Just hoping to start a bit of discussion on these boards.. What are some of the guy’s stellar moments as instrumentalists on the recordings?

Mike: guitar work on PLEASANT VALLEY SUNDAY & LOVE IS ONLY SLEEPING. His steel guitar bits thru-out THE KIND’VE GIRL I COULD LOVE. Also enjoy his Chuck Berry –like riffing & short solo during NO TIME.

Peter: his harpsichord solo during THE GIRL THAT I KNEW SOMEWHERE makes that song!! Also his guitar work on FOR PETE’S SAKE & LONG TITLE (Andrew, is Peter handling any of the lead lines during that tune?) His bass on YOU JUST MAY BE THE ONE is very accomplished as well, wish he’d played a bit more bass during the HQ sessions, although with a player the caliber of Chip Douglas around, I can understand why he didn’t. Another example of Peter’s bass skills is apparent on the live take of CIRCLE SKY. Also his piano lick on DAYDREAM BELIEVER is basically the signature piece of that tune!

Micky: his drums on YOU JUST MAY BE THE ONE & FOR PETE’S SAKE are pretty assured performances for a guitar player! Speaking of guitar, Micky’s acoustic playing on the MIDNIGHT TRAIN & SHE’LL BE THERE HQ demos is quite good! Andrew have you been able to confirm Micky behind the kit on MOMMY & DADDY? There’s some pretty neat percussion going on there as well. At a meet & greet in 1992, Micky told me his personal finest moment behind the drums was the live take of CIRCLE SKY.

Davy: not a lot to reference here, but I dug the way Davy spelled the rhythm section on I’LL SPEND MY LIFE WITH YOU & MR. WEBSTER.

What else springs to mind??

- Dan

I agree with most of your picks. I'm an amature musician - guitar and drums - so here are my picks based on trying to play / learn some of the Monkees songs :

Mike and Peter's guitar playing on Sunny Girlfriend - I think Peter is the one playing that picked guitar figure through the song

Can You Dig It, Long Title, Come On In - it's a little hard to tell who's playing what between Peter, Lance Wakely and Stephen Stills, but still all the guitar and bass parts on those songs are excellent, and I'm sure Peter is mostly responsible for the songs.

Mike and Peter on Goin' Down - assuming Chip Douglas is not playing bass.

Mike's guitar on While I Cried - this one has a picking guitar part that starts the song that's really nice - I'm assuming it's Mike and not Keith Allison or somebody else.

Micky's drumming on Headquarters and the songs around then like The Girl I Knew Somewhere and Cuddly Toy are all very good. The drum part on the Nesmith song You Told Me are really good.
Also his drumming on Justus is very good too. In fact, I think that all the Monkees work on Justus is among their best playing even though the style is not at all like their 60s work.

However, I really think Micky's drumming in the 1968 live version of Circle Sky is not that good. It sounds like he is trying to play like Ginger Baker or Mitch Mitchell with that double bass drum kit, and it's comes off as uneven and choppy. He is much much much better on the version from Justus. Micky's best drumming is more in the Ringo Starr style - good backbeat with less of the fancy fancy fills.

Finally, the best live playing by the Monkees that I've heard is from that bootleg of the concert in Japan in 1968. They do some offbeat gems like Salesman, Cuddly Toy, DW Washburn, It's Nice to Be With You, and a really energetic version of Daydream Believer. Too bad they didn't do Pleasant Valley Sunday, because that would have been incredible to hear. They are really really playing well on the songs, especially Peter's bass and keyboards. It sounds like he is all over it and it gives the songs a lot of bounce. Micky's drumming is solid and as usual Mike's guitar playing is excellent. It's kind of better that Mike does not play the 12 string on those songs, it would have been too much twang and jangle.

TA;

your observations about the '68 Japan tape are right on! I know the wheels were starting to fall off at this time, but in an alternate "dream world" it's too bad the guys didn't return to the recording studio in HQ mode around this time, because their playing as a band was pretty damn solid!

what might've been..

Dan

Great observations...here's my take...

DAVY - From what I've heard on the 1997 UK boots, Davy's rhythm guitar playing was pretty good. Nothing fancy, but steady and solid. Being a classic "song & dance man," you can tell he had pretty good training and probably picked up a thing or two hanging around musicians all his life.

MICKY - If you read the MISSING LINKS 3 notes, Micky was exposed to a semi-folkie music scene when he was young and even mentions the Kingston Trio as an influence. It sounds like he really has some guitar chops. A good steady player, nothing flashy. The best drumming of his I remember seeing was when he played "Long Title" during the 1987 tour. That was impressive, as it has some time signature tricks in it. JUSTUS has some adequate drumming too.

MICHAEL - Mike's a better guitar player than he lets on to be. After HEADQUARTERS, he pretty much became a singer and producer, leaving a lot of the playing to the session guys. But on the solo stuff, there's some really nice guitar playing on THE PRISON and he really rocks out on JUSTUS. His steel guitar playing was alright too and I often wonder if he ever played it again after working with Red Rhodes all those years.

PETER - Pete could play anything. It's a shame that Peter wasn't really allowed to really shine until the reunions started taking place. Great guitarist, keyboard player and bassist. Pretty good banjo player too, using a long-neck in the traditional folkie style. He's really not a singer though, but he didn't really have to be with Micky and Mike in the group.

All great observations. I agree with what Randy Scouse Git said...

However, if anyone is willing to let me know where i could find a tape (CD or anything) of the Japan show you guys mentioned, I'd be forever in your debt. How is the quality?

Who owns the rights to the Japan concert ? Was it an audience recording or a board tape ?

Rhino owns the rights. It was recorded off Japanese TV ( A TV Special that no one can find the video for anymore). Sound is good, but most of the songs have a Japanese announcer talking over the begining of the songs.

Hope no one recorded over the Japanese tv shows master video tapes.