(This week’s “Album of the Week” was written by the very first guest contributor, Carey Farrell. I’ve known Carey for about as long as I can remember (25 + years, which is still strange for me to think that I’m that old) and she graciously agreed to write this awesome post on The Monkees’ “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. Enjoy! - Matt)
The Monkees have been one of my favorite bands for nearly 25 years, since their late-’80s revival courtesy of MTV and Nickelodeon. In that time, my love for them has gone from sincere to ironic and back again so many times I’ve lost count, and I’m just as likely to be mocking the promo video for “Oh My My” as I am to be practicing the riff from “Love Is Only Sleeping” or (let’s be honest) marveling at how Peter Tork can remain one of the sexiest men in America, year after year after year.
I know not everyone shares my love for the Prefab Four. I’ve heard it all before: “They didn’t write their own songs!” “They didn’t play their own instruments!” “That’s not even Mike Nesmith’s real hat!”
Just hear me–and the music–out.
Pisces Aquarius–the title comes from the Monkees’ star signs, with Mike and Davy as the birthday twin Capricorns–is a mix of the “Monkees and studio musicians” approach of the first two albums, and the “Monkees take total creative control” approach of their third album, Headquarters. There are musical contributions from Monkees songwriting vets like Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart (“Words”), Gerry Goffin and Carole King (the single “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” and the groupie-bashing “Star Collector”), and Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich (“She Hangs Out”). But Mike contributes as a songwriter and a guitarist, and Peter plays guitar and keys, and Micky plays the Moog synthesizer (more on that later), and all four contribute lead and backing vocals.
Mike, always the leader of the band on the TV show, finally has his time to shine on an album, singing lead on five of the thirteen songs. “Love Is Only Sleeping,” a gorgeous piece of psychedelia that foreshadows what co-writers Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil would later create for the cult film Wild In The Streets, is one of the highlights.
Micky’s shining moment is, of course, “Pleasant Valley Sunday.” And yes, you’ve been hearing it on the oldies radio your entire life, but listen to it again, and pretend it’s for the first time.
Davy even has a cowriting credit on the love ballad “Hard To Believe.” Is it the weakest song on the album? Of course it is. But the horns and the incessant modulation will probably make you smile anyway.
And Peter? Peter sings in tune.
More or less.
Pisces Aquarius finds the Monkees exploring darker and more experimental territory. “Pleasant Valley Sunday” and “The Door Into Summer” snark about the same grey flannel-suited suburban squares whose kids turned the band into superstars. “What Am I Doing Hangin’ ‘Round?” is the story of a one-night stand (gasp!),”Salesman” includes a drug reference (won’t somebody please think of the children?), and “Daily Nightly” is Mike’s response to the November 1966 Sunset Strip riots. Whether or not Harry Nilsson’s “Cuddly Toy” is really about a gangbang, there’s no denying that perpetually perky Davy sounds a little creepy on it–and he sounds even creepier as he leers his way through “She Hangs Out” and snarls lines like, “How can I love her when I just don’t respect her?” in “Star Collector.” And then there’s the Moog synthesizer. According to Monkees legend, Micky was one of the first people to purchase a Moog, and he has a hell of a lot of fun figuring out how it works on “Daily Nightly.”
Is Pisces Aquarius a product of its time? Absolutely. But there’s something timeless about it as well. On Record Store Day this year, I dragged my husband and a friend up the street to our local record store to see a live performance of Pisces Aquarius by some of Chicago’s finest independent musicians. The store was crowded with three generations of Monkees fans, singing along to every word of every song. And every person in the room was smiling.
Not bad for a 45-year-old record by a band that didn’t even exist, huh?
Great story I fully agree. Peter Tork was probably the most talented of them all musically. I have read about him playing guitar and bass on a lot of the tracks. As for mickey being the first to buy a moog, i am not quite sure. george harrison purchased one really early on. some of the early uses of it were on its all too much on yellow sub, but actually recorded a year before. john used it for white noise on i want you as well
Peter is such a talented musician–I saw him live in ’98 and he spent the night switching back and forth between guitar, keyboards, and banjo, playing everything from Appalachian ballads to Bach organ pieces. Micky recorded the Moog parts for “Daily Nightly” in August ’67; I’m guessing he bought it not too long after seeing them on display at Monterey Pop. The other day, on Robert Moog’s birthday, Micky mentioned on Facebook that he had sold his Moog to Bobby Sherman back in the ’70s. Weird.
I love this album!
I just gave a listen to “Daily Nightly” on YouTube, and I don’t see how it’s about a riot, except maybe for the line “The night has gone and taken its infractions”. It seems to be a song about the nightlife, with people looking for fun, getting stoned, finding one-night stands–and someone with “questions but no answers” wondering what it’s all worth.
Good point–and it makes sense, since the riots were basically hippie club kids getting mad about curfew enforcement. Both Mike and Micky are on record as saying it’s about the riots, which is the only way anyone would probably be able to tell, considering those lyrics.
Our first interaction was you basically writing this in response to my calling the Monkees a guilty pleasure.
…and 12 years later I’m still defending them.
I think it’s funny how much crap The Monkees get for not playing their own instruments, since pretty much every band in Southern California was using studio musicians at the time. You never hear this complaint about, say, The Beach Boys, but most of their music was recorded by session players when everyone but Brian Wilson was on the road. That was common practice for dozens of bands, but people are only snobby about it when talking about The Monkees. I think you may have made this argument to me when we were teenagers. For the record, you were right.
I just read a book about the Wrecking Crew, and there’s a great story about Mike Nesmith convincing the label to let the band play their own instruments on Headquarters by punching a hole in a wall, turning to the label exec, and saying, “that could have been your face, motherfucker.” It might be apocryphal, but I like it.
i was right! *victory dance*
that nez story is one of my favorites. i’ve seen it placed in various timelines–the headquarters argument, the brouhaha over the “a little bit me, a little bit you” single, the time don kirschner supposedly told them to record “sugar, sugar” (this one i know for sure never actually happened)–and i kind of like to believe that all of them happened, and mike just really liked punching walls.
Neil Diamond’s best songs were when they were songs by the Monkees.