This has always been my favorite Davy song, and one of my favorite songs in general. It doesn't seem to get as much love as every other song of theirs, but it's always been my favorite since I was a kid in the 60s.
Love the strings and harpsichord section! It really does stand on its own beautifully. Such a great tune breakdown Septyl. Birds & Bees is a very underrated album despite it not being up to the collaborative effort that the previous two albums had been. Still, it’s fantastically diverse in its song selections. Love it!
Can I just ask where is the info for personnel come from. Just curious as Andrew Sandoval Day by Day book differs unless this is from the updated version cheers
man you did a great job on this ,,, but how did you isolate without having the masters ,,and the drums sound,,not eddy hoe ,,wow it sounds like a beginner ,which is it ,,they carried him and thats cool ,,,it was the spirit of the time
It's interesting to hear things divided by harpsichord/strings and guitars/brass - smooths out the nuances really well. Earl Palmer was one of the all-time greats so it's fascinating to be able to hear some "clams" exposed. In retrospect, it would have made a convincing "cover" for Micky being the drummer. The four-on-the-floor beat brings to mind "You Told Me." Also, the guitarist playing the main rhythm guitar has an attack that sounds similar to Nez's playing. As a younger fan, it's no wonder I assumed the Monkees themselves played on it (Micky/drums, Peter/harpsichord, Michael/12-string, Davy/tambourine).
It was a great move by Michael to bring Chip Douglas in for two reasons. First was Chip could act as producer to take burden off Michael in the studio, and second, neither he or Peter was interested in playing bass. This also freed up Peter to play keyboards, occasional lead guitar, or banjo as needed. About Micky on the moog synthesizer, Peter said Micky made that instrument come alive on this song. He was upset that Paul Beaver was brought in to play on Star Collector
What a group on this session. That bass line has been burned in to my memory for over 55 years. And to hear the isolated string and horn parts isolated is a dream beyond words. THANK YOU.
I've listened to this song a lot (BB&M is my favorite album) and I never noticed how beautiful the strings sound. This is a string arrangement I'd put up against any song out there.
When he was interviewed by Andrew Sandoval years ago, Peter said "Goin' Down" was the kind of song that only comes together when a group/act is working regularly in the studio. It's no accident that it occurred when Chip Douglas was at the helm and both he and "Fast" Eddie were anchoring the recordings. With all the demands being made of the Monkees - and their fame and the ego tricks that go along with it at a peak - it's astounding that the bed tracks for PAC&J were recorded in less than 10 days. They literally dropped the basic tracks for "Star Collector" and flew to Paris the next day. The Monkees' story is full of "what-ifs" but perhaps the biggest is what kind of recordings they could have made using the PAC&J model for later recordings. @Septyl - I assume the deconstruction of "Daydream Believer" will fall in the span of The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees?
I love the other instruments in the piano part so much (such as the french horn). :0 I've never heard several of them before wow, thank you! Edit: WHoo yeah there's a section for them!!! So happy thank you!!!
Regarding Eddie's playing, Chip said that he could do a shuffle rhythm on just the bass drum for days. The four bar drum break at the end is Chip's favorite thing Eddie did, because he said he pointed at Ed at the break and Ed just did that whole fill right off the cuff, effortlessly. The story of the composer of this song, Craig Vincent Smith, is absolutely riveting and fascinating.
This really added to my understanding as to how this song was put together, as it's one of my favorites. While many admire how well Micky and Mike harmonize, which is true, I also like Peter and Micky together. I saw them live doing "Me and Magdalena" on tour and Peter was singing Mike's part from the song; gave me chills to hear them together.
"Peter Tork will likely have learned the song from Mose Allison’s Local Color and when the liberty of the studio sessions which produced Headquarters and Pisces Aquarius arrived they could explore any musical avenue that suited them, trying them out and trying them on for size. You only have to listen to the musical variety of the latter for proof of that. Chip Douglas told me that he recalled the idea to start playing around with ‘Parchman Farm’ came from Peter at a session in June ’67, no doubt because it’s a tough sounding, infectious little riff to play with, that sits up and begs for reinterpretation, to be remade as something new. Here’s an occasion where the newborn nature of The Monkees as a music making unit definitely worked in their favour - they took an idea and ran with it - and the groove that is ‘Goin’ Down’ developed from a jam at the ‘She Hangs Out’ session. At first just a funky little instrumental thing, with Tork and Nesmith on electric guitars, and the rhythm section of buddies Eddie Hoh on drums and Chip Douglas on bass. "
Been looking forward to this! One of my all time favorite Monkees tunes. Featured on the television show nearly 5 times! This little B-side was a powerhouse all its own. I’ve said in other comments that it always drove me nuts that it wasn’t included on Pisces where it would have fit in perfectly. I beat the hell out of the 45 single growing up. And now thanks to Septyl I finally get to hear the full length instrumental version that I longed for, as compared to the short snippet that was used in the episode “Monkees Paw” and always wished I had a full recording of.
I knew this song was going to be amazing especially from Eddie's incredible jazz drumming and from the horn section. I'm really impressed to learn the bass was played by Chip Douglas. I always assumed it was Carol Kaye, wow! Thank you so much for this insight. It's awesome.
@ RockinAllDay. You are correct. But I’m glad Love Is Only Sleeping stayed on. The one I think should have been bumped in favor of Goin Down was Hard To Believe. That one, while good, I think was better suited for Birds & Bees. Especially since it’s less of a group effort as compared to the other tracks on Pisces. And I mean come on, Goin Down opening Side 2 with Micky’s “sock it to me” would have been a brilliant start for the flip side of this classic album.
It sounds more solid and assured than his other studio bass work so it is probably Chip Douglas. I think Peter is playing the "chicken-scratch" guitar. The deconstruction highlights that there are two guitars in the mix. It sounds like Nez is probably playing his Gretsch 12-string and hitting more chords in the background.
Okay, this record might be "plastic soul", but seriously how enjoyable is it!? And regardless of everything, Mickey's vocal is pretty damn impressive for a mainstream pop band from 1967. Great to also hear all the individual elements in isolation - great work guys - really enjoying your work on all these Monkees tracks! All the best, Terry, Australia.
Eddie's drums and Chip's bass are simply STELLAR performances!! In this song 🗣️ by the way, of course..with Micky's vocals. Easily one of my (if not the) favorite Monkees tracks
Was waiting for this! Before Eddie Hoh arrived in LA, he played in a nightclub band in Chicago called Robby and The Troubadours, the primary gig of which was six days a week for about 6 hours a night at a mobbed-up club called the Tony Paris Show Lounge on Rush Street. Ken Eto was their boss. Most of what they played was music for twisting (think Peppermint Twist) and this groove he sets here was pretty much exactly the speed and style of that band. The keyboard player in that band was Barry Goldberg.
