Monkees Headquarters [Deluxe Edition] Album Review, Songs, Rating

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The Monkees
Headquarters [Deluxe Edition]
Release Date: 1967 05 22
Label: Rhino
Rating:

After the release of More of the Monkees, on which the band had little involvement beyond providing vocals and a couple Mike Nesmith-composed songs, the pre-fab four decided to take control of their recording destiny. After a well-timed fist through the wall of a hotel suite and many fevered negotiations, music supervisor Don Kirschner was out and the band hit the studio by themselves. With the help of producer Chip Douglas, the band spent some time learning how to be a band (as documented on the Headquarters Sessions box set) and set about recording what turned out to be a dynamic, exciting, and impressive album. Headquarters doesn't contain any of the group's biggest hits, but it does have some of their best songs, like Nesmith's stirring folk-rocker "You Just May Be the One," the pummeling rocker "No Time," the MOR soul ballad "Forget That Girl," which features one of Davy Jones' best vocals, Peter Tork's shining moment as a songwriter, "For Pete's Sake," and the thoroughly amazing (and surprisingly political) "Randy Scouse Git," which showed just how truly out-there and almost avant-garde Micky Dolenz could be when he tried. Even the weaker songs like the sweet-as-sugar "I'll Spend My Life with You," the slightly sappy "Shades of Gray," or the stereotypically showtune-y Davy Jones vehicle "I Can't Get Her Off My Mind" work, as they benefit from the stripped-down and inventive arrangements (which feature simple but effective keyboards from Tork and rudimentary pedal steel fills from Nesmith) and passionate performances. Headquarters doesn't show the band to be musical geniuses, but it did prove they were legitimate musicians with enough brains, heart, and soul as anyone else claiming to be a real band in 1967. [In 2007 Rhino gave the album the double-disc deluxe revamp with mono and stereo versions, plus versions of songs recorded during the Headquarters sessions (as well as the six songs recorded by producer Jeff Barry in New York and sung by Jones only in what turned out to be Kirschner's futile last-ditch effort to regain control of the project). The stereo mixes are bright and punchy; the mono mixes tough and even punchier, with the band sounding like a raw garage band at times. Most of the bonus tracks have been released in one form or another (many on the Missing Links series), but what this package offers is newly mixed stereo versions of ten songs that quite often use alternate vocals. So really, the set is aimed at collectors looking to replace their copies of Rhino's 1995 reissue, and it succeeds. It also serves as a fascinating document of the group and, more importantly, some of the best pop music the 1960s have to offer.] Tim Sendra, All Music Guide

Tracks:

	Title	Composer	Time
1	You Told Me	Nesmith	2:25
2	I'll Spend My Life with You	Hart, Boyce	2:26
3	Forget That Girl	Hatlelid	2:25
4	Band 6	Dolenz, Tork, Jones, Nesmith	:41
5	You Just May Be the One	Nesmith	2:03
6	Shades of Gray	Mann, Weil	3:22
7	I Can't Get Her out of Mind	Boyce, Hart	2:31
8	For Pete's Sake	Richards, Tork	2:11
9	Mr. Webster	Hart, Boyce	2:04
10	Sunny Girlfriend	Nesmith	2:33
11	Zilch	Tork, Jones, Nesmith, Dolenz	1:07
12	No Time	Cicalo	2:08
13	Early Morning Blues and Greens	Keller, Hilderbrand	2:35
14	Randy Scouse Git	Dolenz	2:38
15	All of Your Toys [Stereo Remix][#][*]	Martin	3:10
16	Girl I Knew Somewhere [First Recorded Version/Stereo Remix]	Nesmith	2:52
17	Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You [Stereo Mix][#][*]	Diamond	3:02
18	She Hangs Out [Stereo Remix][#][*]	Greenwich, Barry	2:45
19	Love to Love [Stereo Remix][#][*]	Diamond	2:36
20	You Can't Tie a Mustang Down [Stereo Remix][#][*]	Barry	2:58
21	If I Learned to Play the Violin [Stereo Remix][#][*]	Resnick, Levine	2:47
22	99 Pounds [Stereo Remix][#][*]	Barry	2:29
23	Girl I Knew Somewhere [Single Version/Stereo Remix]	Nesmith	3:02
24	Randy Scouse Git [Alternate Version][*]	Dolenz	2:30
25	Tema Dei Monkess [Stereo Remix][#][*]	Nistri, Hart, Boyce	:59
26	You Told Me	Nesmith	2:25
27	I'll Spend My Life with You	Boyce, Hart	2:25
28	Forget That Girl	Hatlelid	2:25
29	Band 6	Dolenz, Nesmith, Tork, Jones	:41
30	You Just May Be the One	Nesmith	2:02
31	Shades of Gray	Weil, Mann	3:21
32	I Can't Get Her out of Mind	Boyce, Hart	2:30
33	For Pete's Sake	Tork, Richards	2:12
34	Mr. Webster	Boyce, Hart	2:05
35	Sunny Girlfriend	Nesmith	2:34
36	Zilch	Tork, Nesmith, Jones, Dolenz	1:07
37	No Time	Cicalo	2:10
38	Early Morning Blues and Greens	Keller, Hilderbrand	2:34
39	Randy Scouse Git	Dolenz	2:40
40	All of Your Toys [Mono Mix][*]	Martin	3:03
41	Girl I Knew Somewhere [	Nesmith	2:38
42	Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You [Mono Single Mix][*]	Diamond	2:48
43	She Hangs Out [Mono Single Mix][*]	Greenwich, Barry	2:36
44	Girl I Knew Somewhere [Mono Single Mix][*]	Nesmith	2:39
45	Nine Times Blue [*][Demo Version]	Nesmith	2:08
46	She'll Be There [*]		2:33
47	Midnight Train [*][Demo Version]	Dolenz	2:28
48	Peter Gunn's Gun [*]	Mancini	3:41
49	Jericho [*]	Traditional	2:02
50	Pillow Time [*][Demo Version]	Willis, Scott	7:21

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