Vocally, Mike was actually the best singer in the group. His range and power was incredible. Davey sounded like a frog.But I heard that Don Kirshner didn't care for Mike's Country influenced sound- and he didn't get any singles or kept his solos to a minimum. That's kind of a shame. In many ways, Mike Nesmith was a pioneer in Country Rock.
shareI don't see how you came to that conclusion.
The Monkees were a rock band and not a country band but I doubt that's the reason why Mike didn't sing lead as much.
Kirshner screwed everything from the get go. Mike was a better bass player than Peter and Peter was a superior guitar player. Davey had played the drums before and had the basics down and Mickey had better range as a singer than Davey, so he should have been the frontman.
Plus if Kirschner just gave the boys a little breathing room as playing their own music, everything would have been cool. He still have been giving music to the boys and still would have income coming in from song writing factory.
Kirschner was a total control freak, for him it was all or nothing. Good thing the Archies came along for him.
The quality of mercy is not strained
"Good thing The Archies came along for him"...that's hilarious!
RvaBread, you're right. Donnie was in it for one reason, money. Davy was the cute one, so he wanted him out front singing and selling records. Davy, great as he was, realistically had the third best voice of the group. Kirschner didn't care for country music and wanted to outsell The Beatles at their own game. The Monkees first two albums are great, but I don't know if 5 or 6 mostly "bubblegum" albums would've been as meaningful as when they canned Kirschner and expanded their sound. Pisces is generally considered to be their best album and that was after Kirschner was gone. It was a great mix of The Monkees and session players.
I grew up with The Monkees, and as I've gotten older I've really come to appreciate Mike's style of singing and songwriting.
Kirshner had bad taste in music. Davy was not considered the "cute one". Mike was actually considered the best looking. He sang Country flavored tunes. Don K. was a Jew from New York who liked bad music. So they didn't let Mike sing but a few songs. When in reality, he actually had the best voice of the group.
Pisces, Head, Headquarters = all rock solid rock albums.
For numerous reasons, I'm glad the group fought back - you're right in the first two albums are good, but HQ onward show a lot more range and with more depth to many of the songs. Given a choice of the same stuff being driven into the ground or the group expanding, and I did like their inclusion of music artists as guests in the latter part of season 2, it's a shame the show got canceled. Kirshner, et al, started with an interesting idea but should have allowed it to grow on its own. The fightback helped spur growth. But NBC wanted more of the kid stuff while the group wanted to make far more of the show, as season 2 was shaping itself to be over time.
Mike definitely did pioneer Country Rock. I've not been the biggest fan of pure country, but his mixing of genres always had me buying. The man's a master craftsman, horribly underrated by a media preferring to sell myths than to tell the truth about their background. Even in 2016 people still buy the hype that they didn't have talent or played their own instruments (SMH).
Davy wasn't the cute one? Okay, why were most of the plots centered around him? Why was he the Monkee most prominently featured on the cover of teen magazines?
I agree Mike was the best looking, but the target audience of 14 year old girls don't necessarily for best looking or handsome, they go for cute.
Davy = cute. Cute = money. And Don was after the most money he could get his hands on.
Are any of you guys trained singers? I only ask because Davy is absolutely the best singer of all of them. Micky has a great voice (I saw him live in Aida, actually, and he WAS great), but he doesn't have the control Davy had. Do you have ANY idea how hard it is to just get a art like the Artful Dodger off the street, which is basically what he did? No real training... just natural talent. He was the real thing. And Mike is my favorite, so I'm not Davy biased at all.
shareDavy is the best singer of all of them
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I disagree. He was the third best after Micky & Mike.
ANY idea how hard it is to just get a art like the Artful Dodger off the street
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Davy had the voice for such musicals as Oliver. He should have returned to musical theatre when the show ended.
I like Davy. Valleri is one of my favorite Monkey tunes.
But I agree with all those who said he was put out front and given songs because he was 'the cute one'. Though I personally though Micky the cute one.
Mike was handsome. A great singer. Songwriter. But not who they thought would appeal to the target teenybopper audience. Davy was.
Don't f@ck with me fellas! This aint my first time at the rodeo.
Cute is less threatening to the parents of the girls buying Tiger Beat and 16 and whatever the other ones were. Ten years later when I took down the Shaun Cassidy/Parker Stevens posters and put up Andy Gibb (with chest hair!) my Mom was apoplectic.
shareI'm going to have to disagree about Mike being the best vocalist. Mike's voice is fine, but he is not an accomplished singer by ANY means.
Micky is a good singer but one who has little training. Still, his voice is great for a pop/rock band and it is distinctive, which is why he sang most of the "rock" (more like pop) songs.
Davy, however, was a true musical talent. You may not LIKE his voice, but vocally, he was amazing. He didn't have much, if any, training, either, other than what he probably got after he was cast in Oliver (as most in musical DO see singing teachers regularly), but he had natural control.
Peter once said that Davy was actually the best of them. I'm sure he meant vocally and he also said that he had amazing timing, which you can see with his dancing and the tambourine.
I understanding not liking his voice, but Davy was the best singer in terms of control. Peter and Mike were the weakest, with Peter the absolute weakest.
To answer your question, no, I am not a trained singer. I'm not even a decent singer.
I actually like all their voices, even Peter's. He had good backing vocals and was even pretty darn good on Come On In, Merry Go Round and Long Title.
I agree with your take on Micky.
I think they nailed who was the best singer for each particular song. Davy sounds much better on Daddy's Song, as opposed to Mike. And Mike sounds better than Davy on My Share of the Sidewalk.
A very interesting talented group they were.
The voice of The Monkees was Micky. Davy was good, no denying, but he was very limited range-wise and tonally. Micky was a great vocalist and textured songs with his delivery. Very expressive. Mike was damn good too.
shareThat Kirschner guy was a real scumbag. Mike, Mickey and Davy all had great singing voices. Each one had their own distinction. Peter was an excellent musician but rather limited vocally.
shareIn defense of Kirshner, he was hired to make hits, and that is what he did. I enjoy Nez's music – singing and writing – but mainstream pop was what sold the most. Mike and Peter may have wanted to be more involved with the music, and it would be nice if they were, but Kirshner did his job well. Two number 1 albums, two number 1 singles, and an album that outsold the Beatles and the Stones.
Can some one point to a reliable source on the “Mike was a better bass player, Davy was a drummer” bit. I've been hearing it on the boards, but question the validity of it. Why did't Mike play bass on Headquarters? Why didn't Davy play drums ... ever?
I found the comment about Davy being a drummer.
"Mike and Davy had splendid timing. They should've been the rhythm section. I'm a better guitar player than Mike; he should've been the drummer or the bass player and Davy the drummer. His time was fabulous, and he learned anything you wanted him to do. There were times we said, 'Geez, I want to play keyboard. Mike's on guitar, Micky's...we need a bass player! Davy, put your fingers here, pluck now.' Boom! He'd play bass that night. Micky should've been down in front — and he can play guitar. He should've been the rhythm guitar player."
-Peter Tork, in an interview with Guitar World (2013)
Peter never actually said Mike was a better bass player then him, and never said Davy knew how to play the drums, just that he had good timing. He may have played a couple songs live, but like Peter explained with him laying bass, he might have been taught how to play just those songs.