Headquarters (album)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Monkees' Headquarters | ||
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| Studio album by The Monkees | ||
| Released | May 22, 1967 | |
| Recorded | February - March 1967 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 30:00 | |
| Label | Colgems Records | |
| Producer(s) | Chip Douglas | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| The Monkees chronology | ||
 More of The Monkees (1967) |
 Headquarters (1967) |
 Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. (1967) |
The third album issued by The Monkees, this was their first LP recorded primarily by the four members of the group. After a struggle for creative autonomy, the group was allowed to record by themselves. Michael Nesmith recruited fellow folk musician Chip Douglas, a member of The Modern Folk Quartet and The Turtles, to produce the album. Douglas was credited under his birth name, Douglas Farthing Hatlelid. Along with Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., Headquarters constitutes what both critics and supporters alike believe to be the ultimate Monkees recordings. The gamble to attain full artistic control seemed to pay off when Headquarters moved nearly 2 million copies immediately upon its release.
During the early months of 1967, the four Monkees sequestered themselves in the RCA Music Center of the World studios, on Sunset Boulevard near Vine Street in Hollywood. Many of the songs were written by the four group members, or came together organically in jam sessions. A few of the songs were written by songwriters Boyce and Hart, and had been previously recorded by session musicians and produced by Boyce and Hart.
The only session musicians used on the album were producer Douglas, who played bass guitar on some songs, and cello and French horn players used on a few tracks.
The album was released on May 22, 1967 and charted at the number one position in the United States. It stayed at that position for only one week, when it was replaced by The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The album was issued on the compact disc format for the first time by Arista Records in 1987 remixed from the multi-tracks, then later from the original stereo mastertape in 1995 with several bonus tracks on Rhino Entertainment.
In 2003, Rhino Entertainment, through their Rhino Handmade division, issued The Headquarters Sessions, a multiple disc box of outtakes from the session as well as the album's original monophonic mix presented in an alternate running order that was rejected before release.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
- "You Told Me" (Nesmith)
- "I'll Spend My Life With You" (Boyce/Hart)
- "Forget That Girl" (Hatlelid)
- "Band 6" (Jones/Nesmith/Tork/Dolenz)
- "You Just May Be The One" (Nesmith)
- "Shades Of Grey" (Mann/Weil)
- "I Can't Get Her Off Of My Mind" (Boyce/Hart)
- "For Pete's Sake" (Tork/Richards)
- "Mr. Webster" (Boyce/Hart)
- "Sunny Girlfriend" (Nesmith)
- "Zilch" (Jones/Nesmith/Tork/Dolenz)
- "No Time" (Cicalo)
- "Early Morning Blues and Greens" (Hilderbrand/Keller)
- "Randy Scouse Git" (Dolenz)
[edit] Session info
"You Told Me"
- Written by Michael Nesmith
- Lead vocal by Michael Nesmith
- The opening parodies the Beatles' "Taxman", from their album Revolver
- Recorded at RCA Victor Studio C, Hollywood, March 3 & 9, 1967
"I’ll Spend My Life With You"
- Written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart
- Lead vocal by Micky Dolenz
- A remake by the band; the earlier version featured studio musicians
- Recorded at RCA Victor Studio C, Hollywood, March 4, 9 and 18, 1967
"Forget That Girl"
- Written by Douglas Farthing Hatlelid
- Lead vocal by Davy Jones
- Recorded at RCA Victor Studio C, Hollywood, March 7 and 8, 1967
"Band 6"
- Written by Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Micky Dolenz
- Spoken words by Chip Douglas
- A studio exercise, based on the Looney Tunes theme
- Recorded at RCA Victor Studio C, Hollywood, March 2, 1967
"You Just May Be the One"
- Written by Michael Nesmith
- Lead vocal by Michael Nesmith
- A remake by the band; the earlier version (on Missing Links, Volume II) featured studio musicians
- Recorded at RCA Victor Studio C, Hollywood, March 2, 1967
"Shades of Grey"
- Written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil
- Lead vocals by Davy Jones and Peter Tork
- Recorded at RCA Victor Studio C, Hollywood, March 16 and 22, 1967
"I Can’t Get Her Off My Mind"
- Written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart
- Lead vocal by Davy Jones
- Recorded at RCA Victor Studio C, Hollywood, March 17 and 19, 1967
"For Pete’s Sake"
- Written by Peter Tork and Joseph Richards
- Lead vocal by Micky Dolenz
- An edited version became the closing theme for the show's second season
- Recorded at RCA Victor Studio C, Hollywood, March 23, 1967
"Mr. Webster"
- Written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart
- Lead vocal by Davy Jones
- A remake by the band; the earlier version featured studio musicians
- Recorded at RCA Victor Studio C, Hollywood, February 23, 1967
"Sunny Girlfriend"
- Written by Michael Nesmith
- Lead vocal by Michael Nesmith
- Recorded at RCA Victor Studio C, Hollywood, March 23, 1967
"Zilch"
- Written by Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz
- Spoken words by Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz
- A fugue made up of disparate phrases; the Monkees would sometimes enter public places performing it
- "Mr. Bob Dobolina" was a name heard over a paging system, "China Clipper..." came from the movie China Clipper, "Never mind the furthermore..." from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma!, and "It is of my opinion..." from a political speech
- "Zilch" was the 'hidden meaning' of it all; it added up to... nothing! It was simply entertaining nonsense.
- Recorded at RCA Victor Studio C, Hollywood, 1967
"No Time"
- Written by Hank Cicalo
- Lead vocal by Micky Dolenz
- "No Time" was actually composed by the four Monkees, but as a reward for his hard work, the band decided to credit the song to engineer Cicalo, guaranteeing him a large royalty check
- Recorded at RCA Victor Studio C, Hollywood, March 17 and 22, 1967
"Early Morning Blues and Greens"
- Written by Diane Hilderbrand and Jack Keller
- Lead vocal by Davy Jones
- Recorded at RCA Victor Studio C, Hollywood, March 22, 1967
"Randy Scouse Git"
- Written by Micky Dolenz
- Lead vocal by Micky Dolenz
- Title is a British slang phrase gleaned by Dolenz from television, likely the UK sitcom Til Death Us Do Part; it roughly translates as "lustful fool from Liverpool". In the series the insult was aimed by Alf Garnett at this son-in-law played by Tony Booth, who is Tony Blair's father-in-law.
- To avoid offence in the UK the song was billed as "Alternative Title".
- "The four kings of EMI" is a reference to the Beatles, who were signed to EMI's Parlophone label at the time
- Recorded at RCA Victor Studio C, Hollywood, March 4 and 8, 1967
[edit] CD bonus tracks
"All of Your Toys" (single mix)
- Unused track that was the proposed A-side of the next Monkees single, but song was not controlled by The Monkees' publishing company, Screen Gems; publisher Tickson Music refused to sell the copyright
- Written by Bill Martin
- Lead vocal by Micky Dolenz
- Recorded at Gold Star Studios, Hollywood January 16th, 1967 and RCA Victor Studios, Hollywood January 19, 23, 30 and 31, 1967
"The Girl I Knew Somewhere" (Nesmith version)
- Written by Michael Nesmith
- Lead vocal by Michael Nesmith
- First known recording for the Headquarters album
- Recorded at Goldstar Studios, Hollywood, January 16, 1967
"Peter Gunn’s Gun" (jam session)
- Written by Henry Mancini
"Jericho" (studio dialogue)
- (trad.)
"Nine Times Blue" (demo version)
- Written by Michael Nesmith
- Lead vocal by Michael Nesmith
"Pillow Time" (studio dialogue)
- Written by Janelle Scott and Matt Willis
- Spoken words by Micky Dolenz
- Janelle Scott is Micky Dolenz' mother.
[edit] Original Album
The track line up for the album, compiled on April 21, included the following songs:
Side 1:
- "For Pete's Sake"
- "I'll Spend My Life With You"
- "Forget That Girl"
- "You Just May Be The One"
- "Shades of Gray"
- "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You"
- "Band 6"
Side 2:
- "Sunny Girlfriend"
- "Mr. Webster"
- "You Told Me"
- "The Girl I Knew Somewhere"
- "Zilch"
- "Early Morning Blues And Greens"
- "Randy Scouse Git"
[edit] Miscellanea
- "Randy Scouse Git" was nearly replaced on the album for its UK release; writer Micky Dolenz had heard the title phrase on the BBC-TV programme 'Til Death Us Do Part, not realising it was actually considered obscene (translating roughly as "horny Liverpudlian bastard"). Since the phrase didn't appear in the lyrics, their UK label was willing to accept an alternate title for the song, so Dolenz gave it the name "Alternate Title". So much interest had been generated from media commentary about the song, that a single was released, which later went to #2 on the UK charts.
- On the Monkees' 1967 summer tour, Jimi Hendrix was the opening act.
[edit] Personnel
- Michael Nesmith: vocals, pedal steel guitar, 6-string guitar, 12-string guitar, organ
- Davy Jones: vocals, tambourine, jawbone, maracas, etc.
- Micky Dolenz: vocals, drums, guitar
- Peter Tork: vocals, keyboards, 12-string guitar, bass guitar, 5-string banjo
- Chip Douglas: bass guitar
- John London: bass guitar on "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" and "All of Your Toys"
- Vince DeRosa: French Horn on "Shades of Grey"
- Fred Seykora: cello on "Shades of Grey"
- Jerry Yester: additional guitar on "No Time"
- Keith Allison: additional guitar on "No Time"
[edit] References
- All information can be found on the Rhino Reissue of the Monkees' Headquarters
- The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation by Andrew Sandoval
