Mellotronists

> From: "jonesalley" <jonesalley@...>
   > Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 01:30:52 -0500
   > 
   > I just watched "Head," the Monkees movie from the later sixties.
   > Jack Nicholson, Terri Garr, Terry Bradshaw, and even Victor
   > Mature show up in this strange bit of flower-power celluloid.

Don't forget Frank Zappa!  Jack Nicholson also wrote the film.

   > The film starts and finishes with a very early Pink Floyd-style
   > song, which I sadly do not know the name of, because it would
   > make this post much shorter.  

"The Porpoise Song", written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin.  It's
one of my absolute faves.

   > While it is not listed at Andy's site (no Monkees are, as near as
   > I can tell) I was wondering if anyone knows if there is any
   > Mellotron/Monkees connection ?

I don't think so.  It sounds like an actual orchestra to me.

There is a Moog / Monkees connection of course.  "Daily Nighty" was
likely the first pop song to feature a Moog.

  -- Don

-- 
Don Tillman
Palo Alto, California
don@...
http://www.till.com

Hi, Don, thanks for the extra tidbits.  I have suddenly taken the guys' 
music more seriously.  This was a different musical side from what appeared 
on the TV show.  I sure didn't catch Frank, where was he?  Don't you feel 
the string lines in that "Porpoise Song" have a very keyboard-like phrasing?

> From: "jonesalley" <jonesalley@...>
   > Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 02:33:04 -0500
   > 
   > Hi, Don, thanks for the extra tidbits.  I have suddenly taken the
   > guys' music more seriously.  This was a different musical side
   > from what appeared on the TV show.  I sure didn't catch Frank,
   > where was he?

Frank stands with a talking cow and comments on Davey's song and dance
routine.  (I'm not kidding.)

   > Don't you feel the string lines in that "Porpoise Song" have a
   > very keyboard-like phrasing?

The whole song is delightfully 60's, with Strawberry Fields and other
Beatlesy references.  Those walking cellos especially.

The cello's at the beginning are very "Watcher of the Sky" mellotrony
sounding, certainly, especially with some of those chord changes, but
they're clearly real cellos.  And that one note is held for about 12
seconds, so...  :-)

  -- Don

-- 
Don Tillman
Palo Alto, California
don@...
http://www.till.com

> And that one note is held for about 12
> seconds, so...  :-)



Yeah, that's probably pretty conclusive, isn't it.  Thanks!

On Thu, 13 Jul 2006, jonesalley wrote:

> I just watched "Head," the Monkees movie from the later sixties.  Jack
> Nicholson, Terri Garr, Terry Bradshaw, and even Victor Mature show up in
> this strange bit of flower-power celluloid. The film starts and finishes
> with a very early Pink Floyd-style song, which I sadly do not know the
> name of, because it would make this post much shorter.  It is slow and
> features Hammond organ prominently in the mix.  In a middle bridge
> section, there is an extremely Mellotronish string sound mixed with the
> Hammond. In the middle of the movie, Peter Tork walks into a scene
> whistling "Strawberry Fields Forever," so it is clear the film was made
> after Mellotrons hit rock music.  While it is not listed at Andy's site
> (no Monkees are, as near as I can tell) I was wondering if anyone knows
> if there is any Mellotron/Monkees connection?


i think i know the track you are speaking of:
Porpoise Song [carole king]

as listed here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063049/

is it the one that closes the film, as they are, like floating in a pool
or something? [have not watched it for years, but that's what i recall]

it SHOULD be on the soundtrack album:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000033E5/102-7774255-9344914?redirect=true

...jeff

> From: "jonesalley" <jonesalley@...>
   > Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 02:33:04 -0500
   > 
   > Hi, Don, thanks for the extra tidbits.  I have suddenly taken the
   > guys' music more seriously.

Yeah, Nesmith and Tork had folk music backgrounds before joining The
Monkees.  And I've always loved Dolenz's singing.  And behind the
scenes there were some great songwriters like Boyce, Hart and King and
some fine studio musicians like Glen Campbell.  The Monkees made some
really great music.

Dolenz went to the trouble of taking drum lessons during the filming
of the show, which I always thought was commendable.  He's been quoted
as saying, "Well, it's not like learning brain surgery."

I think the big problem was that they were specifically hired as
actors for a comedy show, not as musicians.  

  -- Don

-- 
Don Tillman
Palo Alto, California
don@...
http://www.till.com

Dolenz voice is totally cool. Did anyone know that Steven Stills was in
the running as a Monkee but they decided that his teeth weren't straight
enough?  That must have been the only criteria looking at who they
ultimately chose but it worked out better for all I think. I also agree
that the Monkees music was good and they made a significant contribution
to the 60's music scene even though the were assembled (By Don Kirshner
right?) and not a "real" group. But you're right, they had the good
writers.  What I never understood was why the recordings, sonically
speaking, sound like crap. There were so many great sounding recordings
being made at that time and with much smaller budgets I'm sure. I don't
think that they needed to bounce tracks that often, for most of their
recordings anyway, as the instrumentation was minimal but somehow they
managed to lose everything above 1 KHz and below 200 Hz.  A lot of it
sounds like its played through a megaphone and does not sound any better
heavily compressed and played though an AM radio which one might argue
was the reason for the mix.  Did any engineers dare attach their names
to any of these recordings? They are so consistently bad that I would
guess that they were done by the same engineer or studio or both. He/she
must have had a pillow duct taped around his head or something. 

Jim #912

-----Original Message-----
From: Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Don Tillman
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 10:30 AM
To: jonesalley
Cc: Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Mellotronists] sighting?

   > From: "jonesalley" <jonesalley@...>
   > Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 02:33:04 -0500
   > 
   > Hi, Don, thanks for the extra tidbits.  I have suddenly taken the
   > guys' music more seriously.

Yeah, Nesmith and Tork had folk music backgrounds before joining The
Monkees.  And I've always loved Dolenz's singing.  And behind the scenes
there were some great songwriters like Boyce, Hart and King and some
fine studio musicians like Glen Campbell.  The Monkees made some really
great music.

Dolenz went to the trouble of taking drum lessons during the filming of
the show, which I always thought was commendable.  He's been quoted as
saying, "Well, it's not like learning brain surgery."

I think the big problem was that they were specifically hired as actors
for a comedy show, not as musicians.  

  -- Don

--
Don Tillman
Palo Alto, California
don@...
http://www.till.com



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it's a damn shame about tommy boyce, an undeniably talented songwriter:

http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/b/Tommy%20Boyce/Tommy%20Boyce.htm