33⅓ Revolutions per Monkee
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33⅓ Revolutions per Monkee | |
---|---|
Created by | Jack Good |
Written by | Jack Good Art Fisher |
Directed by | Art Fisher |
Starring | The Monkees Julie Driscoll Brian Auger Jerry Lee Lewis Fats Domino Little Richard Clara Ward Buddy Miles Paul Arnold We Three |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producer | Jack Good |
Running time | 60 mins. |
Production company | Screen Gems |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | April 14, 1969 |
Related | |
The Monkees Hey, Hey, It's the Monkees |
33+1⁄3 Revolutions per Monkee is a television special, starring the Monkees, which aired on NBC on April 14, 1969. The musical guests on the show included Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Little Richard, the Clara Ward Singers, the Buddy Miles Express, Paul Arnold and the Moon Express, and We Three in musical performances. It was produced by Jack Good (creator of the television series Shindig!).
Although they were billed as musical guests, Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger (alongside their then-backing band The Trinity) found themselves playing a prominent role; in fact, it can be argued that the special focused more on the guest stars (specifically, Auger and Driscoll) than the Monkees themselves. This special is notable as the Monkees' final performance as a quartet until 1986, as Peter Tork left the group at the end of the special's production.
The title is a play on "
Overview
The story follows
Auger and Driscoll observe each Monkees' minds as the four attempt to regain their stripped personal identities through their fantasies. Mickey performs an R&B up-tempo duet remake of "I'm a Believer" with Driscoll; Peter reclines on a giant cushion in Eastern Garb and, to the lilting backing of sitar and tabla, performs "I Prithee (Do Not Ask for Love)," a gentle number concerning spiritual values. Mike, in an inventive blue-screen number, sings a country tune with himself ("Naked Persimmon"), and a toy-sized Davy sings and dances to the tune of "Goldilocks Sometime." Auger finds their fantasies 'interesting', and proceeds with the brainwash.
Now under Auger's control, the Monkees perform like stiff-legged wind-up robots ("Wind-up Man"). Auger, displeased with their wooden performance, introduces a four-part piano harmony in a unique piano-stacked set up with Auger and his electric keyboard on top, then descending to Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and, finally, Fats Domino on the bottom. Charles Darwin appears and, disapproving of Auger's methods, introduces him and the Monkees to evolution, in the form of a psychedelic dance performance ("Only the Fittest Shall Survive"). Darwin turns the Monkees back into apes ("I Go Ape") and allows Auger, Driscoll and the Trinity to work from there. ("Come On Up").
With the process complete, Auger introduces the Monkees to a gig at the
Auger and Driscoll break character and announce that they've had enough of the show's brainwashing plot, stating they would rather have "complete and total freedom" (which Driscoll describes as "utter bloody shambles"), thus introducing the final act.
In a warehouse full of instruments and props, Davy stands atop a high staircase performing Bill Dorsey's "String for My Kite". Peter enters the scene next and performs, on a
The closing credits feature a reversed scene from the Moon Express' dance sequence, with Tork singing "California, Here I Come" over the credits[1] as California is nuked, killing off the fictional Monkees. [citation needed]
Production and broadcast issues
"If the Monkees' self-mockery went over the heads of their dwindling fans in Head, it was brutally shoved down their throats in the television special."
-Glenn A. Baker, author of Monkeemania: The True Story of the Monkees
The general opinion of the viewers and participants of 33+1⁄3 Revolutions per Monkee is that the special was chaotic, both on-screen and off-screen.[
The Monkees were reportedly[
While Peter Tork was, at one point, the only Monkee working on Head, ironically it was Tork who bought out his Monkees contract at the end of production of 33+1⁄3 Revolutions per Monkee (on December 20, 1968), reportedly suffering from exhaustion. Tork's departure reduced The Monkees to a trio, and the group was not seen on network TV as a foursome again until 1997. After production wrapped, Tork was given a gold watch as a going-away present, with the inscription "To Peter, from the guys down at work."
Negotiations were originally made in early 1968 for The Monkees to star in three NBC-TV specials to air in 1969; 33+1⁄3 Revolutions per Monkee was the first. Unhappy with the final edit, NBC decided to air it on the West Coast opposite
Musical numbers
- Micky Dolenz and Julie Driscoll: "I'm a Believer (Blues)"
- Peter Tork: "I Prithee (Do Not Ask for Love)"
- Michael Nesmith: "Naked Persimmon"
- Davy Jones: "Goldilocks Sometime"
- The Monkees: "Wind Up Man"; "Darwin"
- Paul Arnold and The Moon Express: "Only the Fittest Shall Survive"
- The Monkees: "I Go Ape"
- Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and The Trinity: "Come on Up"
- Medley:
- The Monkees: "At the Hop"
- Fats Domino: "I'm Ready"
- Jerry Lee Lewis: "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"
- Little Richard: "Tutti Frutti"
- We Three and The Monkees: "Shake a Tail Feather"
- Fats Domino: "Blue Monday"
- The Monkees: "Little Darlin'"
- Little Richard: "Long Tall Sally"
- Jerry Lee Lewis: "Down the Line"
- The Clara Ward Singers: "Dem Bones"
- Davy Jones: "String for My Kite"
- Peter Tork: "C.P.E. Bach
- The Monkees and Entire Cast: "Listen to the Band"
- Peter Tork: "California, Here I Come" (end titles)
DVD release
In the 1990s, 33+1⁄3 Revolutions per Monkee was released commercially by Rhino Home Video (parent company Rhino Entertainment owns the rights to The Monkees) in two different versions. The version of 33+1⁄3 Revolutions per Monkee released individually in January 1997 (R3 2284) has been on file for years at The Museum of Television & Radio (now known as the Paley Center for Media) in New York City, with good sound quality, a fuzzy picture and the segments in original broadcast order.
The DVD version features two commentary tracks; one by Brian Auger and the other by Micky Dolenz, who has mixed feelings about the program.
The special was remastered for the Monkees' 50th Anniversary Blu-Ray box set, but due to licensing restrictions, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" was edited out from the medley.
Soundtrack
No official soundtrack has been released; nor was such a soundtrack planned, because of the technology of the time, wherein singers sang live vocals over prerecorded tracks. It has also been said[by whom?] that many of the songs were left at MGM when production finished. Some songs, however, have been officially released as bonus tracks on recent deluxe editions of Head and Instant Replay. The versions of songs with vocals have been lifted directly from the television audio.
A number of low-quality demo recordings are known to exist, including versions of "A String for My Kite" and "Wind Up Man" and unused songs "Buttoning the Buttons", "I Am a Fish", "Lucky You" and "The Bus & The Crocodile" - all performed by the same musician, probably the show's main songwriter Bill Dorsey.
References
- 33⅓ Revolutions per Monkee at IMDb
- ^ Sandoval, Andrew (10 June 2005). The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story. Thunder Bay Press / Beatland Books. p. 218.
- ^ Songs written by Bill Dorsey
- ^ "The Other Side" by Bill Dorsey
- ^ Prindle, Mark. "Prindle Record Reviews – The Monkees." Prindle Rock And Roll Record Review Site. Web. 09 Mar. 2012. <http://www.markprindle.com/monkeesa.htm>.