The Monkees’ Davy Jones Has Left the Set

DAVY JONES SINGS HIS LAST HEY HEY

Davy Jones in his Monkees prime

Davy Jones  (30 December 1945 – 29 February 2012)  passes at 66 from a reported heart attack.

I dug Mickey Dolenz more and he definitely got the best songs, and I appreciated Michael Nesmith more later on, but in 1965,  when I was in 6th grade, I loved Davy Jones.  Not the way girls loved him when he was on TV every week as part of The Monkees.  I loved him as the guy representing my yearning teenage heart.  “I Wanna Be Free,” “Forget that Girl,” “Shades of Grey,” “I Can’t Get Her Off My Mind.” This was the sound of my romantically barren youth.  I wanted to feel his longing.

Even back then, “Daydream Believer” was too shlocky for me.    However, like a lot of people my age, I thought the Monkees were great when they came on.  I didn’t care that their plots were juvenile and that their cinematography and editing style ripped off A Hard Days Night,   I could sing every song, quote lines from many episodes and always wanted one of those double breasted U.S. calvary-style shirts they wore.

The Monkees First Album

When I discovered Hendrix in 1967, I became too cool for any room that the Monkees were in, but I came back to them shortly after.  They wrote some great tunes on their own and their  Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.  album is under-appreciated for both it’s melodic invention and social commentary like “Pleasant Valley Sunday”, written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King.  Goffin & King wrote a bunch of Monkees tunes including the psychedelic “Porpoise Song” from the movie Head, which we’ve played on Echoes.

It’s sad to see Davy go.  Now he really is free.  Hey, Hey, He’s a Monkee.

See an obituary here.

~© 2012 John Diliberto ((( echoes )))