Rhino -- Employee Review

Hey Hey, we're The Monkees! Oh, how we loved those four zany boys! You know the story...Mike, Davy, Micky, and Peter played rock musicians, living in a beach house, whose lives were filled with wacky adventures and pretty girls. Every week they would find themselves caught up in a new escapade, while churning out another slice of mid-'60's pop music magic. Their show won Emmys and their albums sold millions, but there was one little problem: The Monkees weren't really a rock 'n' roll band. The boys just played a rock band on TV. The only thing they did on their first two albums (with a couple minor exceptions) was sing. Ordinarily, this would not be a big deal. Heck, even The Beach Boys and The Byrds (to name just a couple of examples) used studio musicians at certain points in their careers. However, because of their immense popularity, coupled with the emerging musical integrity that was taking root in rock 'n' roll (a musical form rapidly changing from disposable entertainment for kids into a viable artistic movement) there was an intense backlash from the critical corners of the rock world. This didn't sit too well The Monkees, especially Mike and Peter (both accomplished musicians and songwriters). So, on their third album, the guys took control. They fired their musical director Don Kirshner, wrote & chose their own songs, and played their own instruments. The resulting album, Headquarters, soared to the top of the charts only to be displaced by the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. For a brief, shining moment, the Monkees truly were a band...and they were magnificent.

The Rhino Handmade release, The Monkees "Headquarters Sessions" takes you on a journey through the masterpiece created by Messrs. Dolenz, Jones, Nesmith, and Tork. You will hear rehearsals, backing tracks, false starts, studio chatter, mono masters, the indefinable aura of fun and creativity. You can witness the album take shape and read along with the superb liner notes that keep a daily diary of the sessions. The combination of these disparate and intriguing elements of music (throughout the box set) and the presentation of the final mono masters (at the end of disc 3) is compelling window into the recording process. It's all the more impressive when you step back and consider that this coup was pulled off by the so-called "pre-fab four." Well done, fellas.

Mac Dunlop is a man of many moods and many lethal karate moves, which he formulated on a ski weekend in Vermont. He was born to string words together into sentences and gently slip them inside your sexy brain. When not saving the world, Mac likes to spend much time at www.letteropeners.net. You will too.

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