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Monday, February 25, 2019

Monday Music: I Prithee Do Not Ask for Love (The Monkees)

Last week we lost Peter Tork of The Monkees fame. He died at the age of 76. The Monkees began as a television comedy and the group grew into a band in their own right. You can hear Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz talking about how The Monkees TV show began by going here.

So were The Monkees a real rock and roll group, or did they just play one on TV? The answer is probably "yes." For a brief account of The Monkees phenomena, go here.

"(I Prithee) Do No Ask for Love" features Peter Tork on vocals and guitar. It was written by Michael Martin Murphy, a former bandmate of Michael Nesmith. The recording was not released to the public until many years later.




If you look at the people involved in the recording of "(I Prithee) Do Not Ask for Love", you will see Glen Campbell played guitar on the track. This would have been during the time that Campbell was a studio sessions musician with The Wrecking Crew, shortly before he broke out with his own impressive career as a country/pop recording star.

Guitar: Al Casey
Engineer: Andy R
Bass: Bob West
Guitar, Vocals: Davy Jones
Percussion: Gary Coleman
Guitar: Glen Campbell
Drums: Hal Blaine
Engineer: Hank Cicalo
Engineer: Henry Lewy
Guitar: James Burton
Drums: Jim Gordon
Keyboards: Larry Knechtel
Keyboards: Michael Cohen
Producer, Vocals: Michael Nesmith
Lead Vocals: Micky Dolenz
Background Vocals: Micky Dolenz
Guitar: Mike Deasy
Guitar, Vocals: Peter Tork
Engineer: Richie Schmitt
Arranger: Donald Peake
Contributor: Marty Eck
Composer, Lyricist, Writer: Michael Martin Murphey
Contributor: Patrick Milligan


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2 comments:

  1. there's a very interesting line in prithee:
    "So go thy way, and soon I shall go likewise.
    And if thy path be high, then let mine be low."
    when you put it side by side with a line from papa genes blues ("and with you i know ill never have to pass the high road for the low), a pattern forms...

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    1. I noticed that as well. But this song is for sure more like Shakespearian language. I looked it up bc I couldn't understand abutting being sung. I can say, I don't regret it and actually sent the lyrics to my mom who's sick of hearing about the monkees (from me) but just told her it's poetry.
      But wow, this song also made me look up Michael Martin murphey, whose most famous song, wildfire, is amazing (instrumentality).

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