Mojo - The Music Magazine

Davy Jones, the diminutive singer and maraca player with The Monkees, has died at home in Florida after suffering a heart attack. He was 66.

The Monkees - Jones, plus Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork - were manufactured for NBC television by producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, taking The Beatles film A Hard Day's Night as their blueprint. But the group quickly transcended their TV image. On screen they were portrayed as a struggling band desperately seeking fame. In reality, however, The Monkees were a much cherished and hugely successful group, yielding a string of sparkling hit singles, including Last Train To Clarksville, I'm A Believer, Pleasant Valley Sunday, and Daydream Believer, on which Jones sang the lead.

There were albums, too, US Number 1s in The Monkees, More Of The Monkees, Headquarters and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. And despite The Monkees' assembled origins, they were in tune with the counter culture, hanging out at LA heads' mecca The Trip with The Byrds. They took Jimi Hendrix on their 1967 US tour - although Hendrix skipped the tour early after fans drowned him out with their calls for Davy - and hosted Frank Zappa and Tim Buckley on their TV show.

Interviewing Jones, Tork and Dolenz last year just before they embarked on a tour to celebrate 45 years of the group, it became clear just how fond of The Monkees Jones was. Turning on his trademark boyish charm, he told me with a wide grin, "You can never escape being a Monkee, I'll do a show, sign an autograph and I'll always be asked, 'Where's Micky?' or 'How's Pete?' or 'Why don't you guys get back together?' I always feel connected to The Monkees."

Born in Openshaw, Manchester on December 30, 1945, Jones was a child actor, starring in Coronation Street and Z Cars on television, and on stage as the Artful Dodger in Lionel Bart's musical Oliver! When the show hit Broadway, Jones, just 16, was nominated for a Tony Award. Signing up with Screen Gems Television shortly after, he auditioned for a role in The Monkees.

"When I went to the audition, it was just another job to me," he said. "But then on meeting the other Monkees, having these three other guys to bounce off, I soon thought, Wow, how great is this? I just have to play myself."

The television show ran from 1966 to 1968 and produced the 1968 film spin-off, Head, and 1969 TV special 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee, both subversive works which deconstructed the group on screen. "I didn't get or like Head very much," said Jones. "But on 33 1/3 we got to work with Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis and The Clara Ward Singers. That was cool."

When The Monkees split in 1970, Jones went solo. Then in 1976 he joined Micky Dolenz, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart (the last two wrote Last Train To Clarksville and The Monkees theme), issuing the Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart LP. In 1987 he then reunited with Dolenz and Tork for a tour and the album Pool It. Mike Nesmith was asked but refused to join the band, although he did appear on The Monkees' Justus in 1996, before departing the line-up again before the 45th anniversary reunion tour.

Nesmith, an echt musician, always struggled with the Monkees association. For Jones, however, it was invariably a blessing. "The Monkees were such a huge part of my life and whenever I think of them I can only smile at the good times we all had together."

Davy Jones leaves behind his wife Jessica Pacheco and four daughters. He will be missed.

Lois Wilson

Photo: Getty Images