Friday, August 28, 2009

A Month of Monkees: Rarities and Then Some


One of the more common "bootlegs" of The Monkees is a compilation of demos, television versions and Mike Nesmith pre-Monkees singles called "Candy Store Prophets". I believe it was part of the famed "Rarities" series of boots that were once available on vinyl back in the 80s. I have had Candy Store Prophets for quite a few years. It was recently, however, that I was made aware of a second batch of songs that comprised a whole second disc of the album. I also found out where the name of the boot comes from. Apparently, when Boyce and Hart were making the original demos as well as the backing tracks for the first album, they used their own backing band that they christened "The Candy Store Prophets". They would also go on to be the opening act for The Monkees on their first live tour in 1967. The boot features the original demos that Boyce and Hart put together using the Candy Store Prophets. The other material is, as stated above, eraly, pre-Monkees singles from Mike Nesmith, various alternate versions of songs that were featured in the show and bumpers from the show. There is also an ad for HEAD from Japan and a few songs from 33 1/3. Some of these have been released in the Missing Links series or on other various boots but there are a bunch that have not. Today, I present the entire two disc collection for your enjoyment. Here is "Candy Store Prophets". Enjoy!

The Monkees-Candy Store Prophets Disc 1
The Monkees-Candy Store Prophets Disc 2

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi, I was best friend to Bill Lewis, the Candy Store Prophets Drummer from 1975 until Bill's untimely death in 2005. When Tommy shot himself we joined Bobby Hart at a special wake on the beach near Malibu, and listened to Boyce and Hart Songs. When Bill died we had a huge wake (which I catered). Bobby Hart and Larry Taylor amongst many others attended. It was a grand send off for a fine musician. I miss my dear friend very much. But I have 30 years of memories of his stories around camp fires wwe shared about touring with the Monkees, recording Monkees and Boyce and Hart Songs, appearing on TV with Tommy and Bobby and many other stories. He was a great guy and a good friend!

Anonymous said...

bigbob - I worked with Bill when he was the drummer for Sweet Marie in Hawaii (I was a local DJ). In fact, my wedding reception was in their club in the Int. Marketplace in 1973. Would like to talk with you about Bill and is Eddie still alive? Chuck Foy chuckfoy@worker.com

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