Customer Reviews

Live 1967

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Critics of the Monkees who claimed the group "couldn't play their own instruments" may or may not be convinced by this album, but probably wouldn't listen to this anyway. As a first-generation fan from September 1966 until now, this release confirmed what I always believed: the Monkees as a self-contained, 4-member group were able to successfully perform a decent selection of their hit songs in concert. Oh, sometimes there are some flaws, like Micky losing his tempo now and then, but folks, it's damned hard to be a drummer and sing at the same time. I think Micky does a great job on songs like "You Just May Be the One," and "I Wanna Be Free," and it surprised me as his drumming on "Headquarters" sounded more tentative. Peter's bass really drives the group, though, and it's too bad that there's not a little more "bottom" or bass sound to it. Mike's guitar playing I thought was disappointing on these recordings. He may have had a "new guitar", but it just doesn't "ring," and sounds slushy and lackluster, totally unlike his crisp studio guitar work. It would have been a good idea in 1966-67 to have Davy take guitar lessons so he could have played rhythm guitar in concert to fill out the sound. I bought this album when it came out as an LP a decade ago, and the CD to get the "solo" performances (with a back-up band). I'm pleased with most of the performances and it does verify the legitimacy of the Monkees as a "real group," one that was highly influential by the inroads they made into middle America's homes and mass acceptance of rock music, and for that - even if they were contrived or "manufactured" - they really do belong in the Rock Hall of Fame, moreso than some of the performers who have been included.

The great myth of 1966-67 was that the Monkees could not play their own instruments.LIVE(1967) destroys that theory.It was a challenge to Mike, Mickey,Peter and Davy to be a true rock group and make it live.There were a lot a detractors begging for them to fail.Happily the Monkees came through with no second guitarist,an inadequate sound system, and a liberal douse of on-stage banter.If mike was tuning up, a joke would be made out of it.The ad-libbing the boys got up to was a joy to hear.The music sounds a little ragged,but as said,the sound system was quite primitive;and anyway,who can compete with over 10000 screaming teenyboppers! This album was kept in the can until the music could be separated from the screams(it was originally was to be released in 1967).Every member was given a solo spot to shine.Concert highlights include:YOU JUST MAY BE THE ONE,FORGET THAT GIRL,CRIPPLE CREEK,YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY LOOKING AT THE COVER,I WANNA BE FREE,RANDY SCOUSE GIT.This is a great addition to any Monkees collection.

When I was 11 years old(1967),I attended a Monkees concert about a month before the shows summarized on this disc.The setlist here is similar(if not identical) to what I heard at The Miami Beach Convention hall.As ragged as the performances in "Live 1967" are,it should be explained that Rhino compiled the best performances from three shows with identical song lists.Furthermore,though Rhino Handmade(Rhino's mail-order division) released "Summer 1967:The Complete U.S. Concert Recordings" 4-CD set, of the complete Spokane,Portland and Seattle shows(plus a mono soundboard from Mobile,Alabama),that these mixes in "Live 1967" have been extensively (but skillfully)polished with post-production(I.E. splicing between several renditions and/or having the Monkees overdub to correct the recordings).Though ostensibly from the same shows in the Rhino Handmade set,none of these recordings match exactly with the undoctored tapes.What you get here is infinitely more listenable than the undoctored recordings.The Monkees musicianship was ragged,and even considering the technological limitations of live recording circa 1967,the engineering work from the normally skillful Hank Cicalo(who later engineered "Carole King-Tapestry"),is wretched.Many of the overdubs/corrections were neccessitated by problems with the recording quality.On the first of the 3 nights that Cicalo taped,Peter Tork's bass guitar is barely audible.Of course,all those recording problems are corrected in this set.This is an idealized version of what the Monkees could and should have sounded like on a typical night in this tour,provided decent recording quality,and the group's best efforts....something that they didn't always give to an audience who were there to scream and merely SEE the four Monkees.

Back in 1967, the last three shows of the Monkees summer tour were recorded for future release. And that live album did come out... 20 years later. It's not too hard to see why the album wasn't released back in 1967. It is poorly recorded, due to the technological limitations of the time period. The screaming girls in the crowd often drown out the performance. And the Monkess make several mistakes, singing the wrong lyrics, missing chords on their instruments and several other goof ups. But despite all that, this is still a fun concert to listen to. Far from perfect, but it does show what the Monkees sounded like live back in their heyday.

I've been a fan of the Monkees since '83 when I found a beat-up copy of the "I'm A Believer/(I'm Not Your)Steppin' Stone" single in my Grandmother's basement. I was five years old then. Now I'm twenty-three and that single is still one of my all time favourites. Hearing these two tunes played live in concert is even better. Micky's performance on "I'm A Believer" is great! His drumming is slightly off-beat, and he's still winded from the previous song (a killer cover of "I've Got A Woman" where Micky just goes completely bonkers!). They close the concert with an amazing version of "Steppin' Stone"! Proof that the Monkees were way ahead of their time, this version of "Steppin' Stone" sounds like excellent Grunge, a musical style which wouldn't become popular for almost two decades.

The rest of the tracks on this disc also kick major arse! Especially "You Just May Be The One", "I Wanna Be Free", "The Girl That I Knew Somewhere" and "Mary, Mary" which is played with great "garage-thrash" fury!

I always knew the Monkees as a band and for their music. It wasn't until I got older that I found out about their T.V. show.
When I first saw the program I was a bit surprised. I was expecting something along the lines of a variety show hosted by and featuring performances by the band, with special guests. But having the group star in a sitcom worked really well.

Anyhoo---BUY THIS ALBUM!.. The recording quality isn't great but so what? It was 1967! Technology was crap back then and this live album sounds SUPERB for something that was taped in '67!There were the screams of 30,000 fans that had to be mixed out of the four-track tape so that the band could be heard. Also, the amps were more primitive and there were no such thing as playback monitors.

The Monkees sound great here, singing and playing their hearts out to huge crowds of appreciative fans. I wish was could have been there! I'll just have to wait for their up-coming reunion tour I guess! ^_^

P.S. The Monkees WERE/ARE a real band. This album proves it.

It's just a bunch of kids playing their music and it sounds good. It's funny. You don't hear a bunch of over-worked, under-payed 30 something musicians. You hear a bunch of kids in their early 20's and it sounds like that. Sounds good to me. By the way, if they don't play their own stuff then who is playing then?

Live 1967 was supposed to be released as an album late in its title year, but for some reason it was never released. Rhino released it 20 years after the three concert performances - in Spokane, Seattle, and Portland in late August of '67 - compiled here, and it captures The Monkees' power as a live band.

After a somewhat sluggish opening - the Last Train To Clarksville performance is a bit too snarling for what is really an innocuous country-flavored number - the boys really get going with a clever Micky-Mike duet version of The Girl I Knew Somewhere. Fans of Rhino's reissue of Headquarters will recognize this version of GIKS as following the template of the mellower Mike Nesmith-sung version not released on record - that both Mike and Micky duet on this live version perhaps telegraphs to the audience of that time that the song had more than one version.

After nearly a dozen cuts from their albums - on Mary Mary Micky and Mike humorously debate how long the fade will be - the boys cut into four seperate solo numbers backed by The Sundowners - Eddie Brick, Kim Copli, Pom Dipieri, Bobby Dick, and Eddie Placidi. Peter's Cripple Creak opens with Micky's Jimmy Cagney intro, proceeds with Peter's nervous greeting of the fans (marred by his off-mike growl to a fan to sit down), then launches into his stellar square-dance number. Here Peter plays the solo with guitar; in the concert episode of the TV show and in a 1987 concert I witnessed, he played a banjo.

Mike then cuts into what is the CD's strongest number - You Can't Judge A Book By Looking At The Cover, backed by breathtaking bass, guitar, and drums from the Sundowners fronted by a great harmonica riff by Mike. There is a humorous tag in the original lyrics that is left out of Mike's version, and the third line of the second verse should go, "You can't judge a sister by looking at the brother..."

Davy's Gonna Build A Mountain displays his Broadway and blues influence.

Micky admittedly goes a bit overboard on James Brown's I Got A Woman, but he nonetheless pulls it off.

A nice touch is the frequent mention by the boys of engineer Hank Cicalo - "Watch the VU (meter), Hank!" Mike says before his harmonica riff on Can't Judge A Book. It's no wonder all those kids in the audience were screaming their heads off. The audience reaction adds to the album's power.

i was so excited when i first popped in this cd. it was so cool to actually be aurally witnessing something that i never got the chance to see. i read articals and interviews describing what the monkees' concerts were like...how they would jump out of the vox amps into the screaming obis of a pink-armed mass. certain times it was impossible to hear themselves playing. micky had to stare at mike's foot the whole time to keep the beat. this cd also offers their solo spot songs. mike's "can't judge a book..." is rippin' while peter's "cripple creaque" is a perfect example of banjo mastery and just plain fun. i absolutly love this album. it's as if i'm really there...with feed back. but hey! that's ok!

This Live 1967 album is something to have if you're a Monkees fan. It has great footage of their August '67 concerts in Seattle, Portland and Spokane. It gives you the feeling your right there experiencing the concert, with the crowd screaming and the guys bantering. This live album also includes the solo sets each Monkee performed in their live shows, Nesmith with You Can't Judge A Book, Dolenz with I Got A Woman, Tork with Cripple Creek, and Jones with Gonna Build A Mountain. Overall this is a great piece of music to have. It's like you're really there. Aahh, if only!

Not only are Davy's sped-up "I Wanna Be Free" and "Gonna Build A Mountain"(From "Stop the World I Wanna Get Off!) rock, but the funny moments are Before "Mary,Mary" Micky Kept not being ready a few times, and after it, Mike keeps the song going Micky asks him if he is done but no he keeps going, and Micky sings "Mary, Mary, Where you going to?" really fast. Mike calls "Sunny Girlfriend" "Scroungy Girlfriend". Before "Cripple Creek" Micky intros Peter in a funny voice, and when he comes out,and asks the audience "Are you Happy to be here?", while the say "yes" Peter kids with "no" Because he is going to do a square dance tune, and while he intros it, He's nervous. And while some girls scream, He yells off mike "If you don't shut up there will be no show!" or was it Hank that said that? Enjoy the live album! You will find yourself laughing!