Diary - A lovely cover of the Bread song. The double tracked vocals work in the chorus and Micky’s performance is excellent. Always good to hear a nice rendition of an unfamiliar song. Micky owns it. 5/5.
One of my sisters had the Best of Bread, so I’ve heard this song thousands of times. Micky’s is a good version and I can see now that this release is a half a step above King For A Day and will be my next purchase. This next tidbit is related to our topic in a couple ways: my favorite David Gates written tune is Been Too Long On The Road. The Mark Lindsay version, who also has ties to the Monkees especially Micky as they duetted on Steppin’ Stone during one of the many oldies tours. Monkees also appeared on Raiders show back in maybe 68-69. (Don’t have Sandoval book handy). Raiders have an eclectic catalog like Monkees and Lindsay’s solo stuff is kind of like Micky’s - other famous writers, standards, mellow pop tunes. Worth checking out. Back to the task at hand, this song is a good solid 4.
Surprisingly I was not familiar with this song before this record came out. I have probably heard it before and didn’t realize it. I’m not familiar with a lot of breads music in general. 4/5 for me. Micky sounds great. It might be his best performance on the record. Oh— What the heck.. I’ll give it a 4.5/5 lol
Diary I agree this is a good song, and I really like this version. The production makes the song, which though good could tend towards a boring arrangement, more interesting. I like the small touches that to my ears sound a bit psychedelic - though there are few keyboards and it's mostly guitar based. Great vocals from Micky, as is typical on this album. 4.2/5
Not a fan of the original but M.D. really makes this one come alive. The arrangement, the Beatles-by-way-of-Jeff Lynne production, and Mick's vocals all work really well here. 4/5
"Diary" -- 4/5 I do not know the Bread version, but this is an excellent track on this album. Really well done all around -- the production is tasteful, the playing is great, and Micky's vocal is just so strong. Agreed that this is -- easily -- the best song we've heard so far on this album.
Some people might be interested to listen to producer David Harris's comments about recording the album which can be heard here: https://davidharris.us/remember-cd
Today's song is Many Years: In the link that I posted above David Harris talks about writing this song (originally during a Toto session) about the first date with his wife. He also mentions it not fitting in with the concept of Micky singing songs from his own personal history, but him agreeing to sing it anyway as a favour. While not a classic piece of songwriting, I still think this is a decent song and Micky sounds fine as always. Some interesting musicians also feature on the album including Vicki Peterson of The Bangles. 3.5/5.
And the bonus tracks for this album Unlucky Stars and Magic To Do don't appear to be online at the moment. If anyone has access to those, it would be appreciated.
Many Years - A really nice tune, it has a Paul McCartney/Beatles vibe, love the jangling guitars which adds a bit of 1967 Monkees to it as well. A pretty cool song. 4/5. Added Note: The song sort of reminds me of tracks from Ringo Starr’s excellent Time Takes Time album, this one in particular with the jangling guitars. Another album worth checking out.
"Many Years" -- 3.5/5 Really strong power pop tune here. As nice as some of the covers are on this album, hearing something like this makes me wish he had done a full album of original compositions and/or songs like this which weren't already known hits.
A nice tune, a really good arrangement, and oddly kind of a subdued, anonymous lead vocal. All in all, though, just slightly sterile - it feels like it was created in a power pop lab. This kind of seems almost like a template for what was perfected a few years later on Good Times. 3/5.
Many Years - 3.5/5 Nicely sung by Dolenz. Quite enjoyable and relaxing. It might work as a tune to fall asleep to and I mean that as a compliment.
I really like this tune. Opening reminiscent of an REM tune or two, refrain (I guess that what part it is but an expert can correct that) sounds like the Shorty Blackwell parts. Solid 3.5
Many Years I think this is a good song, and it's been given a good arrangement. However, I don't think the vocal melody is quite enough of a standout. However, the arrangement and Micky's performance make the most of it. I think. 3.3/5
Today's song is Sometime in the Morning: The world clearly didn't need another version of Micky singing this song, and yet I think this might be an improvement on either of the King for a Day variants. The purity of Micky's voice is placed front and centre, and the backing track is gorgeous. 4/5.
"Sometime In The Morning" -- 4/5 Seeing this song in the tracklisting literally made me laugh out loud when the album was first announced. This had to be a joke, right? Luckily, its inclusion is more than justified, as it leaves the two versions he'd done the year before in the dust. It's great! Very tasteful take on this song, and Micky sings it so well. One of many highlights on Remember.
Sometime In the Morning - 4/5 Well done, another one that almost sounds like a lullaby in this arrangement.
