GCF- Mike: "Everybody over to Portland for a party!" Audience: *screams*

The Monkees: Summer 1967
The Complete Summer Concerts
Rhino Handmade Limited Edition Boxed Set

    So, do you already own Live 1967? Then you've got a good idea what this is. It's four CDs, each one a complete concert from August 1967. Live 1967 is actually a compilation of the best tracks from three of these four CDs (Seattle, WA; Portland, OR; Spokane, WA). A mono CD is also included of the Mobile, Alabama concert, all the tracks of which are available for download at Monkees.net.
    So. Let's get down to it, eh? Each CD has the same track list, which is as follows:
                        1. Introduction
                        2. Last Train To Clarksville
                        3. You Just May Be The One
                        4. The Girl I Knew Somewhere
                        5. I Wanna Be Free
                        6. Sunny Girlfriend (or as Mike ALWAYS introduces it, Scroungy Girlfriend)
                        7. Your Auntie Grizelda
                        8. Forget That Girl
                        9. Sweet Young Thing
                        10. Mary, Mary
                        11. Cripple Creek (Peter's solo number)
                        12. You Can't Judge a Book By The Cover (Mike's solo number)
                        13. Gonna Build a Mountain (Davy's solo number)
                        14. I Got A Woman (Micky's solo number)
                        15. I'm a Believer
                        16. Randy Scouse Git
                        17. (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone
    Don't buy this CD if you can't stand screaming teenage girls, because sometimes that's pretty much all you can hear. My only other real beef with this CD is that the introduction for each song is at the end of the previous song. Now, the first time I listened to it, I didn't want to hear Davy singing "I Wanna Be Free", but I did want to hear the intro for Sunny Girlfriend, so I had to go back on the CD, which was kind of a pain. No problem if you just want to listen straight through, though. Oh, and at one concert, you can't hear Mike singing when he's supposed to be lead, but you can hear Peter singing backup, off key and very loud.
    Now to the pluses. Each CD has (mostly) different banter and jokes. Mike sounds so cute (keep in mind that the reviewer is a highly biased Nezhead). During the Portland concert's Mary, Mary, he breaks into Singin' In the Rain, which is just... groovy. One concert (I forget which) has Micky complaining that the equipment sucks and his drums aren't nailed down, then breaking into a rendition of "No Business Like Show Business." Sometimes they forget their lyrics and just fudge through it. It's hilarious.
    THE BOTTOM LINE: This CD is pretty damn expensive. $60 it cost me. Unless you're a completist like me, I'd say just buy a copy of Live 1967 and be happy. You've already got a quarter of the set, and you can download all the songs from the Alabama concert on Monkees.net for free.

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