R.I.P. Davey Jones

[Eddie Sheehy]

I always thought that Maraccas were North-African mandolins...

[G7MOF]

You forget what an impact they had on the music scene. RIP Davey!!!

[Eddie Sheehy]

And how did I forget that? Why do you think I made the post? ...and included a mandolin reference for the PC police...

[catmandu2]

Gosh I loved the Monkees schtick when I was a kid...seemed a better idea than school. Good example for the "Making Money In Music" thread...

[Malcolm G.]

Is this for real?

Google still hasn't announced his passing.

[allenhopkins]

Sometimes you can spin silk from sh-t. A completely bogus "group" put together for a TV-sitcom ripoff of Hard Day's Night, and surprise! a respectable and influential music heritage. Largely thanx to Mike Nesmith's songwriting ability, but props to Peter Tork and Mickey "Circus Boy" Dolenz as well, and Davy Jones will definitely be missed.

When the world and I were young, just yesterday,
Life was such a simple game, a child could play.
It was easy then to tell right from wrong,
Easy then to tell weak from strong,
When a man should stand and fight or just go along.
But today there is no day or night,
Today there is no dark or light,
Today there is no black or white, only shades of gray.
-- Barry Mann & Cynthia Weill, Shades of Gray, recorded by the Monkees.

[allenhopkins]

Is this for real?

Google still hasn't announced his passing.

From USA Today:

No doubt you're humming Daydream Believer or Last Train to Clarksville as you read this. The lead singer of The Monkees, Davy Jones, has died. His rep tells TMZ that he died after suffering a heart attack this morning in Florida. Jones was 66.

TMZ confirmed Jones' death with an official from the medical examiner's office for Martin County, Fla. Jones is survived by his wife, Jessica, and four daughters from previous marriages. Jones joined The Monkees in 1965, with Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork.

[catmandu2]

Is this for real?

Hard to believe, yes. But I did really goofy stuff back then too..

[Malcolm G.]

Thks Allen.

[MikeEdgerton]

Actually daydream believer was a John Stewart song. I was a fan as a kid as well.

[Steve L]

I think their musical legacy has more to do with the songwriting of Boyce & Hart and Neil Diamond and the musicianship of The Wrecking Crew. Still sad to hear of Mr Jones' passing and sad too that Google is now the arbiter of reality.

[Eddie Sheehy]

Next time I'll wait for The Mighty Google...

[MikeEdgerton]

From the Monkees Greatest Hits:

1."(Theme from) The Monkees" (Boyce & Hart)
2."Last Train to Clarksville" (Boyce & Hart)
3."She" (Boyce & Hart)
4."Daydream Believer" (Stewart)
5."Listen to the Band" (Nesmith)
6."A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You" (Diamond)
7."I'm a Believer" (Diamond)
8."I Wanna Be Free" (Boyce & Hart)
9."Pleasant Valley Sunday" (King & Goffin)
10."(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" (Boyce & Hart)
11."Shades of Gray" (Mann & Weil)

I can remember all those songs except one.

By the way, the first song I ever learned how to play on any instrument was a Monkees song.

[Beanzy]

I loved their stuff when I was a kid.
A classic case of some real talent grabbing the slimmest opportunity and running off with it at full speed.
Fair play to him and it's a good reminder that we all get to die, but you've got to let yourself do the living first.

Manchester & the north of England really knocks out some good musicians and singers to this day.

[catmandu2]

Well you definitely need to seize upon opportunity. Still, I like syd barret..

[Eddie Sheehy]

Yes you've got to take every opportunity no matter how ridiculous it seems. That's the funny thing about life: No-one get's out alive...

[Dave Greenspoon]

RIP Davey Jones. I too was a fan. I can still remember the ludicrous train scene that accompanied Last Train to Clarksville with all the oblique angle shots from below.

[Raggle Taggle]

He had some great 60s dance moves in that video.. RIP.

[Chip Booth]

I was a big fan. The first music I ever bought with my own money was the Monkees Greatest Hits on 8 track.

[Gerry Cassidy]

Oh man, the Banana Splits at 8a.m. followed by the Monkees at 9a.m. then came the Saturday afternoon baseball game....or, did H.R. Puff'N'Stuff come first?

RIP Davey. You provided many good moments for remembering a time, long ago!

[Al Hagensen]

Fond Memories of those days...Thanks Davey
Played some Monkees tunes in a band when I was in High School...Could it have been that long ago?
Prayers for his family

[Mike Thomas]

Life's a hard teacher. First the test, then the lesson.

[jesserules]

Before the Monkees were formed Jones had been nominated for a Tony, Nesmith had written a hit song ("Mary Mary"), Dolenz had starred in a TV series, and Tork had sat in with everybody in the NY and LA folk scenes. They were a very talented bunch of guys and deserved all the success they achieved.

[Charlieshafer]

Yup, a sad day. I too grew up on their music, and the songwriting was superb. An interesting factoid came over the radio that credited them with the very first music videos, which appeared as separate breaks within the tv show, pre-dating mtv by a good ten years, if not more. Sure, this was all part of the production, but they all had to be pretty darn good just to make it into the group, so hats off.

[Paul Busman]

Sad to hear this. The Monkees are a guilty pleasure for me. I know they were a studio made-up band, but I always enjoy their songs when I hear them on the radio.