Monkees singer (I would never say lead singer here) Davy Jones passed away this week of heart trouble. His fans will miss him. I saw the group several times in my misspent yute, and am a huge fan of everything Monkee.
My profile pic (on the right) was taken at Epcot's American Pavilion while listening to Mr. Jones a couple of years ago (that's as close as we could get-bench seats outside).
His show that evening was mostly a narrative about his fame and life, with a few musical moments thrown in. But it was SRO, as was the next one. He could still pack them in and entertain.
I just hope he will be remembered for his talents and not for appearing as Marsha Brady's prom date.
Good interview here.
Update: I got a few comments offline about my lead singer remark. There's no doubt that Davy was a huge part of The Monkees' appeal - heck, Star Trek had to add Walter Koenig to compete! (See Koenig's autobiography for THAT reference). But calling him "lead singer" seems a bit much. Yes, he sang on many of their hits, but so did Micky, and Mike did his share of B-sides and wrote them too. So although I loved the guy's work, and thought him a real talent, let's not tarnish his life by making stuff up.
Example - MSNBC headline: Monkee frontman dead at 66. Okay... he sang, played maracas (red ones), and occasionally the tambourine. I seem to remember the piano (what that the pilot episode?) But FRONTMAN? I guess that's OK.
My profile pic (on the right) was taken at Epcot's American Pavilion while listening to Mr. Jones a couple of years ago (that's as close as we could get-bench seats outside).
His show that evening was mostly a narrative about his fame and life, with a few musical moments thrown in. But it was SRO, as was the next one. He could still pack them in and entertain.
I just hope he will be remembered for his talents and not for appearing as Marsha Brady's prom date.
Good interview here.
Update: I got a few comments offline about my lead singer remark. There's no doubt that Davy was a huge part of The Monkees' appeal - heck, Star Trek had to add Walter Koenig to compete! (See Koenig's autobiography for THAT reference). But calling him "lead singer" seems a bit much. Yes, he sang on many of their hits, but so did Micky, and Mike did his share of B-sides and wrote them too. So although I loved the guy's work, and thought him a real talent, let's not tarnish his life by making stuff up.
Example - MSNBC headline: Monkee frontman dead at 66. Okay... he sang, played maracas (red ones), and occasionally the tambourine. I seem to remember the piano (what that the pilot episode?) But FRONTMAN? I guess that's OK.
