A Breakdown Of The Monkees Voices
Trying to get back into the writing game, so I decided to throw together this little analysis (uh, if you could really call it that :P) of the guys’ voices. I wrote it fairly quickly, so it sort of looks like crap and could probably go into more detail…..but at least it gets some thoughts down.
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A Breakdown of The Monkees Voices
Micky: Please. Micky has just about the purest, smoothest tenor voice I’ve ever heard. There is not a nuance to be found in his tone. It just flows through any lyric and makes his phrasing some of the best in music history. As wonderful as his voice is though, it is not a range-y voice. Micky does not have much of a lower register at all. I’d love to hear him challenge himself and use a lower register more in the future. (Note: Hearing Micky today, his voice does sound slightly lower than in his younger years, but he still doesn’t have much of a lower register at all).
Davy: Davy’s Broadway experience definitely shows in his vocal delivery. He has a great range, a lot of dynamics, and a fantastic sense of pitch. However, as solid as his tone is, it can sometimes come across as reedy and nasal. Most of time, I can ignore that little flaw, but on some songs, it doesn’t hit my ears quite right. Though on the right songs (i.e. Daydream Believer, Someday Man), it is magic.
Peter: I’ve heard many IRL Monkees friends say that Peter can’t sing. That he’s just an instrumentalist, and nothing else. Of course, that is all hogwash. Peter DOEs, in fact, have some very solid vocal ability. He has good projection, solid phrasing, and quite a nice deep tone. However, like Micky, Peter doesn’t have much of a range. He has a lovely baritone register that sounds pretty amazing on the right songs, yet his tenor register is very weak. Furthermore, several of The Monkees songs that had Peter’s vocal contributions were structured so that his part was often too high. This resulted in a lack of power and pitch that portrayed Peter as a very subpar singer.
Mike: Much has been said about Mike and Micky’s harmonies, but I will get to that. First, let’s talk about Mike’s voice alone, which I don’t think he get’s near enough credit for. Mike recognizes his role as the top songwriter of the group, but never felt the need to be much of a lead singer. I honestly disagree, and wish that he had sung lead on more material. He has a beautiful voice, with a technique and superb grasp of pitch that I put right up there with Micky. Micky has a slight edge with tone, as Mike’s has a few very subtle nuances that make it a touch more “gruff,” and not quite as pure. This tone does, however, have a richness and warmth that lends itself very nicely to the more country-flavored material of The Monkees and gives it a bit more versatility. The slight gruffness also adds a touch of warmth to Mike’s voice that, in general, is just SO pleasing to the ear (Much like Micky’s is). On the other hand, Mike has a significantly larger range than Micky that is magnificently showcased on a song such as Love Is Only Sleeping.
And of course, I cannot ignore the legendary (and STILL quite underrated to me) vocal blend of Mike and Micky. Both tenors have tones that just naturally fit together and produce a sound that hits my ears in all the right spots. It’s a fit like chocolate and peanut butter, peanut butter and jelly, peaches and cream, or any other sweet food analogy you could possible make. However you describe it, there’s no denying that the Mike/Micky blend is one of the very best in music history.
