Music Review: Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart, Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart

By Melissa Bratcher

I have long contended that one of the greatest singers in pop history is The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz. He’s not only amazingly versatile, with a distinctive voice that is equally at home singing rock, jazz (the man can scat like he was born to it), or ballads, but even when singing backup, he rises above, imbuing each note with personality. His harmonies are tight. Always.

After the breakup of The Monkees in 1970, Micky Dolenz and fellow Monkee Davy Jones teamed up with Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, who wrote many of the best loved Monkees songs, like “Last Train To Clarksville” and the much covered “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone” and also had a decent recording career in their own right. Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart recorded one album in 1976 after a tour of the US and gaining the infamy of being the only band to have to cut their hair before being allowed into Thailand. The tour begat a contract with Capitol. The contract with Capitol begat Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart, which didn’t beget anything afterward. More’s the shame. Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart is a lost treasure (which has been rereleased on El, in association with Cherry Red Records, so it’s not lost anymore).

Truthfully, Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart could have easily been called Micky Dolenz Is Pretty Damn Amazing because that’s my takeaway. He has partners, co-conspirators, but he walks away with the album by force of personality and serious chops. He’s completely compelling.

Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart could have started with a Micky song. Instead, they went the Davy way. On “Right Now,” Davy Jones slips into an amazing Barry Gibb impersonation (though I’m pretty sure that’s not what he was going for). The song is a product of its time, with slow, schmaltzy pop, strings and effects pedals, and a guitar solo that sounds as if it was played through a fan. Bobby Hart fares better with his fine lead vocals on “I Love You (And I’m Glad I Said It).”

Many of the musicians who played on The Monkees albums play on Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart. Henry Diltz (who in addition to playing on some of The Monkees records, is perhaps better known for his photographs of them. Multi-talented, that one.) lends his banjo to a cover of “Teenager In Love.” It’s an odd version—like doo-wop meets roller rink tunes—but Dolenz elevates it with some smart scatting.

An early version of “You And I,” which later surfaced on the reunited Monkees album Justus, is ridiculously great. Pastoral and yearning, the song builds while still staying intimate. Dolenz’s performance is really lovely. He makes it sound so easy.

“You Didn’t Feel That Way Last Night (Don’t You Remember)” is the other side of the coin. A relative to “Steppin’ Stone” and Paul Revere and The Raiders’ “Kicks” (though the latter wasn’t a Boyce & Hart, rather a Mann & Weill), Dolenz delivers the lyrics a bit off and in a spit-out way, going from a soft and almost feminine delivery to unbridled rage. “Sweet Heart Attack” rocks as well, despite glockenspiel flourishes, with Dolenz giving a fine, rocky performance.

Not all the songs land so well. I don’t know how many versions of “Along Came Jones” I’ve heard, but this is one of them. The harmonies are nice, and the song is slight and silly. The titular Jones is, of course, Davy Jones, being ever so English.

“It Always Hurts More In The Morning” just kills. This is my new slip-it-on-a-mix-and-blow-your-mind song. It’s Nilsson-like, with layers of vocals and a loosey goosey piano solo. It’s a power pop masterclass with nice Dolenz wails and a glorious a capella harmony break. It’s an insanely great pop gem.

Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart didn’t set the world on fire, but it certainly didn’t get the audience it deserved, though, to be fair, in 1977 the musical landscape was changing at such a rapid rate that this “oldies” act would’ve had a hard time finding traction unless they fully embraced disco or punk. Instead, it sits in the middle of things, being a pleasant pop album with nice harmonies and some seriously odd moments (there’s a joke for dolphins. It sounds exactly like you’d expect). It’s a curiosity, for sure, but for Dolenz’s performances alone it is so worth a listen or seventy.

Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart was released by Cherry Red Records on August 4.