Thursday, September 03, 2009

A Month of Monkees: An Alternate Reality Part 6


Here is the 6th Monkees Alternate Reality LP. This time around we have a slightly different version of "The Monkees Present". The original concept for that album was that it would be a double album and each Monkee would have one complete side to devote to whatever they wanted to record. When Peter announced that he was leaving, the concept changed to the remaining three each getting a side and the remaining side would be a collaboration. In the end, as we all know, the entire concept went out the window and it just became a regular single album with 12 tracks. In the "Alternate Reality", however, Peter has not yet left the group and the original concept became a reality! Michelle 66's artwork was based on the idea of each Monkee releasing their own album (kind of like when all the members of KISS released their solo albums). This is a great idea but the problem for me was that most of the tracks that she listed, particularly on Micky and Peter's albums, are non-existent. For example, her version of Micky's solo LP was basically a collection of compositions played on the Moog synthesizer. As far as I know, there are no recordings of this type of stuff and if there are, they have yet to see the light of day. As a result, I chose to go with the original 4 sided concept and used most of the original "Present" tracks along with a lot of tracks that were not released on the original albums. I thought of the cover art as being a gatefold cover with, like the records inside, each Monkee getting a side. In the "alternate reality" the album was released in four different covers with each Monkee getting a chance for his cover to be on the front.




1. Good Clean Fun
2. Never Tell A Woman Yes
3. The Crippled Lion
4. Oklahoma Backroom Dancer
5. Calico Girlfriend
6. Listen To The Band









1. Through The Looking Glass
2. Bye Bye Baby Bye Bye
3. Shake 'Em Up
4. She'll Be There
5. Rosemarie
6. Pillow Time









1. Changes
2. If I Learned To Play The Violin
3. You Can't Tie A Mustang Down
4. Looking For The Good Times
5. Ceiling In My Room
6. 99 Pounds









1. Alvin
2. Seeger's Theme
3. Come On In
4. Tear The Top Right Off My Head
5. Lady's Baby
6. Merry Go Round


For the production, each Monkee was in charge of his six tracks that would make up the side of the album. They could use whatever material they wanted and could use whomever they wanted on the tracks. Some of the tracks, particularly Davy's, show a collaboration between two of them. This is because they simply asked each other to be on their tracks. This is all so geeky but all so much fun as well. Anyway, here's the "Alternate Reality" version of The Monkees Present. Enjoy!

The Monkees Present Alternate Reality LP 1
The Monkees Present Alternate Reality LP 2

To see the original artwork that was put together by Michelle 66, head over to her Flicker page. Drop her a line and tell her the Dartman sent you!

9 comments:

Rick L. Phillips said...

love your alternate reality series. I am a big monkees fan and love every minute of it. I got a idea for a alternate reality of Monkees histroy a couple of years ago but have not done anything with it. Perhaps I will do it someday.

Anonymous said...

Hi Mr. Dartman, thanks so much for all the Monkees postings. The two links for The Monkees Present... seem to be the same - the same link as the alternate Headquarters album link.

Larry said...

All that comes up is the Monkees Headquarters--is something amiss here?

Dartman said...

Oops! Sorry about that! It's all fixed now. You'll have to forgive me, I set these posts up about a month ago. I just became a dad two weeks ago so I have been preoccupied with Dartman 2. Anyway, it's all fixed and I hope you enjoy it!

Anonymous said...

thanks for fixing the links - and congratulations Papa Dartman!

Anonymous said...

Okay, I'll bite...
Why would you go to the trouble of making the Monkees 'Present' alternate-reality album and NOT include "Mommy And Daddy"? One of Mickey's best songs (and one he was VERY proud of), so why not include it? Even Davy's "French Song" is AWOL (though not as essential as "Mommy And Daddy", it's still a very interesting song and deserves inclusion). Other than that, I do send thanks for all these great posts...
You're doing a great service for all the 'Monkee Junkies" out there!
Thanks again~ Bob

Dartman said...

No real reason to why I did not include Mommy and Daddy. I just went with what flowed. As to French Song, I'm really not a big fan of that song and I wanted to showcase a few songs that were not originally released instead. In the end, it's nothing personal. It's all fun and games.

Anonymous said...

Hey Dartman,

Do you have the Monkees "Present" (Deluxe Edition by Rhino) available for download? I didn't notice it on your site, but that would be great. Many thanks!

Dartman said...

There is no RHINO Deluxe version of "Present" (at least not yet). If it were, it still would not be up here as I don't put up any new releases that are in print. All of the deluxe Monkees items here are "unofficial". Thanks.

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