Interview with Monkees producer Chip Douglas
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- Опубліковано 26 сер 2024
- Chip Douglas produced some of The Monkees' greatest recorded output, including the albums 'Headquarters' and 'Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.,' along with the singles "Daydream Believer" and "Pleasant Valley Sunday." Chip is also a former member of The Turtles and the Modern Folk Quartet. In this interview with Paris Stachtiaris and John Di Maio that was aired on The Monkees Hour on WBAU-FM (New York) on December 5 and 12, 1987, Chip discusses a multitude of topics, including his work with The Monkees in 1967, the 1976 Christmas single, Don Kirshner, and much more.
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He was my aunt's elementary school classmate on Oahu. My aunt mentioned this to me a couple of years ago. She said they had run into each other recently at a school reunion or something. I was like, "Really? Do you realize Chip Douglas produced some of the biggest musical hits of the '60s?" She laughed and said she knew he was a big success, but didn't know the particulars.
So I took out my acoustic guitar, played the guitar intro to "Pleasant Valley Sunday" and told her that Chip Douglas composed that riff! Then I played "Happy Together" and told her that Chip arranged that song--and also played bass on it!
LOL!! She'd had no idea, and was stoked to hear it.
Chip has a very accurate memory of all the things he did in the 60's
I'm 62 yrs old in 2021, so I was an original Monkees fan when I was 8 yrs old. Obviously I outgrew them musically by the time I was 13(1972). At this late date in my life, I listen back nostalgically, and still find the songs the Monkees churned out enjoyable and valuable. I am writing this because my Favorite Album was "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn &Jones Lmtd." I never liked the song "What am I doing Hangin Round?" on that album. In recent years, that song has really grown on me as I have aged. As a music lover, I always knew there were studio guys playing a lot of the instruments on their songs( Not ALL of course) and I always remembered the name "Chip Douglas" off the back of the album. I just want to say this, especially if Chip Douglas himself would ever read this, that the electric Bass lines on "What am I doing Hangin round" are some of the BEST I have ever heard in my entire life!! Listen to that song, turn up the volume and the Bass, and you will have to agree. I mean truly GREAT GREAT Bass!!! Thank you Chip, better late than never.
My favorite bass player. What a great bass sound he got on Pisces, Aquarius Capricorn & Jones Ltd. And The Girl I knew Somewhere.
Chip always gave some of the best interviews. His memory of the events was great.
The girl that I knew somewhere is a great song with great bass. Well done.
Thank you Chip, for all the great work and sharing these wonderful stories with the fans.
This guy gives a great inside look at what was going on, I love this. It sounds like Chip enjoyed talking about his memories.
This is such an awesome interview with Chip Douglas. It provides great insight on how the Monkees records were made at the time. I really enjoyed listening to it. Thanks very much for posting this!
IMO "For Pete's Sake" was the single the should have been released for Headquarters. It's a great song and perfect for the times.
the bass on "the girl i knew somewhere" was played by mike's friend john london...tremendous bass player.
First time hearing this! 👍👍
It's been disputed that the monkees were offered Sugar Sugar, he could be thinking of a separate meeting held later or perhaps another song with a similar title (like Sugar man which is an outtake from the headquarters sessions), but also... Sugar Sugar hadn't even been written yet at that time.
A great bass player, musician and producer, Mike made a wise choice in selecting Chip Douglas to be their record producer during this era! ❤❤❤
I have Chip Douglas' first album in Living Stereo CAS-669 The Wilcox Three - The Greatest Folk Songs Ever Sung.
Excellent interview. Highly recommended.
Amen Chip....in regard to "Pool It". Great info.....great!!!!
great bass player.
Thank you for this one!
wonderful! thanks for posting this
I was six years old myself when the 20th Anniversary revival took place. I had had difficulty in those tender years relating to the Beatles (for immature reasons), and the Monkees revival was not only a tn of fun for me but an icebreaker for me to tune in to the Beatles' material as a seven-year-old.
The segment about their disconnection from one another between projects is something which has infiltrated my own life and my own attempts to play music with different ensembles, because nobody I've played music with has ever been devoted steadfast to one project. And, I'm not just referring to "day jobs." I'm talking about people with multiple music and heater acts or a slew of day-to-day activities among which music probably ranks third or fourth in a list of priorities.
Rhino has made a name for themselves with several other classic acts such as Chicago. I for one did not know that their reach extended back to the Monkees revival.
I"m sure Peter loved hearing that he should only sing novelty songs like Auntie Grezelda. This is probably why Chip will never work with the Monkees ever again - and he didn't on Good Times or Justus. I was hoping he was going to say that his favorite Peter tune was Lady's Baby or something like that. I loved this interview and his candor and his obvious good feelings even though it really didn't go his way, but that comment was outrageous. Peter was the one of the four of them that got screwed on the original albums
Big Bad White Cracker I'm just seeing this for the first time. Peter always seemed to get screwed with regard to the Monkees. I guess they didn't think he could sing as well as the others, but his one solo album in 1994 was great. I always felt frustrated for him as he was my favorite and so talented.
I used to listen live to "The Monkees Hour" (aka, "Headquarters") back in the 80s and loved it! I even had a chat via phone with John DiMaio when listeners were encouraged to call and let them know what they thought of the show. Chip is 100% correct here when it came to the "Pool It" album; I really tried to like it but the songs were for the most part below par and the song choices could have been much better. I had read somewhere that Mickey's wife at the time, Trina had a hand in selecting the tunes, which could explain things. It just didn't feel like the Monkees album it could have been. Chip didn't use the term, "power pop" but that's the term I think he would have used in what the group should have recorded. Thankfully, "Good Times" is the album that lets The Monkees be who they are. The music on that album makes their sound as fresh as it did 50 years ago!
Long live The Monkees!!
I'm one of the few people the LOVE Pool it - although it took awhile to get used to. It was not an immediate love but after a couple of playing, I think it's got terrific '80s songs, better than most from that era. Midnight, Secret Heart, Don't Bring Me Down are to me, Micky's finest performances outside of Goin' Down, Randy Scouse Git, et al. I love Davy's Every Step of the Way - I wish he had done more songs like that instead of the puppy love songs he became identified with. Yeah, there's a couple of clunkers, but I can say that about most of their nine original albums - a clunker or two on each one - except the Douglas produced ones. But there's no reason that Pool it shouldn't have become a top 20 album back in the day. Sheer neglect. Even the two music videos were terrific, very reminiscent of the tv show.
It's the Cable man!!
Oh GOD THANK GOD the Monkees didn’t record SUGAR SUGAR...horrid song!!!😝 The fact that Kirshner would pick THAT over one of Nez’s songs floors me!
He was only interested in hits and Sugar Sugar ended up a hit song but I agree was horrid.
@@muskox63 You got that right!
It's been disputed that the Monkees were offered Sugar Sugar... Possible he's thinking of a separate meeting later on, or another song, but Sugar Sugar wasn't even written til a year later.
Was Chip Douglas the bass player of the Turtles at one time?
Yes he was.
Yes
Why is "Goin' Down" "by far the most complex monkees song" Because it has a mouthful of lyrics? It's mostly one chord with a quick two chord break. It makes sense it was actually a jam. It's not even vocally "complex"... Just... relentless.. lol
Who did Linda Rohnstadt not date ?
Funny George Martin saw the same thing in The Beatles during The White Album about the boys looking to do other things.
Wonder how door into summer came about
The loss of ALL OF YOUR TOYS as a single was major loss as it certainly would've launched The Monkees into even higher success with HEADQUARTERS than it had, PLUS it could've been promoted as the first song in which the band played almost everything (I think Chip played bass?), which woul also certainly have boosted credibility of the band at the time. i WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED TO FIND THAT KIRSHNER HAD BEEN BEHING THE SCENES SABOTAGING THAT SINGLE'S RELEASE.
I cringed when he said, "MONKEE-DOM"! I wish he would've thought to say, "MONKEE-VILLE". That's just my biased opinion probably because of my respect and adoration for them.🙈🙉🙊🐒