Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)LIVE SUMMER TOUR features three of the original four Monkees, Micky Dolenz, David Jones and Peter Tork, in what turned out to be their last concert together as a trio. It was recorded at the Sun Theater in Anaheim, California on August 31, 2001. Part-time member Michael Nesmith, who last performed with the Monkees during their successful European tour in 1997, was absent from the 2001 activities. Almost immediately after the concert documented on this CD was finished, Tork was removed from the Monkees by Dolenz and Jones as a result of disagreements over the band's future.
It will come to nobody's surprise that the Monkees sound fantastic on this live album. The vocals are sharp, strong and confident. Their backing band is tight and polished (over-polished, perhaps?). The individual Monkees shine as musicians on this collection as well, as Tork delivers with ease the lead guitar parts on "Last Train to Clarksville," "Pleasant Valley Sunday," "For Pete's Sake," and "That Was Then, This Is Now," while also providing the main keyboard parts for "Daydream Believer," "I'm a Believer," "Porpoise Song" and "Randy Scouse Git." Honorable mention goes to Dolenz for his solid drumming on "Mary, Mary," as well as his competent rhythm guitar playing throughout the rest of the live album. Jones, as usual, hangs in on percussion.
LIVE SUMMER TOUR is also noteworthy for featuring the first official live versions of "Porpoise Song (Theme from HEAD)," two of Tork's best compositions in "Can You Dig It" (also from HEAD) and "For Pete's Sake," as well as the minor 1968 b-side hit "It's Nice to Be With You." And don't be fooled, missing Monkee Nesmith's late-era Monkees classic "Listen to the Band" is also on this collection. Just like in the Monkees' live performance, "Porpoise Song" segues smoothly into "Listen to the Band" on this album, but from the track listing you wouldn't know that the song is part of the album.
The powers-to-be responsible for producing this live album committed some regretful mistakes which hinders LIVE SUMMER TOUR from being the ultimate live Monkees document. Providing only 47 minutes of a near 2 hour concert forces many key Monkees songs to be cut, and the missing tracks are glaring omissions. Hit songs played that night, like "The Girl I Knew Somewhere," "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" and "I Wanna Be Free" are absent, as are key album tracks like "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)," "No Time" and "She Hangs Out." "Higher and Higher," highlighting Tork's banjo expertise, is also gone. The label could have also scored if they had given Tork's "Long Title (Do I Have To Do This All Over Again)" its first official live release here.
The editing between songs on LIVE SUMMER TOUR also leaves a lot to be desired. The ending of "Randy Scouse Git," which features Dolenz pounding the tympani drum, is completely cut. This edit is particularly noticeable as it is a key part of the song that every Monkees fan expects to hear, and its absence is painful when listening. As the album moves along, and especially towards the end, the songs are right up next to each other, which seems highly unnecessary seeing how much time is left on this disc to fill. Some of the background vocals/harmonies in the songs seemed pushed back in the mix as well, as you can hardly hear the killer harmonies Dolenz most famously provides on "Valleri." And why can we only hear Dolenz on the three part harmony of "Listen to the Band"?
Even though tension in the group was at a breaking point at the time of this concert's recording, no noticeable conflict can be detected in the vocal presentation or performance. And LIVE SUMMER TOUR does do a fairly good job representing the different Monkees eras, from the early pop of "Last Train to Clarksville," to the psychedelic experiments of "Porpoise Song," all the way up to the 1986 comeback hit single "That Was Then, This Is Now." However, because of the errors in the mixing of this disc, and due to the absence of Nesmith, LIVE SUMMER TOUR falls short of being the official live concert document Monkees fans have wanted from the recent reunion tours. To hear the full quartet at their live peak in the 1960s, there is the album LIVE 1967 available, as well as a four disc box set chronicling that 1967 tour available. Others will do good searching out the (out of print) live album documenting the Monkees' 1986 arena tour, entitled 20th ANNIVESARY TOUR 1986 (LIVE!), which usually pops up on CD, cassette or vinyl every once in a while on eBay.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Live Summer Tour
Recorded in Anaheim, California in August 2001 During the Monkees Summer Tour this Recording Finds Mickey Dolenz, Davey Jones and Peter Tork Storming Through 15 of their Best Songs. From Major Number One Hit Singles Like Daydream Believer, (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone and I'm a Believer to the Bizarrely Titled Randy Scouse Git, (Re-named Alternate Title in the UK), Through to Lesser Known Classics Like the Beautiful Porpoise Song, the Tough Mary, Mary and the Eastern Tinged, Psychedelically Inclined Can You Dig It.
0 comments:
Post a Comment