By Ray Shasho
Happy Together Tour 2012
Micky Dolenz the unmistakable and charismatic lead singer of
The Monkees along with
Gary Puckett pop/rock troubadour for
The Union Gap will be performing together on the
Happy Together Tour 2012. The tour launches June 8th in Columbus, Georgia and arrives at
Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Fl on June 15th.
This year’s
Happy Together Tour spotlights another who’s who of Top 40 Chartbusters including-
The Turtles featuring Flo and Eddie,
Micky Dolenz of The Monkees, Gary Puckett of The Union Gap,
The Buckinghams and
The Grassroots. Last year’s similar lineup was a sell-out for Ruth Eckerd Hall’s 2180 seating capacity.
Micky Dolenz began a career in show business as a child actor in the 1956 TV Series
Circus Boy. Micky
played Corky; a 12-year old adopted by the traveling circus who
eventually becomes a water boy to Bimbo the baby elephant. The TV series
ran through 1958.
Los Angeles, California native
Micky Dolenz auditioned for a TV series in 1965 called
The Monkees. He won the role as the impetuous singer/drummer for a fictitious rock and roll band that mocked
The Beatles but would never become successful. But in reality,
The Monkees became pop/rock superstars and Monkeemania was born.
The Monkees debut single “Last Train to Clarksville”
was an instant smash reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966. The
tune had similarities to The Beatles “Paperback Writer.”
The Monkees were led by
Micky Dolenz on lead vocals and drums,
Davy Jones on vocals and tambourine,
Mike Nesmith on guitar and
Peter Tork on bass and keyboards. The band was profoundly supervised and produced by
Don Kirshner. Many of
The Monkees songs were written by legendary artists like
Carole King and
Gerry Goffin (“Pleasant Valley Sunday”),
Neil Diamond (“I’m a Believer” #1 Hit) (“A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You”),
Boyce and Hart (“I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone”), (“Theme from) the Monkees”), (“Last Train to Clarksville”#1 Hit), and
John Stewart of The Kingston Trio (“Daydream Believer” #1 Hit).
The Monkees became one of the most lucrative acts of the 60s.
After
The Monkees impassioned breakup with Producer Don Kirshner, They released a psychedelic theatrical project called
Head.
The movie featured cameos by Jack Nicholson and Frank Zappa. Both the
movie and soundtrack were shunned by the critics only to become a cult
classic.
Micky’s vocalization on The “Porpoise Song” written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King were sublime and surreal.
Micky Dolenz chatted with me about Happy Together 2012,
The Monkees, his relationship with The Beatles, and the passing of his dear friend Davey Jones.
Dolenz continues to tour and sing all
The Monkees classic hits. He also acts in various musical stage productions worldwide.
Clearwater, Fl resident
Gary Puckett began his trek to Top 40 superstardom with the release of the 1968
Jim Glaser and
Jimmy Payne
penned “Woman, Woman.” The song was a smash hit during one of the most
spectacular years for Top 40 radio history. The tune hit #4 on
Billboard’s Hot 100. Like so many bands of the decade, every group
seemed to need a visual gimmick. Under manager Dick Badger, the band
wore Union Army Civil War uniforms.
Gary Puckett and The Union Gap churned
out hit after hit throughout 1968 and 1969 chalking up six consecutive
gold records. “Young Girl” #2 Hit, “Lady Willpower”#2 Hit, “Over You” #7
Hit, “Don’t Give Into Him”#15 Hit, and “This Girl Is A Woman Now” #9
Hit. Legendary Songwriter and Producer
Jerry Fuller wrote (3) of those classic hits.
The Union Gap disbanded in 1971.
Puckett has performed on more than thirty network Television shows and prime time specials in his career. In 1986,
Puckett was invited to tour with
The Monkees for their reunion tour.
In 2001,
Gary Puckett released
In Europe and a critically acclaimed Christmas CD entitled
At Christmas. In 2002,
Puckett released a collection of hits called
Gary Puckett "Live" featuring the single “Home” and dedicated it to all of our troops around the world.
Here’s
my interview with (2) legendary pop/rock artists. First we’ll chat with
Gary Puckett of The Union Gap followed by
Micky Dolenz of The Monkees.
Ray Shasho: Thanks for being on the call
today Gary. We’re only about 53 minutes apart from each other, you in
Clearwater and me here in Bradenton.
Gary Puckett: “We came here in 2000 from
Southern California. We’re happy to be here, we love the gators and all
the wildlife, birdlife, the turtles… and all that in our backyard.”
Ray Shasho: Gary, we’re all excited about
Happy Together Tour 2012 which kicks off June 8th in Columbus, Georgia
and arrives in your backyard at Ruth Eckerd Hall on June 15th.
Gary Puckett: “I was actually on the very
first Happy Together Tour that went out in 1984. It was The Turtles, The
Association, Spanky and Our Gang, and me. That was the first one that
went out there as an oldies tour, and the promoters were not really sure
how to do it, to make it profitable. But we ended up touring about
eight months of the year. It was just amazing; we were constantly on the
road. We all ended up buying vehicles of our own to get around and
through it. There were some fly dates of course but generally we were in
a big black Ford that held 15 passengers which I bought for my bunch …
and we called it the Puckett Bucket. (All laughing)”
“It was one of those things …Happy Together became very successful in
‘84 and ‘85… then in 1986; it turned into The Monkees 20 year reunion
tour which I was invited to be on. It was wildly successful; I think it
was the biggest tour of that year. Then years later… they find out that
these package tours really do work, giving the concertgoer their bang
for the buck. And they get lots and lots of hits in one evening and
there are five acts on the bill now … and great memories.”
Ray Shasho The nostalgia and karma these
types of shows generate is so important for so many people … especially
the Baby Boomer Generation.
Gary Puckett: “Mark Volman of The Turtles
said to me years ago, “You do an interesting thing when you walk out on
stage.” I said what’s that? He said, “You take off your wristwatch.”
Ray Shasho: So I guess Professor Volman is on summer break from his classroom so he can go out on tour again?
Gary Puckett: “They had to plan the tour
around his school schedule. But he’s tenured I think. He’s got a great
class that everybody loves, in fact when we spoke just last week he said
we’ve got to get you into my class to chat with the students and let
them in on your experience.”
Ray Shasho: Talk a little bit about your
relationship with Producer Jerry Fuller; was that a similar relationship
as with Don Kirshner and The Monkees?
Gary Puckett: “Well yea in a way …but Jerry
and I to this day we now have a good relationship. We had some rocky
times but Jerry is a talented, songwriting, producing guy. He was an
artist and had some regional successes on the radio, things that he had
written and recorded. He wrote “Travelin’ Man” for Ricky Nelson and to
this day is probably responsible for about 120 million record and CD
sales etc. He worked with everybody from me, Johnny Mathis, John
Davidson to others. He wrote and produced Al Wilson’s “Show and Tell.”
Jerry was extremely talented but was also a¬ ‘my way or the highway’
kind of guy. And if you disagreed with him …tough! But on the flipside
to that he was given responsibility to have control of the budget he was
given by the record company and to find talent to make hit records. So
we did really well for a couple of years together and then got to
loggerheads for some stupid reason and it’s probably me. Who knows at
this point in retrospect… so there was a parting of the way at some
point. But we did a concert about a year ago now at the Cerritos Center
for the Performing Arts and Jerry and his family live in Southern
California. I invited him to come up and for the first time in our
entire career we sang “Young Girl” together on stage and it really was
terrific. So the relationship is good.”
Ray Shasho: And you also had a couple of other great songwriters working with you in Jim Glaser and Jimmy Payne.
Gary Puckett: “Yup… “Woman, Woman” was
written by those guys. Jerry had the song in his hand and he knew what
to do with it. He said, “This is a hit song, we just got to take it out
of the country genre and put it into a pop genre.” And so we did. In any
case it was a huge hit and sold a million and half records. To this
date, I found out from a publisher some time ago, that it’s on its way
to 16- million copies.”
Ray Shasho: I always believed that 1968 was
one of the greatest years of all-time for Top 40 radio. What was it
like after “Woman, Woman” became a huge hit?
Gary Puckett: “It was a huge whirlwind of
activity and experience and we got to work with all the great groups
from The Beach Boys to The Human Beinz. Memories that sort of pass by me
…I remember an evening at Yale Bowl with 12,000 people sitting there
and waiting for a concert. And we were down on the grass with The
Association throwing a Frisbee around waiting for them to say okay its
time.”
“Things like that … and working with Junior Walker & The All
Stars to Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels to being booed off the
stage. We were the closing of the first half of a show that really
featured Mitch Ryder. We only had the one hit record at that time and
for the twenty minutes we were on stage we heard nothing but 20,000
people in the Pittsburgh Arena booing until we got to “Woman, Woman” and
then they quieted down.”
Ray Shasho: You also performed on countless Television programs.
Gary Puckett: “Ed Sullivan (3) times, The
Red Skelton Show, and all those variety comedic- type of shows, even
Virginia Graham pops into mind and Mike Douglas.”
Ray Shasho: FM radio and the arrival of
album rock led to the demise for many of the 45 singles ‘Hitmakers’ of
the 60s. Tommy James was able to extend his longevity with “Crimson and
Clover.” What was it like for Gary Puckett & The Union Gap?
Gary Puckett: “I didn’t work publicly from
1970 through 1980. It was very difficult. I kind of made the decision to
not to go back in the studio when I should have gone back in the
studio. I should have just let Columbia Records continue to drive the
bus. I wanted to have a little more control over my recording career. My
foresight was not what their foresight was and my ability to find hit
songs wasn’t what there’s was. So it really was the decline.
Unfortunately for me making the decision that I made to take a year off
to write songs and come roaring back didn’t work.”
Ray Shasho: Do you still talk with any of the original Union Gap band members?
Gary Puckett: “Yea, from time to time. I
spoke a couple of months ago to Dwight Bement, he’s up in Colorado
Springs, spoke recently with Kerry Chater he’s in Nashville. The other
guys I haven’t talked with in quite some time. Gary Withem is up in
Indiana retired, Paul Wheatbread is down in San Diego still with his
family, and I haven’t talked with Paul for many years.”
Ray Shasho: Do you have children …grandchildren Gary?
Gary Puckett: “Our oldest daughter just got
married and she’s returning from her honeymoon. She was married on a
Disney Cruise on the private island. It happened a week and half ago.
Saturday night we were having her reception out here at the house. So
there was a lot of physical labor around the house … everything from
weeding and planting and mulching to cleaning the roof and sealing the
pavers and all that stuff to make it beautiful for her reception.”
“But she just got accepted into USF Medical School, so we kind of
think that grandkids with her are down the road a bit. But the younger
one who is going to turn 23 has just fallen in love and we think that
this might be the guy for her. So we have a feeling that she’ll be the
first and a grandchild.”
“They were both Florida Gators … Michaela the older one was the drum
major for three years for the Gator band. The younger one Sydney played
clarinet in the band at that time. We got to go in 2006 when they beat
the Ohio Buckeyes and Michaela was the first one out on the field of
course because they come out in that high stepping routine.”
Ray Shasho: Gary, recent recordings you’d like to talk about?
Gary Puckett: “I have the “Lost Tapes” CD
which is a snapshot of Gary Puckett. In the mid 70s, my brother David
and I, he wrote the lyrics and I wrote the music then I produced it and
played most of the guitar. It’s a great, sensitive, beautiful album and
you cannot get it anywhere except from my website or in the merchandise
line after the show. And my Christmas album that everyone seems to like a
lot.”
“All you troops out there that are reading this column go to my
website and on the opening page it says veterans please click here,
click on the link it’s called maggivets.com (MAGGI Veterans Solutions)
and if you qualify you can receive benefits from the U.S. Government
that you may not know about. So please go there if you are a veteran.”
Ray Shasho: Gary, thank you for spending
time with me today. But more importantly for all the great music you
gave to us over the years. We’ll see you at Happy Together 2012 in
Clearwater, Fl on June 15th.
Gary Puckett: “Ray, it’s really been a
pleasure talking with you and you’re welcome. And thank you for being
interested in me today. See you at the show.”
A few hours after I hung up with Gary Puckett, I connected with Monkees legend
Micky Dolenz.
Micky was doing a solo gig in Illinois that evening.
Ray Shasho: Hello Micky, thank you for being on the call today.
Micky Dolenz: “Hi Ray, I actually just left your part of the world at Epcot in Orlando.”
Ray Shasho: Micky, we’re all excited that
you’ll be performing at this year’s Happy Together Tour and making a
stop at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater.
Micky Dolenz: “I love that venue too; I’ve played there so many times on different shows and had a great time.”
Ray Shasho: Micky, I lost a dear friend
unexpectedly recently, and he was only 52 years of age, so I can
somewhat relate to how you must have felt when you heard of the passing
of your dear friend Davey Jones.
Mickey Dolenz: “Yea, it was tough, and it
hit me a lot harder than I even realize that it would. We had just been
on the road together on tour and he seemed to be in pretty good shape,
and it really came out of the blue. These days you never know.”
Ray Shasho: Besides the Happy Together Tour what else have you got going on?
Mickey Dolenz: “I tour as a solo of course
like tonight and the last few days at Epcot. I won’t be doing too many
of the solo gigs in June or July because of the Happy Together Tour,
it’s pretty constant and a lot of cities. I’ve also been doing an awful
lot of musical theatre; in fact I’ve been at Ruth Eckerd Hall a number
of times doing musical theatre. Shows like Aida, an Elton John and Tim
Rice musical and the revival of the 70s show Pippin. Last year I was in
England doing Hairspray in the West End. So that’s kind of what I do
when I’m not on tour as a solo act.”
Ray Shasho: I heard a rumor that you
auditioned for a role as the Riddler on the Batman Forever movie in
which Jim Carrey actually won the role.
Micky Dolenz: “(Laughing) I heard that
rumor … I was never asked or never went on an audition or interview for
it. They may have been thinking about it but I would have no way of
knowing. But I’ve heard that rumor and I don’t know if it’s true.”
Ray Shasho: Besides reporting on classic
rock music, I’ve added a segment to my column and have begun
interviewing classic TV icons, so I ‘m getting the best of both worlds
by chatting with you today Micky. I never had an opportunity to watch
Circus Boy before, but because of today’s modern technology, I can
finally watch you on that great TV series. How did you land the role of
Corky on Circus Boy?
Micky Dolenz: “My parents were both in show
business. My father was an actor, my mom an actress, and both singers,
dancers and actors. They met in Los Angeles doing a play together and so
I grew up in a show biz family. My father was working as a working
actor and I guess his agent one day said, “Should we have Micky go down
and audition for a show?” I must have said okay, I don’t remember ever
being pressured into it or anything like that, but I do remember going
to some interviews when I was younger. And one of them was this show
called Circus Boy. Obviously I screen tested for it and got it.”
Ray Shasho: Were there tons of other kids at the audition?
Micky Dolenz: “No, I don’t recall being
around a whole lot of kids. It wasn’t like the cattle call audition, but
it wouldn’t have been because I had an agent and my father was an
actor. It might have been if there was dancing involved, a big dance
call or music call for singing or something.”
Ray Shasho: Do you regret not continuing in
an acting role as a kid, maybe landing another TV character role or
perhaps as an actor in a motion picture right after the Circus Boy
series ended?
Micky Dolenz: “No I don’t at all. What
happened was, my parents after Circus Boy decided to take me out of show
business for two years to go back to normal school. It was the smartest
thing they ever did. Because those are the years …after you have a hit
show and you’re young, those are the tough years trying to make it,
people think you’re too old for this part or too young for that part and
you’ve already had a show so you’re kind of already a has been at 12.
And those are the years that could cause problems. My parents very
wisely took me out of the business. I just went back to school …and by
the time I got out of high school, I kind of decided what I wanted to
do. I wanted to be an architect. And so then I went back and started
doing a little bit of acting jobs in some of the shows in the early 60s
like Mr. Novak and Peyton Place, and I was in college studying to be an
architect and along came The Monkees interview.”
Ray Shasho: The documentary
Making the Monkees
from 2007 was actually on television several nights ago. The thing that
stood out the most about that documentary was Mike Nesmith’s animosity
with Producer Don Kirshner.
Micky Dolenz: “He was … Mike wasn’t getting
his music, and his songs, his influence …none of us were. None of us
were really consulted … in the early days that is. We were never
consulted about the music.”
Ray Shasho: That situation reminded me of
the movie Rock Star, where a tribute band singer is called in to play
for the real band but just as a hired singer. He wants to add his
songwriting talents to the band but is rejected, so he walks off the
stage, quits, and does his own thing.
Micky Dolenz: “In our case, it was a
slightly different kettle of fish because The Monkees was a television
show. And we were cast in the television show to play this imaginary
band. Because that’s what The Monkees was …it was a television show
about a band. And they must have had in mind that we were going to sing
and play because they cast us like that. We had to be able to sing and
play, act, and do everything to get through the audition so I played
guitar, Johnny B. Goode on the guitar for instance, and Mike would have
played something, Peter would have played something on the banjo, and
you had to be able to sing, act, and improvise. So they had in mind that
they wanted us obviously to sing and play, but then the mechanism of
RCA, NBC, and Screen Gems television … the mechanism was pretty powerful
and when the ball started rolling it was very difficult to stop it.”
Ray Shasho: Did you guys know that you may be actually touring as a real band?
Micky Dolenz: “I think they implied that
because we started rehearsing immediately. So I think that was in the
master plan absolutely to go on the road and play. Otherwise they
wouldn’t have bothered to hire people who could play. The closest thing
these days to what The Monkees was as a paradigm is Glee, which is a TV
show about an imaginary Glee Club. But they can sing, and they can
dance, and they can act, and I heard they went on the road.”
Ray Shasho: I read a quote from Michael
Nesmith in an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine after Davey’s
passing that read, "For me, David was The Monkees. They were his band.
We were his side men.” I don’t mean disrespect in anyway … Davey was a
great talent, and Mike may have been just caught up in the moment after
Davey’s passing, but I was really shocked over that statement. I’ve
always believed you were the true voice of the Monkees and I hope most
of the fans would agree.
Mickey Dolenz: “Well … thank you and I really appreciate that.”
Ray Shasho: What was it like for you after The Monkees went out on their very first tour?
Micky Dolenz: “It was pretty crazy and I
don’t remember a whole lot about it, and not for the reasons people
might thing. But it was just because there was so much going on so fast
and also because it was 45 years ago. It was a harrowing experience …the
whole thing, including the tour. You move so fast and are constantly in
motion. I have glimpses of massive crowds and limos and cars and stuff
like that. But I couldn’t tell you if you asked me where I was or what I
did on any particular day, time, city, or venue because I’d have no
idea.”
“And it happens today when I’m on tour, even when I was doing
Hairspary in England recently and we were in ten or twelve cities in
twelve or fourteen weeks. You’re moving in and out of hotels and
apartments and then doing eight shows a week and having time to just
sleep and eat and move on to the next one. It’s very difficult … for me
anyway, to keep track of where I am and what day it is. (Laughing)”
Ray Shasho: “Micky, you had a special relationship with The Beatles and actually hung out with them at the Sgt. Pepper’s sessions.”
Micky Dolenz: “Yea, I was just visiting. I
was lucky to meet all The Beatles and as you say … to get into some of
the Sgt. Pepper sessions and had a great time. And over the years spent
some time with all four of The Beatles … I would say mainly Ringo and
John out in LA. And I just saw Ringo a few weeks ago.”
Ray Shasho: What were the Hollywood Vampires all about?
Micky Dolenz: “(Laughing) Alice Cooper
organized it and had some shirts made. It was a weekend softball team
and get together. We’d play softball on weekend out in the valley and
decided playing at some charity gigs. It was a lot of fun and went on
for quite a while.”
Ray Shasho: Was that also part of the infamous lost weekend that everyone seems to talk about?
Micky Dolenz: “Not the Hollywood Vampires …
that was John’s lost weekend, but he was around. I don’t recall him
playing a lot of softball because he would have probably been playing
soccer. But I remember seeing him during those months …yea.”
Ray Shasho: Mickey, as a critic, I really
liked the Head soundtrack. I think the time was right for that release.
After all music was about to go through the transition into FM Album
rock anyway.
Micky Dolenz: “I’m very proud of that
album. Last year when we went out as The Monkees, David, Peter and I, we
did that whole album in its entirety and in order … and it was really
great. That was a great tour and I had fun on that.”
Ray Shasho: I know Carole King was a
contributor on the Head album, and I Frank Zappa appeared in the movie,
but did he contribute to the album in any way?
Micky Dolenz: “No, he didn’t. Carole wrote a
couple of great songs on that album …“The Porpoise Song,” “As We Go
Along,” and “Swami -Plus Strings.” I’ve always loved her material; in
fact I did a tribute album to her called King For A Day.”
Ray Shasho: I was a radio deejay back in the late 70’s and you became a morning deejay on WCBS-FM in New York in 2005?
Micky Dolenz: “Yea I was. I had a great
time. It was very-very hard …it was tough. People don’t realize what a
tough gig that is. Especially that early morning thing like I did. It’s a
lot of work and you can’t use all of your senses, just your voice and
ears.”
Ray Shasho: Micky, do you believe The Monkees should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
Micky Dolenz: “Oh …it’s not for me to say.
I’m very flattered that people, fans, and even the press have gone out
there, signed petitions and stuff like that. I’ve never been one to
chase awards or anything like that to be honest. The Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame is not a public democratic organization; it’s a private club
basically. It’s like a private golf club and they decide who they’re
going to let in the club. Like I say, it’s not a democratic decision
it’s a very private -one. Like a golf club … like Augusta deciding if
they’re going to let women in the club. It’s their business and they can
let enter or keep out anybody they want. But it’s a great organization
too; I’ve done some charity work for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
foundation. They do a lot of great charity work but like I say it’s a
private club. There’s really no rhyme or reason, it’s just the musical
preference of a few people there.”
Ray Shasho: Micky, I want to thank you so
much for being on the call today and especially for all the great music
you gave us over the years. I’ll see you at Happy Together 2012 in
Clearwater on June 15th.
Micky Dolenz: “Thanks very much Ray, I’ll see you at the show…bye-bye!”
The
Happy Together Tour 2012 KICKS OFF June 8TH in Columbus, GA. and arrives at
Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, FL on June 15th. Buy your tickets now at
www.rutheckerdhall.com or call 727-791-7400.
Micky Dolenz official website-
www.mickydolenz.com
Gary Puckett Official Website-
www.garypuckettmusic.com
Happy Together Tour 2012 schedule-
www.theturtles.com/documents/tour.html
Special thanks To Jeff Albright of The Albright Entertainment Group -Official website
http://rockstarpr.com
Contact columnist/author
Ray Shasho at
rockraymond.shasho@gmail.com
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