Customer Reviews

Monkees Present

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In my opinion, The Monkees Present marks the last "true" Monkees album of the group's original run. (The follow up "Changes" features only Dolenz and Jones. And you gotta have atleast THREE!)

This album has aged well, as it doesn't even have any of the sappier Davy Jones songs that sometimes cause you to embarrassingly skip over a track. (Although one comes close, more on that later.) Jones' "French Song" is actually rather enjoyable, sounding like something out of "Lupin III". And of course, Nesmith's "Listen To The Band" is, in my opinion, one of the five finest songs the Monkees ever recorded. The bonus tracks include an alternate take of this classic tune.

On to the other tracks, there are a few other decent numbers from Nesmith like "Never Tell A Woman Yes" which reminds a bit of the Beatles' "Rocky Raccoon". Nez also contributes "Good Clean Fun" and "Oklahoma Backroom Dancer" which both feature all the earmarks of his style, and do not disappoint.

Dolenz' "Bye Bye Baby Bye Bye" is one of his better late period songs, and has a bit of a western flavor to it. Dolenz' biting commentary on "Mommy And Daddy" was censored for the original release, but you can hear the true, superior version of the song as a bonus track here. Dolenz also sings the lead off track "Little Girl", which features the trademark Dolenz soothing vocals, and he closes the album with his lullaby "Pillow Time", not to be confused with the Headquarters bonus track.

Jones' "Looking For The Good Times", sounds quite a bit like the previous year's "Valleri", and "Ladies Aid Society" has that silly 60's novelty feel to it, and is a lot of fun. "If I Knew" is the only track that fails to impress here, as it's simply a cookie cutter Jones ballad that could just as easily have been on the first album.

Rounding out the other bonus tracks on the album, there is one other gem in particular, Nesmith's excellent "Calico Girlfriend Samba", which sounds alot like Nesmith's early solo work, and with good reason. He re-recorded this track (as well as Listen To The Band) with his First National Band. (I highly recommend seeking out discs of this great, forgotten group.) Also included are "The Good Earth", which is simply a spoken word poem by Jones, and a radio announcement from 1969 advertising The Monkees Present.

So this is the swan song of the Monkees as a trio, after becoming Tork-less with "Instant Replay" and then becoming Nez-less with "Changes". We wouldn't have a three Monkee line up again until 1987's "Pool It!" (Tork's return), and Nes would not return for a visit until 1996's "Justus". (Essentially, Headquarters 2.)

Four stars for The Monkees Present, and in ranking it next to the Monkees finest albums, I would likely rank them currently as:
1. Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd.
2. Headquarters
3. Head
4. The Birds, The Bees, And The Monkees
5. The Monkees Present

4 and 5 can be interchangable for me, depending on mood.

If anyone has read the review of INSTANT REPLAY I have submitted, where I mention the need to have a time machine to change history for The Monkees (!??!), THE MONKEES PRESENT is where I would race towards Mickey Dolenz and his song MOMMY & DADDY from this album, with great urgency and support. I would like to mention this song first, of all the others, because this song is very special. I honestly have not heard a track like this until 10 years (1978 ~ 1980) later with Kate Bush & Laurie Anderson's work. It really is that innovative and experimental. The only suggestion I would have for Young Dolenz, where I need that time machine to go back and talk to him (!), is the ending of the song. He had a really strong opening, but this track ends with him going back to where `Randy Scouse Git' had already gone, which slightly, somewhat disappointingly, hinders this track from being what it is. An absolutely groundbreaking song. I hear this song ending slightly more tribal (as the vocal and arrangement suggest) than maybe Mickey or Shorty Rogers thought to do, or had available. It is still an outstanding song from Dolenz despite, and one of the highlights from THE MONKEES PRESENT.

I feel INSTANT REPLAY comes off quite a bit stronger than PRESENT, most notably for the Nesmith & Jones contributions, but PRESENT has gems on it. Most notably, and famously Mike Nesmith's `Listen To The Band'. A very true blending of country and rock that he had been pioneering since 1966 with `Sweet Young Thing' (co-written with Goffin & King). `Listen To The Band' deserves to be a classic, and a more well known song than what it was and is. The melody is irresistible, and the power of the song shines through. Nesmith later re-did this song with a more country - twang a year later with his own First National Band, but this version stands out as the definitive. The inclusion of the alternative mix allows a more audible account of the rhythm track without the brass arrangement that so defines the song in its final Monkees version.

Another incredibly strong song is included in the bonus tracks. `Calico Girlfriend (Samba)', (which Nesmith also re-did later on) is such a great song in this rendition, it is a shame that it was not part of THE MONKEES PRESENT released album. It is TOO catchy. Should have been a single, especially considering the success Santana was to experience with the melding or rock and latin rhythms the same year. Capitalising on a trend or musical movement was not an impossibility with The Monkees song catalogue in 1969. They still had material that was very relevant to what was happening around them, and equally as good, if not better than what was around. `Calico Girlfriend' is a gem that should never have been buried, only to be rediscovered for its true value. It is not unlike Nesmith's `Silver Moon'(from his second 1970 solo album), which had HIT written all over it, and no less `catchy' than what the Mavericks or The Dixie Chicks have been offering very recently. Nesmith is one of the most underrated songwriters of his generation, and it is a shame. I really need a time machine.

Bill Chadwick's `French Song' is quite interesting in its production. It bares mention, as does Scott & Willis's `Pillow Time'. THE MONKEES PRESENT is a much better representation of Mickey Dolenz's talents than INSTANT REPLAY shows, and with a bit more work on a bonus track from INSTANT REPLAY `Rosemarie' by Dolenz, and PRESENT's `Bye Bye Baby Bye Bye' by Dolenz & Klein, you'd have his standout tracks (along with the aforementioned Mommy & Daddy).

THE MONKEES PRESENT is a bit more scattershot than INSTANT REPLAY, it has a few more misses, or near misses, than hits, but if you combine the two albums, you have what should have been SUCCESS written all over it. A much stronger album overall, even moreso than 1967's `Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.', which is the benchmark of their career. My suggestions for this combination of albums also include those mentioned in the INSTANT REPLAY review.

Don't Listen To Linda (Boyce & Hart)
I Won't Be The Same Without Her (Goffin & King)
You and I (Jones & Chadwick)
While I Cry (Nesmith)
A Man Without A Dream (Goffin & King)
Someday Man (Nicols & Williams)
Carlisle Wheeling (Nesmith)
St. Matthew (Nesmith)
Mommy & Daddy (Dolenz)
Listen To The Band (Nesmith)
Calico Girlfriend (Samba) (Nesmith)
Bye Bye Baby Bye Bye (Dolenz & Klein)
Good Clean Fun (Nesmith)

It is a bit heavy on the Nesmith side, but his songwriting was as good as anything that was being provided by outside writers, and it makes for some of the most pleasurable listening on these later Monkees albums without Peter Tork. A little more group unity would have been nice as far as the recording sessions, but the songs speak for themselves. The Monkees were a valuable part of the 60's, and they had Mike Nesmith.

"Plays the song and no one listens" . . .this was the situation that Michael Nesmith,Davy Jones,and Micky Dolenz found themselves in 1969.The Monkees tv show was about to start rerunning,their fan base was slowly eroding and they were on a ill-fated South American tour with Sam and The Goodtimers.Colgems gave them creative musical control,not caring what the end result would be.The final product turned out better than anyone had a right to expect.Orignally touted as a two record set,THE MONKEES PRESENT showcased the three remaining monkees with better than standard material.Davy gives us a memorable ballad(IF I KNEW),a Boyce and Hart rocker(LOOKING FOR THE GOODTIMES),a scathing novelty song(LADIES AID SOCIETY),an introspective song inspired from a French film soundtrack(FRENCH SONG),and an ecology poem(THE GOOD EARTH).Nesmith contributes three superb country rockers(GOOD CLEAN FUN,NEVER TELL A WOMAN YES,OKLAHOMA BACKROOM DANCER),one mock samba (CALICO GIRLFRIEND SAMBA)and an anthem for 69 (LISTEN TO THE BAND).Micky brings forth one lullaby written by his mother(PILLOW TIME),one jazzy mixture(LITTLE GIRL),a tune with his sister on backing vocals(BYE BYE BABY BYE BYE),and his best song since RANDY SCOUSE GIT(MOMMY AND DADDY. Check out the altertnate lyrics to this one. Bubblegum image,take that!)THE MONKEES PRESENT showed that the Monkees could function very well as a tio given the right support and encouragement .Unfortunately,Mike Nesmith felt that this album fulfilled all his Monkee obligations and bought out his contract with Screen Gems.Dolenz and Jones went on to do a contractual obligation album,the abysmal CHANGES,before calling it a day.THE MONKEES PRESENT went nowhere on the charts and the singles were not;yet it was a fine example of music for 1969,and a good note for the true Monkees to go out on."Weren't they good,they made me happy" . . .

This was the Monkees second album without Peter Tork, and their eighth album overall. It is a mixed bag of songs. It features four songs by each of the remaining Monkees. Micky Dolenz contributed four strong songs, most of which he wrote himself. The controversial "Mommy and Daddy" is the standout among Micky's songs (the CD includes an even more controversial version of the song as a bonus track). Michael Nesmith contributed four solid county-rock songs, including the chart singles "Listen to the Band" and "Good Clean Fun". The inclusion of "Listen to the Band" is odd, since it had already appeared on The Monkees Greatest Hits album, released a few months earlier (of course, it's appearance here does make for a better overall album). Davy Jones is, in many ways, the weakest link on the album. Apparently, Davy had trouble coming up with enough new material for the album, because two of his songs are leftovers from the Monkees More of Monkees. But I actually like those two older songs better than the two new songs he recorded for the album, which are pretty boring. On the whole, the album works pretty well, and Monkees fans should enjoy it.

I like the Rhino re-release of this Album. The artwork is much better, and "Mommy and Daddy" is stunning. The previously unreleased version of Micky's song is a revelation. That bubble gum image of the Monkees vanishes! I could not imagine hearing this song on one of their TV shows. Just think of what a comotion that would have caused! Of the 12 original songs, the three remaining Monkees all sing lead on four each. I think Mike leads the way with three strong efforts. "Listen To The Band" is one of my all time favorites, "Good Clean Fun" is just that, a fun song! And "Oklahoma Backroom Dancer" has a real nice flavor. Micky's "Little Girl" & "Bye Bye..." are good, but "Mommy and Daddy" is his best effort. Davy is nice and slow with his songs, if you like him that way. I don't, I think he's a bit boring here, except for one of the two year leftover old tracks "Looking for the Good Times." "Ladies Aid Society" is another leftover, and I now know why it was never put on one of their earlier albums. It's Bad! Overall, a good listenable CD, thanks to the wonderful folks at Rhino!

This has been one of my favorite albums since the WEEK it came out. Several of the tunes had been promoted on the Saturday morning reruns, and I'd been searching for "Listen To The Band" on an album for almost 6 months before this finally hit the stores! Suffice to say, this got more worn-out than any of my other Monkees albums, and Rhino reissuing it--TWICE-- has been a real blessing!

4 of my favorite Mike Nesmith songs are here: "Good Clean Fun", "Never Tell A Woman Yes", "Listen To The Band" and "Oklahoma Backroom Dancer"-- and over the years I've often found it impossible to listen without singing along to every word! In addition there's "Looking For The Good Times" (one of Boyce & Hart's BEST rockers!) & the incredibly loopy "Ladies' Aid Society" (one of my favorite novelty tunes, also by B&H), both leftover from the 2nd album. "Little Girl" (by Micky) & "French Song" (by Davy) had both been on TV, and the latter must be among Davy's finest moments on record. The rest-- frankly, has GROWN on me so much over the years I now love nearly every song! I must say the "unedited" version of "Mommy And Daddy" was a real SHOCK! Maybe Micky should have been writing for The Temptations at the time...?

Each remaining Monkee contributed worthy material to this album. Mike wrote "Listen to the Band" and "Good Clean Fun", both very good tunes. Mickey came up with "Mommy and Daddy" which is a classic. Davy sang a great lead on "Looking For the Good Times" and "French Song". Overall, this is a very entertaining and mature outing for the guys. Too bad the public never gave it much of a shot.

This album is ignored by most all the public, but is their best since "Pisces..." Many of the songs were written themselves. "Mommy and Daddy" is a bold song written and sung by Dolenz in a bitter, sarcastic tone. All his other songs are nice acoustic bits, even "Pillow Time," though it's kind of boring. Nesmith comes through with the optimistic "Good Clean Fun," "Listen To The Band," and the fun "Oklahoma Backroom Dancer." The 2 slow Davy songs do nothing for me, but "Looking For The Good Times" is a nice oldie. "Ladies Aid Society" is extremely lame novelty song not half as good as "Gonna Buy Me A Dog." (on the 1st Monkees album) "Monkees Present" is their most underrated, however, and Monkees fans should buy this if they can.

In my opinion, this is a very good album, especially considering that the Monkees were pretty much over by this point, and that the album had very little success. This really shows how talented the Monkees truely were (especially Mike and Micky), and that they weren't just some bubble gum pop band. Here are my ratings of each song:

1. Little Girl - Not the best song on the cd, but a strong writing effort from Micky, and a good way to start the album. There is also some great guitar work on this song, courtesy of Louie Shelton. Rating: 7/10

2. Good Clean Fun - Well, I'm partial to Mike Nesmith songs, and this one is no exception. This was definitely the most country sounding of his "popular" songs to this point. It has a great tune, and that classic Mike sound. Rating: 9/10

3. If I Knew - I've never been a big fan of the songs that Davy wrote, and this song is kind of slow and boring. It's not his worst, but I usually skip over this track. Rating: 4/10

4. Bye Bye Baby Bye Bye - Another solid writing effort from Micky, and has a very catchy tune. A rate it similar to Little Girl. Rating: 7/10

5. Never Tell A Woman Yes - Not one of my favorite Mike songs, but it's an interesting writing style. He pretty much just tells a story, and puts a beat to it. It's not like any of his other songs, although it's very country sounding. Rating: 5.5/10

6. Looking For The Good Times - This is a classic Boyce/Hart song, and in my opinion Davy's best offering on the album. It sounds like the earlier Monkees stuff (well it should, considering it was recorded in 1966). I think it sounds almost similar to Valleri, and has some more great guitar work from Louie Shelton. Rating: 8/10

7. Ladies Aid Society - Probably a tie for my least favorite song on the album. It's just a poor attempt at recreating a great novelty song like Gonna Buy Me A Dog. Rating: 2/10

8. Listen To The Band - This is simply put, a great song. I think it's the best song on the album, and it's one of my all time favorite Monkees songs. It's classic Mike Nesmith writing, and the awesome country rock sound. One of their best ever in my opinion. Rating: 10/10

9. French Song - This is the other song that's tied for my least favorite on the album. It's a typical boring Davy song. It's not a terrible song, but I just don't like it at all. Rating: 2/10

10. Mommy And Daddy - This is one of Micky's best, if not his best writing effort ever. He talks about controversial social/political issues, and it's excellent. Anyone who calls them bubble gum would certainly change their mind after hearing this song. I always thought that Micky was a great writer...Mommy And Daddy and Randy Scouse Git alone prove that. Rating: 9/10

11. Oklahoma Backroom Dancer - Another great Mike song. I can't really say much for this song, except that it's very upbeat and enjoyable. Rating: 9/10

12. Pillow Time - Kind of a boring Micky song, but it's not bad. Although if you're very tired, this will definitely put you to sleep. Rating: 5/10

For the bonus tracks, the best two are Calico Girlfriend Samba, which is a good Mike song that has kind of a Latin feel to it, and the alternate version of Mommy And Daddy. This was the original version of the song, that was appartenly too controversial to release. There is also an alternate version of Listen To The Band, a Monkees Present Radio Promo, which is kind of cool, and a poem called The Good Earth, which is spoken by Davy.

Altogether I would rate this as a very solid album. I would definitely recommend buying it, especially if you are into the post Birds, Bees, and Monkees stuff.

I remember getting this album on vinyl and taking over to a friend's house in order to transfer it to cassette. I would always listen to my walkman when I'd go for walks, which was often, and I sometimes had to walk for close to half an hour. But it was my music time. and this album was a favorite for quite some time. Unfortunately the rhino people ended up releasing these albums on cd and cassette the following year lol, so I ended spending more money than i should have. But it's all good. During the time though I was going through my Monkee phase, occassionally I'll go through phases where I must purchase everything by a given artist that I either loved, or just wanted, because I've never heard it before. Similar to this, I started buying the queen cassettes right as Hollywood records began releasing their albums on cd. Fortunately the only queen I had on cassette was just like a Greatest Hits, so it worked out. But, I had grown up on the Monkees reruns. I had watched them growing up, though it was well after they ended their original run on tv. But, when they started showing the rerungs in the mid 80s is when I started looking for everything I could find. I started by getting books from the Library that told me their history, so by then I knew of all of their albums but I hadn't really owned a full monkees album without it being a compilation. So first I would read up, then I would go buy. The Monkees Present was the first album I bought at the time, because, even though I loved their more mainstream stuff, I wanted to expand my monkees collection and my monkees knowlege and this album had absolutely no songs that I've heard before. But, this is the Monkees and I've always loved their music.

Every song on here seemed to jump out at me as instant classics, as this album came out towards the end of Monkees hysteria it barely got the attention it so rightfully deserved. I didn't even realise Mommy and Daddy was toned down at the time until I heard the uncensored version years later. That's why I am glad I grew up in the 80s a song like that might have caused controversy still but at least it would see the light of day. I like the original version better (not the offcially released version) Bye bye baby bye bye also was one that I took a liking too almost immediately. I tend to prefer Micky as the lead singer. I agree with one person's interpretation of Micky's singing style (someone who worked with Micky that I can't remember the name of) He said that Micky seemed to approach the song as an actor, so there is a lot of emotion and passion in the songs he sang, because it was like the song was about him, and he was acting it out as if it was a more personal song than it was.

Listen to the band is an automatic classic as well, also a centerpiece for the 33 1/3 Revolutions per Monkee special, that, although it was strange even for the 60s had a lot of very memorable moments. Pillow Time is just a sugary-sweet lullabye (which was later issued on the Micky Dolenz puts you to sleep cd) If I knew, and Oklahoma Backroom Dancer were also top notch. This was an album that was great upon first listening, but then got even better upon repeat plays. I also enjoyed the added songs/alt. versions that are included on this cd as well. I personally am buying all I can from the Rhino Handmade collection so I am hoping this one gets the deluxe treatment as well. I still own an older version of this cd, so that will do me for now, but anyone who wants to delve deeper into the Monkees vast catalog, I'd recommend this whole heartedly. Although the Monkees only released 9 albums under that name, they are great albums, though the Monkees "Changes" was good it didn't really feel like a true Monkees album mainly because only two were left, and it just felt like half the family moved out. But there are tons of extras out there. and this cd showcases a few of those tracks. I know a lot of people really aren't into collecting or deluxe editions they just want the basic album, so for those of you who are on the fence about buying this album go right ahead, it's a great price, and a great album. So far Rhino is only up to Instant Replay on the deluxe version and with their seemingly sporadic nature it's hard to be sure if all the albums will be redone in this fashion. But that is what I'm going for. But, for those who are not interested in the extra bells and whistles and just want to hear great music, then this is for you. and yes they do play their own music on this one (that whole prefab thing wasn't really deserved, as they weren't allow to play on their first two albums but that didn't mean they couldn't, and this album shows off their talents as a band quite well.