Exclusive Davy Jones Interview
DAVY JONES RAPS WITH SURFIN' AGAIN
by Ron "The Gremmie" Pryce
It sounds easy. I’ d written to Dani telling him that Davy Jones of the Monkees was now living in the same area as myself and would Dan like me to try to get some sort of interview with him ?
Dani was very enthusiastic and supplied a tape of all "Carnival of Sound" tracks and a list of questions that Davy might like to answer.
I first tried to catch Davy at his local pub, but the barman told me he was away working for a few weeks. As I don’t always trust barmen, I went to Davy’s house. My 13 years old daughter Louise supplied the address as she had actually seen Davy in the street and asked him for the time (groupie !).
Anyway, there was no reply and a neighbour confirmed that Davy was away for several weeks (I’ve met a barman I can trust ! ). Several weeks later I managed to speak to Davy’s wife Anita. I think she was a bit suspicious of me at first, but she soon realised that I was a complete amateur (did it show ? ) and agreed to pass on the tape and issue 5 of "SURFIN’ AGAIN" to Davy and, hopefully, set up a meeting for the following week. I later found out that became impractical for various reasons.
After a couple of weeks had passed, I decided that a gentle reminder would do no harm, so again I knocked on Davy’s door. this time it was opened by the man himself. I wasn’t ready for this but I managed to stammer something like, ‘Hello, Davy, glad to catch you home... I’m the guy who dropped the Jan & Dean stuff round.... ‘Hi, how ya doing ?’ he replied, eventually accepting the handshake I offered.
He was home sick for a few days due to a virus, so he spoke rather huskily, but I could detect more than a faint trace of American accent in his voice. He listened as I explained the purpose of my call and we spent about ten minutes talking at the door.
He was very interested in doing something for "SURFIN’ AGAIN"
- Could I come round Sunday... ? Then I could see the Jan & Dean "Billboard" awards that he has in his possession. He didn’t have to ask twice. Of course I could and we arranged a time.
‘Bring a camera’, Davy
said.
Sunday, September 1, 1985
As I had been in the boy scouts I turned up well prepared. Two fully loaded cameras, one cassette recorder with new batteries, a large selection of Jan & Dean albums, and , my "Bel Air Bandits 69" T-shirt.
Anita showed me in and Davy soon appeared with his small daughter, Jessica, who was to punctuate the afternoon with numerous requests for her father’s autograph.
After a handshake and greeting Davy showed me the "Billboard" awards - three of them - for the "Surf City etc." album, apparently the "Surf City" single and the "Golden Hits" album. the album awards both featured the album sleeves mounted on thick varnished boards, with a thin coating of some form of transparent lacquer over them.
The "Surf City" award was
similar,
but featured what appeared to be a publicity sheet for the record. There were no labels or
anything to further identify them. I must say they were very impressive and I didn’t
really want to put them down. We took a few photos based around the awards, Anita helping
out. Then Davy produced a folder containing about ten sheets of paper. This was his
contribution to "SURFIN’ AGAIN" in two parts. The first part was five hand
written sheets of blue tinted A4 sized personal paper answering some of Dani’s
questions, plus some of Davy’s personal viewpoints written in his own humorous style.
And here is the DAVY JONES RAP
Dear reader,
My I first say I really enjoyed no. 5 edition of "SURFIN’ AGAIN". The 60’s music lives on and I’ m proud to have been involved
- I would love to rap for hours with you all and I have in a way in my forthcoming book
"They made a Monkee out of me". I have enclosed here in my communique, which I can only just spell, an excerpt from said book entitled "Jan Berry" - enjoy.
Trivia points for you now -
In the mid-sixties, Jan & Dean, Don and Phil, The Beach Boys were among many bands who made pilots similar to Monkees - we were the lucky ones who made in on TV.
The Turtles (Mark and Howie), John Stewart, Chip Douglas (producer "Daydream Believer"), also one time turtle Stephen Stills, the Byrds, "Crosby", Neil Young, the Lovin’ Spoonful, Mamas and Papas, Beach Boys, Julie Felix, Phil Ochs, Graham Nash, Doug Kershaw, Red Rhodes, Abby Hoffman, Joni Mitchell - we were all in L.A., mid-sixties, the same parties, same cafe’s ; we slept under the same stars (so to speak), If you would like any more names you’ll find them on the back of "the Buffalo Springfields" album who incidentally were everybody’s choice for what happened to the Beatles.
As Dean sat in on the Turtles recording session, so did many of the above mentioned on each others session - Monkees song "You + I", Neil Young plays a brilliant guitar solo - Artie Kornfeld produced my first record for Colpix - he also wrote with a songwriter form New York called Toni Wine who I would bet a pound to a penny was the mystery Pixie (who recorded "I’ m dying to give my Love to you" with Jan Berry).
Artie had a blue Sting Ray and I always wanted one until Jan’s accident.
Colpix became Colgems, the Monkees’ own label.
- The song "Laurel & Hardy" I sang to give lead vocal
-The talking voice on "In the Still of the Night" is also mine
- Jan’s favourite was "I know my Mind" and you all know he did.
I changed a few words here and there in many of Jan’s songs but did not expect credit.
Although Jan could not speak his mind, his hearing was 100% and he was capable of producing a record album "Carnival of Sound". Let’ face it - record production is not actually the same as brain surgery.
I have no idea if Dean was present at the "Carnival" sessions. I helped Jan as often as possible, he had his own ideas - even if his mental capacity was low, his production knowledge was streets ahead of many of the musicians he used.
Jan & Dean had quite a success on their hands at the time of Jan’s accident - their music was fun and uncomplicated - whether they would have continued to make hit records we will never know. Dean’s efforts with Papa Doo Run Run were viewed first hand by this reporter when Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart appeared together with Papa Doo Run Run, Sam the Sham, the Grass Roots in ’76 at the Anaheim convention centre in California. Papa Doo Run Run had a clear clean sound, but I couldn’t help think how the line-up seemed as if they could have done with one more - and then again - I mean Jan Berry of course.
Let’s also give a long thought to Dean who must have had many major decisions to face - I have to respect his success in the graphics world but also think what must have gone on in his mind for the years in between his great Jan & Dean days and his decision to put on his dancing shoes again.
God bless Jan & Dean.
- Rap by David Jones
We talked for 45 minutes or so about Jan & Dean and music in general - form Hendrix to
the Shadows.
Davy showed me five or six Monkees bootleg albums (of which he doesn’t completely approve) and several ‘live’ solo albums of his that had been released in Japan.
I showed him the stuff I had brought and he was quite interested in all of it. He had a good look at Papa Doo Run Run’s "California project" album - ‘Are they still recording ?‘ he said, sounding surprised.
‘Have you got that Pixie track with you ?‘ he asked. I did have the "raw sounds" album with me so Davy put the track on. (I hadn’t read his article then, but he must have read "SURFIN’ AGAIN" issue 5 very closely).
After a few seconds of the track he announced, ‘I have lost my bet ! That’s not Toni Wine. But it’s not Carole King either ! It sounds like a black girl to me. I think I can hear Carole in the background. The singer sounds like maybe Ronnie Spector or Cynthia Weil (Mann/Weil). Someone like that.
Davy then played a Carole King demo, I think it was the Monkees’ "Porpoise song". I had to agree that it didn’t sound like Pixie.
Anymore offers on the identity of Pixie ?
Davy had a number of demos and acetates as well as a large selection of albums.
We talked some more, but time was passing and not wanting to outstay my welcome, I decided it was time to leave. Davy signed a couple of photos for my kids and gave Jessica another autograph, for yet another of her imaginary daughters. He must have signed a dozen for her.
We parted with a handshake and a promise
from Davy that he would try to answer any further questions about Jan & Dean that
readers might ask (keep them coming in !), although I think he has already covered most
things very well.
During our chat I did clarify one or two things with Davy :
- He doesn’t remember who sang lead on the "Carnival of Sound" tracks.
- He sang "Laurel & Hardy" as a demo for Jan to see how the song sounded.
- He thinks, the "Carnival of Sound" sessions were spread over a number of months.
- He recalled that when Jan met Davy’s first wife, Linda, he would sing a few bars of
"Linda" to her.
-He also recalled that the plaster cast Jan hand on his leg early in 1966 was due to Jan falling form a train during filming of the pilot TV show (editor’s note : it was during filming of the "Easy come easy go" movie). Davy thinks he was still wearing the plaster when he crashed his Sting Ray.
As he mentioned in his ‘rap’, Davy was kind enough to supply a copy of an extract form his forthcoming book "They made a Monkee out of me". The book is not in print yet, so we are getting an exclusive preview.
I’d like to take this chance of thanking Davy for the interest and co-operation he has shown, also his wife, Anita, and Jessica. I’m sure we would all like to wish him well in his current project - a touring production of the musical "Godspell" which is now touring Britain and opens in the West End of London on December 16th.
A possible future project is the musical
"The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd" and there may be some kind
of joint project with ex-Monkee, Peter Tork.
Here’s the extract form Davy’s book
THEY MADE A MONKEE OUT OF ME
JAN BERRY
I mentioned Jan Berry of Jan and Dean. He was virtually the first person I saw when I came to live in Hollywood with Ward Sylvester ’65. We hit Santa Monica Boulevard and there was this blonde guy - surfer type - six-footer, slicked back hair, great looking, typical California guy, Ward said - ‘that’s Jan Berry‘. It stuck in my mind.
Then, when we were doing the Monkees, we were recording at RCA and there he was - also recording some songs, and then a couple of weeks later I saw him come in the studio with a cast all the way up his leg - he ‘d broken it shaving, or something - I don’t know, but he was a pretty wild guy, he was also taking a degree at UCLA, to become a doctor, or dentist, I think, anyway, that’s not important - what is, is that he is this really wild, good looking, and incredibly bright guy.
Jan and Dean had a song, "Dead Man’s Curve" that I heard, and a few weeks after that, I heard that Jan, who drove a Sting Ray, was in a car crash. Hit a parked vehicle on Mulholland Drive - he was in a coma for about six or eight weeks - terrible, here was his great looking, twenty-five-year old, athletic, record-making, surfing, doctor-to-be - a great career ahead of him - and he Dead Man Curved it in his Sting Ray.
Well, a year went by - the Monkees are still on the top, he came wandering into one of our sessions - RCA again, but now he was this guy who dragged his leg - his hand was all shrivelled up - he couldn’t talk properly, that is, he know what he wanted to say, but it just wouldn’t come out properly. It was awful just to know what he had been and what he’ d become.
He wanted to sing with us on the recording but - well, it was hopeless, y’ know ? Gone. So he told me he’d like my phone number, and we started seeing each other.
I’ d go up to his house, and there’ d always be loads of people there ripping-off his food and using his phone. Doing stuff they shouldn’t have, y’ know ? So I tried to clue him in on what was happening, but he was lonely, he wanted their company, and all I could do was watch the way every one stoked him, and I could see what it was but ....
Anyway, he’ d call me up and we used to talk for hours. Or I’ d go over and help him with stuff - reading and writing. His right hand was gone, so he was learning how to write with his left.
One day I told him I wanted him to come on the road with us - on a Monkees tour, y’ see - get him away from all those people who were using him. Plus, he’ d been a big star himself - I thought he’ d probably like to come along and watch from the side of the stage - live it again - feel the atmosphere.
Anyway, he really enjoyed it, and when I couldn’t give him much time, there was Marilyn Schlossberg - our helper/secretary on the road and off. A very important person in the Monkees team. She really helped him a lot with his reading and just giving him time and attention.
So we took him all over the place with us and I got totally involved for a whole year - a couple of days a week - teaching, helping, talking.
Well, later on, it was not something that I forgot about, but I was getting involved in other things myself. My life was changing drastically at that point 69/70. Things were not going well for Linda and I - so I just kind of stopped seeing him.
I did see him one more time after that in ’74. He drove up to my place one day, wow, what a treat. He could talk a little better - not much. Still dragged his leg around, but he drove, and he just wanted to say how much he appreciated the friendship we had shared.
From myself - I felt that it hadn’t been enough - I could have done more - but guess you can always go on saying that. Fact is, I didn’t. My own live was too screwed up. I was hurting and needing. I have one nice reminder of Jan, though. I was in Lester Sill’s office and there were a couple of Jan & Dean billboard awards lying around. I still have them. Not for any particular reason - except that they were a piece of Jan Berry.
© Davy Jones 1985
