Peter we hardly knew ye….
Listen -The Monkees – Teardrop City – MP3
Greetings all.
I hope all is well on your end and that you’re all ready to weather yet another week.
The tune I bring you today is yet another 45 that emerged from my giant, everlasting, pulsating record stash of a few summers ago, whence my father-in-law brought me down a heap of records, thousands strong, which even today is still giving up the goods (albeit at a much slower rate).
I still have a couple of crates of stuff from that haul down in the basement, and every once in a great while, when I’m moving the wash, emptying the humidifier or hunting the huge, mutant crickets that have moved into the cellar, I stop by those boxes, grab a handful of records and pick a couple of things that look like they merit further investigation.
These days, the amount of records that meet that criteria is getting smaller and smaller. The wife and I made a pretty thorough pass through the initial mountain of vinyl, so the pickings are relatively slim, however, there always seems to be something lurking down there, and today’s selection is one of them.
The Monkees have made a couple of appearances at Iron Leg over the years. I’m a fan, and there are still a couple of LPs by the group that I go back to on a regular basis. When I happened upon a copy of the ‘Tear Drop City’ 45, I thought the song title was familiar but could not recall anything of what it might sound like. As it turns out that was perfectly reasonable because I’d never actually heard the song.
I gave it a spin an really liked it, which sent me out onto the interwebs where I was surprised to discover that this was actually some of that late-period Monkee goodness, so late in fact that it is, how do they say, ‘Tork-less’.
That’s right, Peter Tork had left the band (no doubt to devote his time to beaded buckskin jackets and daisy chains) by the time the ‘Instant Replay’ LP was released in 1969. ‘Tear Drop City’, with its ‘Last Train to Clarksville’-ish guitar riff had actually been recorded the previous year by its authors, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart on their ‘I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonight’ LP. The Monkees version is a much rougher take on the tune (though the 45 was arranged by Boyce and Hart) with heavier guitars and a more aggressive pace.
Following ‘Instant Replay’ there was one more Tork-less LP ‘The Monkees Present’ before Mike Nesmith got wise and tore himself loose, leaving Mickey and Davey to slog it out for one more LP as a duo, 1970s ‘Changes’.
I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back later in the week.
Peace
Larry
PS Head over to Funky16Corners for a new mix of funk and soul for the kids!
Iron Leg 
One of my fave Monkees songs. I’ve always loved Mickey’s voice and when he hits the “’bout as low as I’ve been in a long time” at the key change in the end, my ears go aflutter.
If you want some fun, play the crappy flip side of the single at 33rpm. The slowed down play actually gets Davey’s whimpy voice into a creepy-cool Righteous Bros. paradigm.
I’d read that the Monkees’ version was a demo.
On a related note, while digging this past weekend I found the John Stewart LP with his “Daydream Believer” on it. I’d read (again with the reading!!) that Peter came up with the piano lick that kicks off the tune, a very nice touch. Whoever arranged the Monkees’ version did a heck of a job; JS may not have thought so but down at the bank they called him “Mr. Stewart.”
Micky Dolenz, much underrated singer. One of the great voices of the ’60s.
I agree Jeff. There was a lot of talent in the Monkees, and considering how few of their more “legit” contemporaries (including the Byrds and Beach Boys) played on their own albums, they become a very interesting case. Underrated to be sure.
Hi Larry,
Thought you might like to know some additional info on this track:
It was actually recorded in Oct/Nov 1966 with Boyce and Hart producing (as well as singing background vocals) and the B&H band the Candy Store Prophets (plus a few of the other usual Monkees studio musicians like Louis Shelton) doing the instrumental track. Mickey is actually the ONLY Monkee that appears on the track! It was also sped up for its subsequent 45 rpm release (the original track is slower). I assumed it was shelved at the time (1966) because your aforementioned comment about it sounding very “Last Train to Clarksville”-esque.
All of this info, as well as the original speed version of Tear Drop City can be found on the 2-CD More of the Monkees Deluxe Edition on Rhino.
Thanks Chris!