British singer and actor Davy Jones, best known as vocalist for The Monkees, passed away suddenly today, February 29, 2012. Jones reportedly suffered a heart attack Wednesday morning. This is so crazy and unexpected, as I literally just saw Jones and his very excellent band perform at BB Kings night club here in NYC on Saturday, February 18th and he looked and sang great. Davy Jones was 66 years old. RIP Davy.
Yesterday I had an interesting comment added to This Post from a Dutch Jimi Hendrix fan and collector named Ben. Ben has a web page where he documents stories and images from the 1967 US Summer Tour by The Monkees on which The Jimi Hendrix Experience were the support act. Ben writes, “if you are a Fan of The Showdowners, Lynn Randell (other support acts on the tour) or The Monkees and you have been to the concerts seen below then I would like to speak to you. I am very interested in your “Experience” from those days. I hope you will be able to help me out. Any help will be welcome, from your personal memories, photos, newspaper clippings and even sound or/and video recordings from these concerts where The Jimi Hendrix Experience was the support act.” You can visit Ben’s page at This Link and if you were at one of these shows and have any information to contribute to his quest you can email him at maythisbelove@yahoo.com. Good luck, Ben!
Rock producer, music publisher and promoter Don Kirshner died on Monday (January 17th, 2011) of heart failure at his home in Boca Raton, Florida. He was 76 years old. From 1973 to 1981 Kirshner was the producer and host of Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, which ran weekly on ABC, and was practically the only televised outlet for teenagers to see live rock bands in the time before MTV, VH1 or almost any kind of cable TV was even thought of.
I recall that Paul Schaffer used to do spot-on impersonations of Kirshner’s wooden, deadpan presentation style on Saturday Night Live, which were always hysterical. Also, Kirshner is responsible for creating The Monkees. And now he’s dead. RIP Don Kirshner!
“Not Necessarily Stoned, but…Beautiful…”
On This Date, July 8th, in 1967: The Monkees kicked off their U.S. tour in Jacksonville, Florida with the Jimi Hendrix Experience as their support act. Hendrix would be dropped from the bill after eight concerts. I think we can guess why. This story reminds me also of a concert-going memory my older sister shared with me, of seeing The Who open for Herman’s Hermits. The Sixties, what a crazy time!
Davy, Mickey, Peter and Mike!
Today, December 30th, we wish a Happy Birthday to not one but two former Monkees: Mike Nesmith (born in 1942) and Davy Jones (born in 1945).