The Monkees — Headquarters (Deluxe Edition) (2008)

After the release of More of the Monkees, on which the band had little involvement beyond providing vocals and a couple Mike Nesmith-composed songs, the pre-fab four decided to take control of their recording destiny. After a well-d fist through the wall of a hotel suite and many fevered negotiations, music supervisor Don Kirschner was out and the band hit the studio by themselves. With the help of producer Chip Douglas, the band spent some learning how to be a band (as documented on the Headquarters Sessions box set) and set about recording what turned out to be a dynamic, exciting, and impressive album. Headquarters doesn\’t contain any of the group\’s biggest hits, but it does have some of their best songs, like Nesmith\’s stirring folk-rocker \»You Just May Be the One,\» the pummeling rocker \»No ,\» the MOR soul ballad \»Forget That Girl,\» which features one of Davy Jones\’ best vocals, Peter Tork\’s shining moment as a songwriter, \»For Pete\’s Sake,\» and the thoroughly amazing (and surprisingly political) \»Randy Scouse Git,\» which showed just how truly out-there and almost avant-garde Micky Dolenz could be when he tried. Even the weaker songs like the sweet-as-sugar \»I\’ll Spend My Life with You,\» the slightly sappy \»Shades of Gray,\» or the stereotypically showtune-y Davy Jones vehicle \»I Can\’t Get Her Off My Mind\» work, as they benefit from the stripped-down and inventive arrangements (which feature simple but effective keyboards from Tork and rudimentary pedal steel fills from Nesmith) and passionate performances. Headquarters doesn\’t show the band to be musical geniuses, but it did prove they were limate musicians with enough brains, heart, and soul as anyone else claiming to be a real band in 1967. [Rhino\’s 1995 reissue adds six previously unissued tracks recorded during the Headquarters sessions including an early take of the single \»The Girl I Knew Somewhere\» and rare demos \»Nine s Blue\» and \»Pillow .\»]

[02:25] 01. The Monkees — You Told Me (2007 Remaster)

[02:26] 02. The Monkees — I\’ll Spend My Life With You (2007 Remastered Version)

[02:25] 03. The Monkees — Forget That Girl (2007 Remastered Version)

[00:39] 04. The Monkees — Band 6 (2007 Remastered Version)

[02:03] 05. The Monkees — You Just May Be The One (2007 Remastered Version)

[03:22] 06. The Monkees — Shades of Gray (2007 Remaster)

[02:26] 07. The Monkees — I Can\’t Get Her Off My Mind (2007 Remastered Version)

[02:11] 08. The Monkees — For Pete\’s Sake (Closing Theme) (2007 Remaster)

[02:04] 09. The Monkees — Mr. Webster (2007 Remastered Version)

[02:31] 10. The Monkees — Sunny Girlfriend (2007 Remastered Version)

[01:07] 11. The Monkees — Zilch (2007 Remastered Version)

[02:08] 12. The Monkees — No (2007 Remastered Version)

[02:35] 13. The Monkees — Early Morning Blues And Greens (2007 Remastered Version)

[02:33] 14. The Monkees — Randy Scouse Git (2007 Remaster)

[03:07] 15. The Monkees — All of Your Toys (Stereo Remix)

[02:50] 16. The Monkees — The Girl I Knew Somewhere (First Recorded Version; Stereo Remix)

[02:52] 17. The Monkees — A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You (Stereo Remix)

[02:42] 18. The Monkees — She Hangs Out [Stereo Remix] [02:34] 19. The Monkees — Love to Love (Stereo Remix)

[02:55] 20. The Monkees — You Can\’t Tie a Mustang Down (Stereo Remix)

[02:46] 21. The Monkees — If I Learned to Play the Violin (Stereo Remix)

[02:29] 22. The Monkees — 99 Pounds

[02:55] 23. The Monkees — The Girl I Knew Somewhere (Single Version; Stereo Remix)

[02:21] 24. The Monkees — Randy Scouse Git [Alternate Version] (2007 Remastered)

[00:59] 25. The Monkees — Tema Dei Monkees (Stereo Mix)

[03:03] 26. The Monkees — All of Your Toys (Mono Mix; 2007 Remaster)

[02:36] 27. The Monkees — The Girl I Knew Somewhere (First Recorded Version; Alternate Mono Mix)

[02:36] 28. The Monkees — A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You (Mono Single Mix; 2007 Remaster)

[02:35] 29. The Monkees — She Hangs Out [Mono Single Mix] (2007 Remastered)

[02:38] 30. The Monkees — The Girl I Knew Somewhere (Mono Single Mix; 2007 Remaster)

[02:06] 31. The Monkees — Nine s Blue (Demo; 2007 Remaster)

[02:33] 32. The Monkees — She\’ll Be There (2007 Remaster)

[02:26] 33. The Monkees — Midnight Train (Demo; 2007 Remaster)

[03:40] 34. The Monkees — Peter Gunn\’s Gun (2007 Remaster)

[01:59] 35. The Monkees — Jericho (2007 Remaster)

[07:21] 36. The Monkees — Pillow (Demo; 2007 Remaster)