The Monkees

Good Times

Rhino

I apprehensively slipped The Monkees’ new album Good Times into my CD player. You see, I have been a lifelong fan of the band. I still remember as a toddler my mother setting me in front of our Tv next to my teenage sister as the RV show came on. I was instantly hooked. I could sing along pretty much word for word with songs like “Stepping Stone”, “Daydream Believer” and Pleasant Valley Sunday” before I knew my ABCs and 123s. I was an unabashed fan even as critics started to pile on them calling them the “Prefab Four”. They fought back learning to play their instruments and toured, and eventually wrote their own songs even though they did not have the same impact as the songs that put them in the public eye.

I bought Justus a while back. That was The Monkees’ last release in 1996 of original material. It was hard to listen to at times and that’s a lot coming from someone who has been an unabashed fan longer than most of you have been alive. The albums sounded an awful lot like they had a chip on their shoulder still trying to prove to the world they were legitimate musicians and songwriters.

The Monkees needed to realize that they are loved for whom they are (were) – four funny guys with different personalities who made a generation laugh and sang some of the most infectious pop music ever recorded. We didn’t care if they played their own instruments or wrote their own songs. Of course these are the same critics who call Elvis Presley the “King” even though he rarely wrote any of his songs or played on his albums and praised all the Motown acts who had a some of the best songwriters in music history. The Motown sound was engineered just like The Monkees except they had a choreographer for their stage show and were all vocal groups – not out and out musicians. There were a few like Marvin Gaye but not the Miracles, Supremes, Four Tops or Temptations. There was a little bit of a double standard. Of course a lot of that was jealousy over the fact The Monkees out sold the Beatles – which in a way they were parodying initially as “The Monkees” were like a serialized version of “A Hard Days Night”.

Much like fellow ‘60s pop culture icon Adam West who for years fought the “Batman” stereotype until coming to grips with it a quarter of a century ago, The Monkees seem to finally have come to grips with their place in pop culture history and multiple generations love them and the songs they sang. They finally realized they did not have to prove anything to anyone and it showed on Good Times.

Good Times by far their best album since their heyday of the mid ‘60s. The album is a hybrid of unreleased songs and new ones written by some of today’s musical equivalent to the writers of their original hits. Paul Weller (The Jam, The Style Council), Rivers Cuomo (Weezer), Noel Gallagher (Oasis), Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie), Andy Partridge (XTC), Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne) as well as songs by Dolenz, Tork and Nesmith.

Infectious pop tunes fill the album like “She Makes Me Laugh” that is as close to a warm weather anthem and sing along you’re going to find. That being said Good Times is far from perfect. At times I thought I was listening to Mickey Dolenz and the Monkees as he monopolizes the singing on the album. I finally realized I actually missed the late Davy Jones whose ballads and pop songs perfectly balanced Dolenz’s pop and rock vocal stylings. The mix was off as well. On too many songs Dolenz’s vocals were too far forward in the mix and comes off as if he was singing karaoke instead of fronting the band.

Jones makes a surprise appearance on the album singing lead on “Love to Love” an unreleased song originally written by Neil Diamond and recorded 48 years ago. Nesmith and Tork sing one song a piece to break the monopoly with Nesmith singing the slower, country-tinged ballad “Me and Magdalena” that also featured Dolenz written by Gibbard.

“Whatever’s Right” the only Boyce/Hart song on the album is one of the best as it truly harks back to the origins of The Monkees. Boyce and Hart wrote some if not most of my favorite songs of The Monkees and this fits great. The only drawback is the song is almost over before it begins as it clocks in at two minutes. “Our Own World” is written by Schlesinger who also produced the project and it showcases the songwriter’s ability to understand who the song was written for instead of having the artist adapt to the writer. This song is light, poppy and catchy, not to mention charismatic and perfectly compliments what The Monkees are. Schlesinger was able to capture the essence of what The Monkees are and indeed gives the band the material they so longingly deserve.

Good times indeed. It’s hard not to smile after spinning this disc. It’s about time.

Rick Bowers & the Majors

Little Birds

Independent

Complacency is one of the worst things that can happen to a musician. Music is fueled by joy, celebration, anger, fear and just about any emotion but not complacency. Little Birds is the second release by Rick Bowers and the Majors. Having known Bowers for years back when he was a young rock and roller the first release of his current band was hard to listen to at times because of what I am complaining about.

There is emotion in music – good or bad. When songs sound like you’re singing about how great everything is and how you love your wife and kids (not literally but you get the idea). That emotion was missing from the first album. Luckily Bowers learned from that mistake.

Little Birds is an upbeat rocking album that harnesses a lot of energy and comes across with some really good rock songs. That being said some songs seem to have too much going on like “Blue Eyes Blue”. There is so much instrumentation going on that it is almost overwhelming and almost overpowers Bowers’ vocals that seem to have a renewed energy.

“Stay With Me” is a charismatic “dirty rocker that assures the band is ready to rock and not rest on its laurels. Ironically (maybe not) the songs on the album remind me of John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band from the Eddie and the Cruisers soundtrack era mixing rock and blues in a way that they compliment each other instead of canceling each other out.

“Little Birds” is as an upbeat poppy song that could have been fleshed out a little better with more harmonies but as a whole is a fun song to listen to.

While the album is a good listen it does suffer from a couple of shortfalls. The mix is too busy at times. There is a lot going on in the songs at times. Some of the songs could have benefited from a simpler or more stripped down mix. There are so many players on some of the songs that instead of diversifying what they do they at times cancel each other out as they seem to be prone to playing over each other. But then again that could me and I’m picky. On some songs it admittedly works fine others not so much.

Bowers has come a long way from his early days in bands like Running Live that many probably don’t remember or know about. His early stuff from that era featured some brilliant rock songs and with Little Birds he has been able to mature as a musician while not sounding old and tired. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but who is? This is well worth a listen.

– Wm. Alexander

Tags:  Adam Schlessenger Boyce and Hart Davy Jones Fountains of Wayne Good Times John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band Mickey Dolenz Mike Nesmith Neil Diamond Noel Gallagher Oasis Paul Weller Peter Tork Reviews Rhino Rick Bowers Rick Bowers and the Majors The Jam The Monkees

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