"Good Morning, Good Morning" -- 3.5/5 Beatles covers are almost always a gamble. Arrangements that are similar to the original recording usually feel pointless -- why even try to copy what the greatest band in the world already did? -- and arrangements that differ from the originals...well, reactions to that can be even worse. How dare you mess with perfection?? I'm with Turk, this has never been high on my list of Lennon compositions. The treatment they gave this song on Sgt. Pepper's really elevates an average song into something magical. Micky's recording of it strips it down to bare bones, exposing that maybe this isn't a top shelf song at its core. That said, it's a really good arrangement and Micky sounds great on it. I give him credit for doing this one, which is probably one of the lesser-covered songs in the Beatles' well-mined catalog.
Going back to ‘Written In My Heart’, just got confirmation from Johnny J. Blair that the song writer is Tim “Chris” Andrews who also wrote ‘Amore’. Besides Davy, who he’s known since 1962, Andrews songs have been recorded by Roger Daltrey and David Essex. He’s also recorded as Kris Ryder. Here’s the link to his Bandcamp page: https://timchrisandrews.bandcamp.com/
This is great - it reminds me of late '60s Donovan. One of the more original takes I've heard on a Beatles tune, and Mick sounds excellent. 4/5
Written In My Heart 5/5 I remember hearing this just after Jones' passing. Very sentimental and the lyrics gave me chills. It's like he knew and this was his last gift to fans. Such a shame this didn't land on Good Times with the other 3 playing and doing background vocals. Good Morning 4/5 I like this album better than King. Starts off with a bang.
Today's song is An Old Fashioned Love Song: An entertaining cover of the Three Dog Night hit, and the Paul Williams writing credit provides a Monkees link. Again it differs significantly from the hit recording and, generally speaking, I enjoy Micky's vocal stylings. Probably my favourite section is Micky's bonkers scatting towards the conclusion. Good to hear him not holding anything back. The production is also quite full and I appreciate the clarinet. 3.5/5.
Nice enough but I'm not too keen on the song. It puts me in mind of D.W. Wasburn... which I prefer. An Old Fashioned Love Song - 2.5 /5
I enjoy Good Morning, Good Morning much better than the remake of the Three Dog Night tune. GM,GM is a solid 4 and one of Micky's best performances outside the Monkees. There are really good songs on this release and would agree already that I like it better than King for A Day. However, I must not be as big a fan of Micky scatting as many of you. It is OK with the right track and shows some talent from the person doing it but it was never something I enjoyed hearing really. Just a 2.9 for this track.
An Old Fashion Love Song - Love the opening vocal harmonies and the tune itself, it has a sort of Nilsson touch to it. Paul Williams is an excellent song writer and this is a real good one that Micky does a great job on. His scatting is fun and the music is nice and jaunty. It's definitely a toe tapper that puts a smile on my face. 4/5. Paul Williams performing his song on The Muppets Show.
Old Fashioned Love Song - 2.7/5 Not quite a 3. This cover is kinda annoying maybe the arrangement, just not something I want to listen to that much. Not sure why, the original is good for what it was. I did not know that Paul Williams wrote it, so that's a good bit of trivia there.
Old-fashioned love song 3/5 I think overall the track is a success but if I’m not in the mood to hear it it can be rather annoying
Old-Fashioned Love Song I seem to like this song more than most people. Though, Fred hasn't posted yet. It's a fun song with an interesting though perhaps not as adventurous arrangement. The backing vocals are a highlight. And, I think that Micky's scatting which might go over the top is appropriate to this song and fun. 3.7/5
Micky leaves it all out on the table vocally but I'm not a huge fan of the song to begin with, this arrangement is kind of annoying, and clarinets in general are just nails on a chalkboard to me. It's a total 2.5 but I can't round up here, so a probably unfairly harsh 2/5 it shall be.
"An Old Fashioned Love Song" -- 3/5 I'm a fan of Paul Williams' songwriting in general, and this is a good tune. I'm not over the moon over Micky's version, but it's very enjoyable. It's maybe a bit too goofy and "old timey" in its approach for my personal taste, but done really well.
Today's song is Diary: Another song from a Monkees songwriter, in this case David Gates. I've praised a lot of Micky's vocals recently, but he sounds particularly strong on this one. I think the songwriting is also perhaps the strongest of the three tracks on the album so far. A high 3.5/5.
