Saturday, December 26, 2015

No, you are the Messiah!


"Porpoise Song" is possibly The Monkees finest musical moment in terms of production and music.  Carol King outdid herself in capturing the sad aftermath of the Summer of Love, and her partner Gerry Goffin took George Martin and "I Am The Walrus" to the next level.   The final coda - only on the 45rpm single - is awash in organ, chimes and strings.  As far as I know, Micky Dolenz is the  only actual Monkee on the track.  It is a true one-off, never to be replicated.  I barely remember it from back in the day but it has become a dear favorite.

By the time this was released The Monkees TV show had been canceled and the subversive movie Head was about to crash in the theaters, quite literally.     Preceded by the top 5 showing of "Valeri", then the unfortunate release of "D. W. Washburn", "Porpoise Song" would only climb to 62 on the charts.  Peter Tork ditched the group soon thereafter.  The writing was on the wall but the remaining three held together for a couple more LPs.

2 comments:

Holly A Hughes said...

I love your Monkees vein. They are undervalued.

Mister Pleasant said...

Exactly! For years I thought it was uncool to listen to them, so when I rediscovered their music it was a real eye opener.