one of the Monkees' best albums. Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd is probably slightly better, but Headquarters is a fan favorite because the Monkees played the majority of the instruments on it. It really is a terrific album, with many great songs and no real stinkers. This two disc edition features both the mono and stereo versions of the album. The two versions of the album feature different bonus tracks. Other songs from the Headquarters recording sessions are naturally included. But other songs from about the same time period are also featured. Six songs that Davy Jones sang with no participation from the other Monkees in February, 1967 are featured (including the hit "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You"). And, believe it or not, disc 1 concludes with the Italian version of the Monkees theme song. Like I said, great album, but whether you need both the mono and stereo versions of the album is up to you.

This should be a really enjoyable CD given that some of the source material was included on the Headquarters Sessions a few years back. Apparently in some strange attempt to clean-up the sonics a significant amount of treble boost was applied to this CD version. The result is a shrill sounding version of Headquarters (particularly the stereo version). If you like 'ssssssssss' sounds then you'll love this.

The booklet is great however and strangely the "bonus" tracks sound better than the original mixes - probably because the bonus tracks were taken from the original 4 track tapes. Why can't that be done for the stereo version of the original album? Clean is good, sssssssssssssssss is bad.