Davy Jones - Saying Goodbye to a Song & Dance Man
     Hey there, sorry I haven't been around recently. As usual, life has been getting in the way of my sitting down and writing. (Well, that and a strong streak of procrastination...) I'm working on a large post (no, really) but before I publish that one I wanted to post something about the recent death of Davy Jones.
     I'm going to assume that most of you know that Davy Jones was the "cute one" in the '60's pop/rock band The Monkees. If you don't know that (or who The Monkees were), you might want to check Wikipedia for the details. I'm not here to school you in rock history. Still, it's worth mentioning that The Monkees were (and still are in some quarters) a controversial band, simply because they didn't write all their songs and they didn't play all the instruments on their records. Now in an age of auto-tune and song doctors, that doesn't seem like a big deal, but back in the '60's, when "authenticity" was a matter of life-&-death, it was. And while that seemed to bug the rest of The Monkees (Michael Nesmith & Peter Tork especially), Davy Jones never seemed to be bothered by it. Out of all the group, Davy seemed the most comfortable being a pop idol.
     Of the four Monkees, only Mickey & Davy were professional actors. And of the two, Davy was the one who came directly from the theater. While Mickey had been a child actor on TV, Davy (who had done a little TV acting) was best known (at the time) for being the Artful Dodger in the original London & Broadway cast of Oliver!. It's that beginning that seems to permeate Jones' work with The Monkees. Under the original direction of Don Kirschner, Jones had been marketed as the teen idol of the four, singing the drippy love ballads on the first two albums. Once the group had wrested control of their own music from Kirschner, Davy often gravitated to songs that felt like show tunes or vaudeville numbers. He could sing rock songs, "Valerie" and "You & I" for example, but he always seemed more comfortable singing songs like "Cuddly Toy" or "Daddy's Song". Both of those songs gave him the chance to dance as well, and his loose-limbed, relaxed style was often featured in the groups song numbers. (It's one of the funnier "secrets" in rock that Axyl Rose, intentionally or not, seems to have learned how to dance by watching Davy Jones repeatedly.) I had the good fortune of seeing Jones perform, along with Mickey & Peter, on The Monkees reunion tour last year, and he was still singing and dancing with grace and style.
     Though Jones never seemed to care much about what the critics said about him or The Monkees, it's nice that he was around to see how much critical opinion has finally shifted in their favor. Even Rolling Stone magazine, which had been notorious for trashing The Monkees music, seems to have mellowed in their opinions. Some day, The Monkees may even be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It's a pity though that Davy won't be around to be there.
     Still, let's not dwell on that. Instead, allow me to leave you with a taste of Davy Jones at his best. Here he is in The Monkees movie HEAD, performing Harry Nillson's "Daddy's Song". Enjoy!