Did they actually play instruments? Someone in one of the questions said that they weren't a real band. I remember Davey Jones, Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Mickey forgot his last name. I would watch the tv show all the time. groovy!
2006-09-29 15:29:44 · 36 answers · asked by snafu1 2 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Music
...and Mickey Dolenz. They were put together by a production team specifically for the purpose of making that TV show. In other words, they had to audition for it. They did all have some talent of their own, Davy Jones was the only one without real professional experience as a musician. Mike Nesmith has gone on and had a decent, if not very well known, solo career.
I was a kid when The Monkees first came on the scene. I loved their show, it was a lot of fun, and I still own all their old albums on the original vinyl. I recently replayed all of them when preserving them to MP3, what a BLAST from the PAST!!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1119068/bio
IMDb Bio page for The Monkees (pretty interesting)
2006-09-29 15:33:19 · answer #1 · answered by DangerMom 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They were a band per say but no they did not play their own instruments. Peter tork (Torkelson) and Michael Nesmith took this very hard because they were the only two real musicians in the group. Davy Jones and Micky Dolenze were the only two that had acting under their belt. Davy starred as Oliver in the Broadway show Oliver Twist and Mickey is best known for his role in Circus boy. It wasn't until they gained creative control that Mike played guitar, sung his own songs that he written, those were on the B side of albums. Songs such as "Listen to the Band", "Papa Gene Blues" and "Sweet Young Thing"
Mike also wrote and sung the song "Different Drum" but was not on The Monkees albums. Linda Ronstadt also sung the song with Mike's name credited.
2006-09-29 15:42:17 · answer #2 · answered by Butterfly Goddess 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
They weren't originally. They were hired to play a band on TV, Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork were actual musicians, Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz were actors. They did indeed play as a band though, live even! In fact they played their own instruments, along with singing and writing their own songs on two albums, Headquarters released in 1967 and Justus released in 1996. They also composed songs, sang, and performed on other Monkee albums but those two albums was just them, no additional help from outside musicians
2006-09-29 15:52:18 · answer #3 · answered by kewtber 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Tricky question.
Yes- they could play their own instruments and did do in concert.
No - they didn't play on their own records (which brought them much criticism).
Who cares. Great songs (from some of the best songwriters of the times) and brilliant performers (the music on record comes from some of the best session musicians available) and the Monkeys themselves were great actors / singers.
For the record: all the boys were musically able (whether they were professionally active before the band started or not is a different question). This is what each one specialised in:
David Thomas ("Davy") Jones (percussion/vocals/guitar)
George Michael ("Micky") Dolenz Jr. (drums/guitar/vocals)
Robert Michael ("Mike") Nesmith (guitar/vocals/keyboards)
Peter Halsten ("Peter Tork") Thorkelson (bass/keyboards/vocals)
2006-09-29 15:37:27 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
They were real. They played their own instruments, and gave concerts, and even wrote much of their material.
Mike Nesmith actually wrote "Different Drum", which was probably Linda Ronstadt's first big hit when she was with the Stone Ponys, wrote a lot of other songs that would surprise former Monkees fans.
Mickey Dolenz still performs, he's been doing musicals lately.
Yeah, they were real. A lot more real than many famous people.
2006-09-29 15:34:47 · answer #5 · answered by open4one 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Wow, what an array of answers you have here !
The band was created solely for the purposes of the TV show. They did play their own instruments to some degree, although studio musicians were used to fill in their gaps in skill. Whether that makes them a "real band" I guess is a matter of personal opinion.
People rag on them a lot, but if nothing else they played some fantastic songs. Their songs were written by many well-respected songwriters like Harry Nilsson, Carole King and Neil Diamond to name a few. Personally, I loved them and still do. I think I'm going to go and throw on my "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones" CD...... :)
2006-09-29 15:37:33 · answer #6 · answered by Schleppy 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The Monkeys Band
2016-10-30 06:33:40 · answer #7 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Monkees were a four-man musical band created for an American television series of the same name, which ran on NBC from 1966 to 1968.
The Monkees were formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California and disbanded in 1970. At their peak, they were one of the most popular musical acts of their time.
The four young men who became The Monkees were:
British-born David Thomas ("Davy") Jones (percussion/vocals/guitar)
Hollywood native George Michael ("Micky") Dolenz Jr. (drums/guitar/vocals)
Texan Robert Michael ("Mike") Nesmith (guitar/vocals/keyboards)
Peter Halsten ("Peter Tork") Thorkelson (bass/keyboards/vocals), who had lived with his family in both the eastern United States and Canada.
2006-09-29 15:32:03 · answer #8 · answered by mizfit 5 · 5⤊ 1⤋
The Monkeys Singing Group
2016-12-28 12:31:34 · answer #9 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I thought they were...I was only 10 when they had their 20-year reunion. Mickey Dolenz, by the way. Father of actress Amy Dolenz. Their show was really cool, and funny! My favorite was Davy! And Mike Nesmith's mom was the inventor of White-Out, I heard.
2006-09-29 15:32:44 · answer #10 · answered by cassicad75 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋