Davy Jones singing Valerie

[marry1804]

Davey Jones lives down the road from me in Beavertown PA he has big horse farm.

[SenorZorrozzz]

That guitar solo should have been cut.

[SenorZorrozzz]

It should have been released like this rather than that souled up slick commercial recording. They needed a better take that this one, but still, this has so much more bite than the released version.

[schroval]

*Valerie!!!

[schroval]

My name is vali

[purplkoala]

That is not Peter in the back, it's Mickey!!!

[diesel021234]

who cares. can the monkees sell out yankee staidum. yea, if the tickets are $10 each.

[theMonkeeslover]

I love this song

Davy and Peter looks hot

[MsSpawn1234]

Thanks for this! Mike Nesmith is a great musician but I believe it's Tommy Tedesco on guitar.

[ValerieAshtonXx3]

My name ;))

[ellstromp]

Loved the Monkees especially Peter

[fromthesidelines]

You'd have a hard time trying to book him, 'DCLAURIE'. That was comedian Joey Forman (as "Captain Crocodile", an obnoxious kiddie-show host, in the episode this came from). He passed away in December 1982.

[TheMuffinandPoptart]

my name really??!!!!!

[problem49]

What happened to the audio? This sounds like it was recorded through a baby monitor.

[augustus816]

One of their very best.

[bolanett]

I absolutely love this! Peter is really funny he's one of my favorite monkees! He wasn't all serious, he made it fun to watch them!

[spazzcat03]

Is The Monkees still Together today ?

[lakefloor]

Interesting raw version that preceded the single release. Nice lead guitar from the great Louis Shelton. It has been said that they used a close-up of Shelton's hands playing the lead on this part. Indeed Mike is never seen up close playing the lead, only shots of his face with cut-ins of Shelton.

[DCLAURIE]

I want to hire the guy in the very beginning of the video with theclown suit and white hat as the guest of honor at a party in NYC . Anybody know who he is ?

Amazing !

[3321MDZ]

Contains one of the best guitar riffs of all time!!

[yuritim]

The Monkees taught the Beatles everything they knew.

[d35martin1]

I do believe Glen Campbell did in fact play the original version of Valeri.

Not sure who played the official version in 1968

[terrybrass]

Kinda Grungey. I think that's why i've always loved this song.

[dublinboyo]

What kinda guitar is Peter playing?

[mariomaniac6411]

i want a hat like Mike's soooo bad!

[tubefluid]

I agree that this version is a lot better than the "horned up" one. That one was just plain overdone.

I wish this audio was better. Have been looking for a better one but no luck. For whatever reason none of the "Captain Crocodile" clips have it, other than a speeded up piece of nonsense.

[jessemy]

Thanks...I knew almost all the episodes...at least I thoght I did....but great posts like this remind me how much I've missed!! Thank you! Great Vid!!

[5inthehole]

Anyone know if Mikes hat ever show up at auction? I know he said he got it swiped off his head somewhere, either going into a hotel or an appearance. I wonder if it still exsists and if the theif know how much it would be worth!

[worldwartwoforever]

@5inthehole he actually thew it out into a crowd at a concert.

[freebrook]

@worldwartwoforever @5inthehole  You guys think maybe he had more than one wool hat?

[Poopingbotham]

@5inthehole They (the t.v. company) would have had a box full. Can you imagine the chaos if there was only one, it went missing and they were trying to get a take into the can?

[Poochyenagirl]

@5inthehole I don't think it was Mike's hat that was stolen, it was his guitar.  I believe someone bought Mike's hat and returned it to him.

[MoxieMike66]

Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork were the only real musicians in the group in the beginning. Davey and Mickey had both been child actors. Mike actually wrote a few hit songs for other singers after the Monkees broke up and he wrote a few while they were still together. He was supposedly called Mike Woolhat Blessing before joining the Monkees(or so I heard). He had a few albums on his own but no real commercial success.

[jimisback]

@MoxieMike66 I thought he had one with Sunset Sam, And he won awards for Elephant parts.

[TheShadowWalker5]

I loved Mikes music the best....

[goldenstarpcfl]

Takes me back to happier days before puberty! I never missed a show.

[coololdbart]

the sound track sucks...please for tle love of god..remove this off the internet

[worldwartwoforever]

@coololdbart if you don't like it, that's fine. there are other videos of this. But I'm not going to take it down.

[ikaofmo]

@worldwartwoforever good version leave it up

[beachy1965]

@worldwartwoforever good for you, keep it here at youtube.

[beatlesandbeyond]

notice how the camera angles stop you seeing Dolenz NOT drumming?

[gtrDan1963]

The original 1966 version of "Valleri", which I personally prefer...not officially released until "Missing Links-Vol. 2" many years later...

The "official" version was recorded in late 1967, and appeared as a single as well as on "The Birds,The Bees & The Monkees" in early 1968.

Both versions sport the stunning guitar work of Louie Shelton, but the 68 version is a bit overproduced, while this version has more of the straight "pop sound" that the Monkees were known for.

[glamourpho]

they were all great singers. all but one had big hits.

[skibbyskibinski]

Mike has mad powers on the guitar!!!

[mikka1963]

@skibbyskibinski , he was a good guitar player but he didn´t play the guitar in this song. Louie Shelton did.

[skibbyskibinski]

@mikka1963 Oh... okay thanks for telling me!

[ericcarmenfan]

This is the TV version of Valleri which aired well-before they recorded the 45 version. I remember going to the record store when the single finally came out and being so disappointed upon hearing the single with all the lousy horns that they added to it. It would have been so much better without it.

[brendandawna]

watch?v=wnbDxW8ERvc a clearer recording of this song

[jayvola]

I like the released version better, the vocals are better and the horns add punch. Another great Mike song: Listen to the Band

[fairoaksbowentherapy]

I love love love this version of Valerie and waited YEARS for it to finally be released on Nuggets. I too have this "Captain Crocodile" video somewhere and also somewhere probably decomposed by now, lives the original tape recording I made straight off the the TV and sounds just like this I'm sure! What a dork, huh?

[wifflwaffl]

Peter looks a bit like Bruce Campbell. Enough to be a relative or something.

[bdamomma]

OMG, I had such a crush on these guys when I was younger had their albums and their pictures plastered on my bedroom door, those were the days

[Khultan]

I love the song and music, but, that ain't Mike Nesmith working the strings.

[MelosAntropon]

@Khultan You're right. I can't remember the name of the studio musician who did that riff (it was long thought to be Glen Campbell, but that's not right), and the riff isn't even played on a 12-string, which Nesmith is using there. Nez was/is a fine rhythm man, but makes no claims to being a great lead player.

[jimraw1]

@MelosAntropon It's the great Louie Shelton, who was one of the great session men. He played on everything from Jackson Five to the Partridge Family to Neil Diamond records. Btw - Shelton also played on several Glen Campbell recordings.

[MrMakahalouie]

@jimraw1 I thought it was zappa in the Monkees studio session guitar work?

Thanks for educating me...

[decemberschild1217]

@Khultan Do you know that for a fact? I always thought Mike played pretty good guitar and it WAS him on the Vallerie flaminco lick,,,,,

[Khultan]

@decemberschild1217 I'm just going by the video, look at those separation of footage, from Mike's stern concentrated face and then a cut to just the hands and the neck of guitar. I can only arrive at one conclusion: that ain't Mike Nesmith's fingers on the neck.

[caljoni]

OMG, Peter is too funny, but he looks like he's enjoying himself. Thanks for sharing.

[TinasArkCom]

Play it Mike! I always liked this song a lot. Thanks for posting it. :)

[Mgarguemare]

i had heard that the only ones that knew how to sing were Davy and Mickey.

[worldwartwoforever]

@Mgarguemare where did you hear that? Have you ever heard Mike sing? Peter is ok at singing... I like his song Shades of Gray.

[metsfan164]

shades of gray great song

[schwoogie78]

@worldwartwoforever and besides what Mgaguemare said...mike and peter were the only accomplished musicians...in every episode you see when mikes playing...hes not just moving his hand around aimlessly hes actually playing the scales and chords.....but Mickey and Davey ARE fantastic vocalists

[gunther581]

@worldwartwoforever at first, i think they only knew how to sing. then they went back later and learned how to play the instruments.

[worldwartwoforever]

@gunther581 that might be true for Micky and Davy, but I do know that Peter was able to play before he joined the group. He would play music with his good friend Stephen Stills at a coffee shop. He also taught Mickey how to play the drums. I don't know to much about Mike, but before he joined, he was writing music and had preformed at night clubs and stuff.

[Makkabee]

@worldwartwoforever Davy was a singer -- Broadway musical experience, and he'd recorded as a soloist for Colgems (Colpix? The name changed but I can't recall which came first) records -- a Davy Jones album cover that shows up in one Monkees episode is actually from a real pre-Monkees release of his. Mike also recorded for Colgems (pix?) before landing his part on the Monkees.

[Macnatty]

@Mgarguemare agreed, in my opinon Mike Nesmith was the most talented, he not only could actually play an instrument (as could Peter Tork it was the reason they took him he could play a whole bunch) but Mike also wrote many songs for the show (after fighting for them) and the songs he sang are actually my favorite. he has a really great voice check out the song You May Just Be The One, for one. Its short but one of my faves.

[toymaster7425]

In the booklet that came with The Monkees 2 CD Anthology set it states that Gerry McGee & Louis Shelton played the guitar parts in "VALLERI'. They Showed Mike Nesmith's face and the other guys hands. Recorded DEcember 1967. That's so sad because I thought all this time that Mike was such a good guitar player.

[fireplace911]

the monkees are only doing the vocal on this track....and this is a studio version...it's a bonus on the rhino cd...

and the later single uses the same studio musicians to play the instruments...

[Kurthenker]

This is a classic. It looks like Dolenz has a 'half kit' and misses every single break. This is truly awful.

[Paul013065]

I got this song off the back of a cereal box way back in the day.

[ebaydisease]

People - this is a rare glimpse of what they sounded like during the lipsynch. You can hear the original track being played in the background, while they actually sing on top. As you can see by Davy's tamborine and the vocals, they actually song along to the song during the filming. Cool stuff!

[weiscoolful]

mike looks so focused from 1:45-1:53

[MusicByTheMoon]

Davy's Growing, ahhhhhhhh!

[RoyFive]

Never could understand why Mike never sang backup the first season. Only the songs where he sang lead.

[DVDFreaker]

I prefer this version!

[mistergeorgefour]

What movie was that. The play in the top left corner in the beginning gave the movie part away.

[worldwartwoforever]

it was episode Captain Crocodile.

[jkat2000]

that is raw...punk monks

[COGENTCOG]

Valleri :)

Thanks for the post!

[Goblinvic]

Valleri

[knabein]

of you all this is different than the studio version

[worldwartwoforever]

yeah. idk why they chose to use this version instead of the studio one.

[fireplace911]

the later version is a rerecording by Davy for a letr monkees album...he used the same musicians as in this version and added a horn section...then released it as a single..

[DavidGigg]

@worldwartwoforever

This is the original version from the early days of the TV series. They re recorded it and released it as a single and on the "Birds, the Bees & the Monkees" LP about 18 months later.

[spyungart]

@worldwartwoforever This version was recorded first, with Boyce & Hart producing under Don Kirschner's supervision. Once that team was dispatched, the Monkees rerecorded the song with the same session players but themselves as producers for commercial release.

[metaletech]

The guitar riff in "Valerie" was suppossedly based on "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones.

[worldwartwoforever]

really? I've never heard of that. just wondering, where did you hear it?

[kenc1161]

Andrew Sandovals book The Monkees Day to Day history, there is alot more to the story of the riff played by Louie Shelton while recording with Boyce & Hart, if you get a chance check it out its a incredible read for any Monkee fan..

[LTF6161]

@worldwartwoforever

I can hear it

[Gunstar1701]

@metaletech You're quite correct. I've been a Monkees fan since their debut in the 60's. I can't recall where I read it, but the guitar riffs in "Valleri" are indeed based on "Satisfaction". This is by far the best version as the studio version has horns drowning out the guitar riffs. I know Mike didn't really play on the studio version, but he sure did on tour. In my mind it's Mike playing.

[pasy2006]

CLASSIC VIDEO AND SONG:)

[worldwartwoforever]

indeed!

[worldwartwoforever]

elvishjedi: oops. lol...

[elvishjedi]

hehe, you can hear my fan in the background!