Monkees - Head (1968 Film)
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Free Music Notes for Head (1968 Film)
Free Music Review: A Head of the Rest
Hit: 5 Stars
Of all the Monkee's albums, this one has to be the most beautiful and intriguing of all Monkees albums. I know what your thinking... using the term "Monkees" and "beautiful" in the same sentance is more than a little strange, granted, but it simply is. It is a grand finale to a psuedo-rock career that many people to this day look back with love and admiration... including myself. While it is not the last album the Monkee's made, it cetainly SHOULD have been.
HEAD is the soundtrack to the movie of the same name, which was to be The Monkee's satirical look at the Sixties and their ultimate dubious fame. The movie was horribly recieved by critics and didn't recieve the widespread distribution it needed to become anything more than a curiousity.
The album is like a small scale SGT. PEPPER, which, after all, is appropriate for The Monkees, who were inspired by The Fab Four. The album is full of non-sequitur dialogue clips from the movie, and a lot of surprisingly beautiful, surreal imagery... which is EXACTLY how the movie plays. In fact, though I highly recommend viewing HEAD at your earliest convienence, it is not needed in order to enjoy the album.
One unusual feeling one gets when listening to this album and watching the movie is that the songs are meant to be the most sane part of an insane time/enviroment. They truly are separate from the movie and seem to provide a moment for one to catch their breath and say "... what the heck did I just witness?"
My favorite track from the album is "Porpoise Song" (which is just absolutely incredible and so unlike typical Monkee's fare) which is a slow, drifting drug inspired ditty that is simply not to be missed. It's placed on the tail end of a brash, loud intro piece that shakes the nerves, and just when your becoming irritated... the calm hits... and the song begins.
"Ditty Diego-War Chant" pretty much sets up the movie for anyone who may miss the fact they are trying to kill thier Monkee's image once and for all (and is surprisingly honest, which has always been The Monkee's saving grace).
"Circle Sky" is a much touted Micheal Nesmith piece which deserves notice for being a high energy kicker. The cd includes the live version (as seen in the movie) and is tremendous. Other songs of note are "Can You Dig It?", with a nice sitar accompliment in it and "As We Go Along", a surprisingly mellow piece by Dolenz.
The one piece I would say avoid at all costs has to be the awful "Daddy's Song" in which Davy Jones is obviously having a tremendous time performing while everyone is tapping their toes waiting for it to end. If you have to listen to any version of this song, listen to the bonus track unreleased version of it at the end of the cd. Davy doesn't sing it. Honest.
The cd is more than the original soundtrack released at the time of the movie, as it features a lot of bonus tracks. Some of the bonus tracks not mentioned so far are "Happy Birthday To You", the odd, errie version featured in the movie , a long and somewhat tedious unedited version of "Ditty Diego-War Chant" and unreleased radio spots for the movie. I get a kick out of the radio spots because they simply are totally UNINTELLIGBLE... which doesn't help promote anything. May as well do radio advertising with a mime for as good as those spots would have been for business.
Taken in the context they were in, The Monkees were actually quite an achievement, thanks to their own particular abilities real and aided. HEAD is more than proof of that.
Free Music Review: Their True Masterpiece
Hit: 5 Stars
This is, perhaps, the only time the Monkees managed to transcend themselves. They had done a fine job of being themselves and actually BECOMING the band they'd been pretending (albeit under duress) to be for some time on "Headquarters" and "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd.," but "HEAD" remains both hopelessly of its time and completely timeless, ranking alongside such acknowledged classics as Love's "Forever Changes," simultaneously evoking the late 1960s and the modern, Post-"Pulp Fiction" style of soundtrack, combining dialogue and astounding, evocative music.
DO NOT listen to those Monkees fans who tell you that this CD is "weird" or "an acquired taste." Listen instead to MUSIC FANS and FANS OF PSYCHEDELIA and KNOW that THIS IS WITHOUT A DOUBT THE FINEST ACHIEVEMENT OF THE MONKEES SHORT PERIOD OF VALIDITY.
In other words, this is the stuff, this is.
One listen to "Porpoise Song" or "Circle Sky" should be enough to convince you that this is REAL MUSIC. It puts all the rest of their LPs in its back pocket, with no disrespect intended to the very nice sounds they'd produced in 1967. These two tracks alone are ESSENTIAL DOCUMENTS IN AMERICAN PSYCHEDELIA, and merit much more in-depth discussion than is possible here.
Peter Tork, for perhaps the only time in his career, finally DELIVERS on his unfulfilled potential with a fantastic pair of songs. "Can You Dig It?" is a middle-eastern slice of acoustic ballad psych with stomping, Kaliedoscope-style breakdowns, (think of Kaliedoscope's second LP, "A Beacon From Mars," but more focused) that manages to work even though Mickey sings it.
Tork then really lays it on us with the San Francisco Scene stylings of "Do I Have To Do This All Over Again?" In so doing he provides the film "HEAD" with its thematic center and he provides us with a FAR-FREAKIN'-OUT guitar jam that beats most of the lame Frisco types who were supposedly "heavy" at their own game (think of the always disappointing Quicksilver or Jefferson Airplane).
What can I say? Even the Davy Jones tune on this record is swell: the Harry Nilsson penned "Daddy's Song," with its very Nilsson/Nesmith-esque 1920s arrangement and cryptic lyrics about a father who was "not a man, and it all was just a game."
This record is eclectic, with great songs and VERY interesting sonic tidbits. If you are a "Head," you will know why this is the Monkees best LP. It's been blowing my mind since the mid- 1980s, when I first heard an original pressing (pre-Rhino reissue) while in interesting circumstances. It blows my mind today under ANY circumstances.
So, the upshot of all this is: if you're one of those nerdy guys with a moustache and a Monkees T-shirt who wishes there was a Monkees-Fest just like the old Beatlefests, THIS AIN'T FOR YOU, PAL. But, if you're interested in REAL MUSIC without hangups, and pure, shining transcendence, then GET ON BOARD.
And that's that.
Free Music Review: Psychedelic
Hit: 5 Stars
This was the soundtrack album to the Monkees movie "Head". Unfortunately the Monkees popularity was dwindling, and both the movie and the album bombed. I think it's a shame, because there is some of their best work on this album, and certainly their most psychedelic. The album is a collection of songs and sound bites from the movie. I will do a review of the songs:
"The Porpoise Song" - One of the Monkees most psychedelic songs, and definitely one of my favorites. Everything about this song is great, and it really should have been a hit. I think perhaps this music was a little too advanced for the Monkees audience (which were mostly younger children) and that's why it didn't do so well. 10/10
"Circle Sky" - This version of "Circle Sky" is the studio version. I'm not really sure why this was included over the live version from the movie, but it's certainly nowhere near as good. You can barely hear Mike's vocals, and it just sounds poorly produced. I usually program the live version from the bonus tracks in place of this. 5/10
"Can You Dig It" - This is one of the two songs written by Peter for this album. This version features Micky singing, and is yet another very psycedelic song. 9/10
"As We Go Along" - The flipside of "The Porpoise Song", and a very relaxing, enjoyable song. Another underated song...I seriously think that if some of this stuff had been released maybe a year earlier it would have been a lot more popular. 10/10
"Daddy's Song" - Has that older almost 20's feel to it. It's a pretty cool song, with a catchy beat. Davy's vocals aren't the greatest though. 6/10
"Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again" - Peter's second offering for the album, and another great song. This one has some nice guitar work, and is once again very psychedelic. 10/10
Those are the only songs from the actual album, the rest are cool sound bites from the movie. There are some good bonus tracks on this cd...the best, in my opinion, being the live version of "Circle Sky", which is from the movie. There is also a version of Peter singing "Can You Dig It", and Mike singing "Daddy's Song".
All in all, a great offering by the Monkees, and I think it often gets overlooked as some of their best.
Free Music Review: Circle Movie
Hit: 5 Stars
Mickey Dolenz hitting the water after he jumps off a bridge is the opening scene of the film HEAD. The sequence also heralds its finale, or as Davy Jones says in 'Ditty Diego': "...when you see the end in sight the beginning may arrive." In essence, HEAD is a giant circle that could literally run perpetually if one were to edit the ends together. But a single time through is more than enough.
Separated from the movie's intentionally haphazard visuals, what is most obvious on this album is this band's disillusionment, disappointment and dissolution. The two year MONKEES trip was almost over. It had been an incredible experience for everyone, including us fans, but this simply couldn't last. HEAD was a swan song, and a "head"long swan dive.
THE PORPOISE SONG is beautiful and melancholy- a Gerry Goffin/Carole King masterpiece.
CIRCLE SKY has an angry Mike Nesmith vocal. The guitars, mixed impossibly high, can't mask his message: "It looks like we've made it to the end."
CAN YOU DIG IT?, written by Peter Tork, has intricate guitar lines everywhere. Again, lovely, yet sad.
AS WE GO ALONG, another Carole King number, practically encapsulates the MONKEES and this film: "We'll make up our stories as we go along."
DADDY'S SONG, written by Harry Nilsson, despite its strange orchestration, is filled with the pain of an abandoned, embittered child, now grown.
DO I HAVE TO DO THIS ALL OVER AGAIN? is Peter Tork's last and best MONKEES song. He expresses a long-held resentment. After a rebuff at the group's initial 1966 recording session (Peter was derided for bringing his guitar), his disenchantment with this TV show project was deep-seated and total. It's no surprise Tork was first to leave-- the first to break the circle.
CD includes several alternate takes, a rehearsal track, and a radio ad for the movie. There's also a 12-page foldout liner note booklet, detailing film and songs. HEAD, the movie and the album, are minor classics that perfectly reflect both 1968 and a manufactured band on the verge of unravelling.
Free Music Review: "I'd Like A Glass Of Cold Gravy With A Hair In It, Please."
Hit: 5 Stars
"Head" was the Monkees sole movie, and for those who have seen the show but not the movie, it is definitely not what you're expecting, although the final episode of the show, "The Frodis Caper" starring Rip Taylor and directed by Micky Dolenz, hints at the surreal and psychedelic direction the band was moving in. "Head" takes the strange new direction of the band way further, and while a commercial flop largely because it was too mature for the Monkees' younger fans and it had an ineffectual yet avant-garde ad campaign, it is now rightly considered a cult classic.
Freed from the somewhat restrictive shackles of the series, the band came up with a wholly fitting soundtrack album that mixes a variety of interesting songs and spoken dialogue cleverly into a strange but compelling audio experience. The most commercial song on the album was the "Porpoise Song," but songs like "Can You Dig It" are more representative of the film as a whole. Without question, the best song on the album, and one of the Monkees' greatest songs ever, is "Circle Sky," a wonderful Nesmith rocker (the most disturbing footage of the film also takes place during the course it.) On this release the excellent live version is included as an bonus track. Comparing the studio and live versions is interesting (there is also an alternate studio take available that is excellent, though it is not on this CD.) Truly this is one of the greatest unknown songs of the sixties, and makes the album worth buying by itself.
I recommend the album and the film. Any soundtrack with track listings with titles like "Dandruff?," Frank Zappa and his talking cow, Jack Nicholson, Annette Funicello, and Sonny Liston has to be interesting, and is. It's a weird combination of pop culture and social commentary ("Are you telling me that you don't see the connection between government and laughing at people?") that never fails to entertain. I recommend the CD and the film strongly.