I'd say they're at least as good as, let's say the Sex Pistols early on, seriously though there were two real musicians trying to mesh with two actors trying to learn the craft, particularly Mickey learning drums which he didn't have a real affinity for, and the drumming is pretty rudimentary. There is a garage band rawness about it that is cooler than a more slick polished set. They did get much better as musicians later as they had more experience.
I don't think they sound terrible at all, considering the circumstances, I've heard much worse before. I quite like the vocal harmonies in steppin' stone a lot..I would've definetely have enjoyed myself if I had been there! It's a shame that so little footage of them performing live in the 1960s exists..
they shouldve had a few weeks to rehearse at least---scrub this from the records-there probably two real musicians in the band--shouldve had a couple of support band members as they do these days...
Was wonderful to hear one of The Monkees first major concerts! I was a young bass player in a band at this stage it was a magical time, nothing like the world of today. If you could form a four or five piece band then you did stand a good chance of making it if you could reasonably compose and hold together a few good songs. Live performances then were about the the fact you were there and being experimental was popular but still retaining the lyrics and melody of your recording, Great days!
It is the mix - no balance w strong guitar/tamb/backing vocals and some drums. This isn't an indication of what the concert sounded like out in the hall. It is someone w a little (cassette) recorder or something very near a guitar amp and drums and we're lucky to even have this! Don't forget they were assembled for their LOOK and ATTITUDE as well as their talents. You can arrange that list any which way for priorities - #1 SALE-ABILITY #2 APPEAL, #3 TALENT and so on. SURE WORKED WELL!
DAYNG... girls really used to scream out loud at concerts... LISTEN to that
I'm actually enjoying the heck outta this live performance. I remember playing some gigs where, from where I was onstage, it sounded just like this... you just had to not lose your place in the song.
@mewrth Well see, my friend and I had a "fun" band , made up of several people, and we played a number of freebie gigs. One of our gigs was a high school graduation that was held at the village bar. Another gig was a college graduation party in a much larger boxy "ballroom" with non-acoustic hard walls. I enjoyed the fact that I had to concentrate on the progression of my long keyboard solo during Light My FIre by The Doors, because the band's sound bounced back a fraction of a second behind.
But to answer your question, it was purty damn fun to play under very acoustically non-ideal situations. No monitor speakers, no headphones, you just gotta know your place in the song, and don't "freak out", keep on going. I remember a couple of members lost their cues, but you just remember that you are not getting paid for the gig, you are there because some friends asked us to play for their gathering. We played 60's hits. ? and the Mysterians, Doors, Sam The Sham & Pharoahs, etc.
I love the Monkees and their recordings which we all know were done with the top-notch studio players of the day and good producing, but this live stuff is God-awful. I can't believe they would even appear in front of people sounding like this. Even my first garage band was better than this!
@governorgilf Given the conditions of the concerts and the rehearsal time that they were granted, this is true. I'm a believer was the least sounding performance of this concert. However, give a listen to the rest of it, I think they did a decent job, allthough you won't hear the singing most of the time because of the nature of the soundboard take. What and when was your band performing BTW? name?
@TheMonkeesRock Wow, a little hostile, aren't we? For the record, I love a lot of the Monkees songs, and Mickey Dolenz was one of the best pop voices of the day. The studio recordings of their hits were great. I know getting good live recordings back then was tough, as is the case here. I was just shocked at how bad this sounded. Chill...nobody needs to go die because of an observation....geez....
@bloodythinandfast Yeah they were seriously unrehearsed on 'I'm a Believer'. 'Steppin' Stone' is better IMO. 'I'm a Believer', for some reason never really sounded good live.
@bloodythinandfast But their schedule was pretty hectic too (shooting episodes, recording, touring), and the conditions in wich they played were often awful. Micky Dolenz said that all he could hear was his voice echoing on the walls 2 seconds later while drumming and watching Nesmith's heel tapping, trying to keep time over screeching teenage girls and Vox Beatle amps suffering from being cranked to the max. I say kudos to them for going through that without going bonkers :)
@mewrth I agree,Not set-up quite right,all about making appearances then...no proficient recording equipment but it didn't seem to matter to the fans.Bottom line though,these guys were not seasoned musicians...they had the best playing for them in the studio and all the tricks at the time...there's no way they could re-create that sound...however the Beatles were seasoned before they got to Shea and sounded pretty good live...EasyBeats are another example of guys who were made to play live!!!
@bloodythinandfast I agree. The Easybeats do a fantastic 'Friday on my Mind' on beat club. About the Beatles, one incredible live is NME 1964. They're at the pinnacle of their game, Harrison plays 12-string all through the concert and Ringo owns the whole show. And lastly, for a much better Monkees concert, listen to 'live in Japan' 1968. They were much better a year later at playing live. Cheers!
@mewrth okay,gave a listen,my only problem is these are studio/youring musicians once again....I can tell by the drumming Mickey is not doing it,...knowing the Monkees story if half the battle...with these recordings and no video I can only suspect they have assistance,plenty of it.
Rhino released a live album in 1987 from the 1967 tour , The Monkees Live 1967, that should pretty much clear up any doubts you have about whether Dolenz played his own drums live or not. The shows from the LP were recorded in Seattle and/or Spokane, not the Phoenix date from the concert episode from the TV programme.
horrible!!
michaelMitchell1006 17 hours ago
I'd say they're at least as good as, let's say the Sex Pistols early on, seriously though there were two real musicians trying to mesh with two actors trying to learn the craft, particularly Mickey learning drums which he didn't have a real affinity for, and the drumming is pretty rudimentary. There is a garage band rawness about it that is cooler than a more slick polished set. They did get much better as musicians later as they had more experience.
zettadom 3 weeks ago
I don't think they sound terrible at all, considering the circumstances, I've heard much worse before. I quite like the vocal harmonies in steppin' stone a lot..I would've definetely have enjoyed myself if I had been there! It's a shame that so little footage of them performing live in the 1960s exists..
bookwormgal1996 1 month ago
No wonder studio musicians did the albums!
basenjib123 2 months ago
Love the Monkees, but this concert performance is wretchedly bad.
JeffersonDinedAlone 5 months ago
they shouldve had a few weeks to rehearse at least---scrub this from the records-there probably two real musicians in the band--shouldve had a couple of support band members as they do these days...
64downtown 6 months ago
Was wonderful to hear one of The Monkees first major concerts! I was a young bass player in a band at this stage it was a magical time, nothing like the world of today. If you could form a four or five piece band then you did stand a good chance of making it if you could reasonably compose and hold together a few good songs. Live performances then were about the the fact you were there and being experimental was popular but still retaining the lyrics and melody of your recording, Great days!
mattcxl6 6 months ago
It is the mix - no balance w strong guitar/tamb/backing vocals and some drums. This isn't an indication of what the concert sounded like out in the hall. It is someone w a little (cassette) recorder or something very near a guitar amp and drums and we're lucky to even have this! Don't forget they were assembled for their LOOK and ATTITUDE as well as their talents. You can arrange that list any which way for priorities - #1 SALE-ABILITY #2 APPEAL, #3 TALENT and so on. SURE WORKED WELL!
123ZAC456789 8 months ago
DAYNG... girls really used to scream out loud at concerts... LISTEN to that
I'm actually enjoying the heck outta this live performance. I remember playing some gigs where, from where I was onstage, it sounded just like this... you just had to not lose your place in the song.
DancingSpiderman 11 months ago 2
@DancingSpiderman How satisfying was it to perform in such conditions I may ask?
mewrth 11 months ago
@mewrth Well see, my friend and I had a "fun" band , made up of several people, and we played a number of freebie gigs. One of our gigs was a high school graduation that was held at the village bar. Another gig was a college graduation party in a much larger boxy "ballroom" with non-acoustic hard walls. I enjoyed the fact that I had to concentrate on the progression of my long keyboard solo during Light My FIre by The Doors, because the band's sound bounced back a fraction of a second behind.
DancingSpiderman 11 months ago
But to answer your question, it was purty damn fun to play under very acoustically non-ideal situations. No monitor speakers, no headphones, you just gotta know your place in the song, and don't "freak out", keep on going. I remember a couple of members lost their cues, but you just remember that you are not getting paid for the gig, you are there because some friends asked us to play for their gathering. We played 60's hits. ? and the Mysterians, Doors, Sam The Sham & Pharoahs, etc.
DancingSpiderman 11 months ago
I love the Monkees and their recordings which we all know were done with the top-notch studio players of the day and good producing, but this live stuff is God-awful. I can't believe they would even appear in front of people sounding like this. Even my first garage band was better than this!
governorgilf 11 months ago
@governorgilf Given the conditions of the concerts and the rehearsal time that they were granted, this is true. I'm a believer was the least sounding performance of this concert. However, give a listen to the rest of it, I think they did a decent job, allthough you won't hear the singing most of the time because of the nature of the soundboard take. What and when was your band performing BTW? name?
mewrth 11 months ago
@governorgilf Go die..
TheMonkeesRock 3 weeks ago
@TheMonkeesRock Wow, a little hostile, aren't we? For the record, I love a lot of the Monkees songs, and Mickey Dolenz was one of the best pop voices of the day. The studio recordings of their hits were great. I know getting good live recordings back then was tough, as is the case here. I was just shocked at how bad this sounded. Chill...nobody needs to go die because of an observation....geez....
governorgilf 2 weeks ago
hey blood thirst , it is micky playing , i could play as well as he did
spanker65 1 year ago
Did Jimi Hendrix open for them?
vitoduval 1 year ago
@vitoduval Yes he did but not at that concert, it was a few months later. He did about 8 shows with them.
mewrth 1 year ago
yikes,no wonder they took a beating from other musicians
bloodythinandfast 1 year ago
@bloodythinandfast YIKES! is RIGHT!!!
gittahfiend 1 year ago
@bloodythinandfast Yeah they were seriously unrehearsed on 'I'm a Believer'. 'Steppin' Stone' is better IMO. 'I'm a Believer', for some reason never really sounded good live.
mewrth 1 year ago
@bloodythinandfast But their schedule was pretty hectic too (shooting episodes, recording, touring), and the conditions in wich they played were often awful. Micky Dolenz said that all he could hear was his voice echoing on the walls 2 seconds later while drumming and watching Nesmith's heel tapping, trying to keep time over screeching teenage girls and Vox Beatle amps suffering from being cranked to the max. I say kudos to them for going through that without going bonkers :)
mewrth 1 year ago
@mewrth I agree,Not set-up quite right,all about making appearances then...no proficient recording equipment but it didn't seem to matter to the fans.Bottom line though,these guys were not seasoned musicians...they had the best playing for them in the studio and all the tricks at the time...there's no way they could re-create that sound...however the Beatles were seasoned before they got to Shea and sounded pretty good live...EasyBeats are another example of guys who were made to play live!!!
bloodythinandfast 1 year ago
@bloodythinandfast I agree. The Easybeats do a fantastic 'Friday on my Mind' on beat club. About the Beatles, one incredible live is NME 1964. They're at the pinnacle of their game, Harrison plays 12-string all through the concert and Ringo owns the whole show. And lastly, for a much better Monkees concert, listen to 'live in Japan' 1968. They were much better a year later at playing live. Cheers!
mewrth 1 year ago
@mewrth Excellent,i'll give them a listen!! Thanks for the cool correspondence....Cheers to you as well.
bloodythinandfast 1 year ago
@mewrth okay,gave a listen,my only problem is these are studio/youring musicians once again....I can tell by the drumming Mickey is not doing it,...knowing the Monkees story if half the battle...with these recordings and no video I can only suspect they have assistance,plenty of it.
bloodythinandfast 1 year ago
@bloodythinandfast
Rhino released a live album in 1987 from the 1967 tour , The Monkees Live 1967, that should pretty much clear up any doubts you have about whether Dolenz played his own drums live or not. The shows from the LP were recorded in Seattle and/or Spokane, not the Phoenix date from the concert episode from the TV programme.
Fakename70 8 months ago
Sheesh the RE-VERB on this is something else .......
GimmeKitty 1 year ago