How doubly-sad to hear that Davy Jones of the Monkees has died of a heart attack at the age of 66. That would be just plain sad at any time because he was a talented fellow. The Monkees were a manufactured, artificially-created band in that a bunch of execs sitting behind desks decided there should be Monkees and they did auditions and said, "Uh, let's use that guy and that guy and that guy and…oh, how about that guy?" That shouldn't have worked. Musical groups should be more organic than that. But by a happy combination of clever writing on their show and the natural charm and ability of the four guys selected, the Monkees became as legit as any group of their era. Davy Jones was more than 25% of the reason for that.
What makes it doubly-sad is that some of us got to meet him just 18 days ago at the Hollywood Show out in Burbank. He had a long line of autograph-seekers and folks who just wanted to shake his hand and tell him what his work meant to them. As I explained here, he could not have been more gracious and nice to his fans. Shelly Goldstein (seen in a video not far below these words) was one such admirer. She complimented him on his work on stage in Oliver! and he started singing a song from that score for her, a cappella and all the way through to the end. An hour or so later, he saw her walking by and he sprinted out from behind his table to gift her with a CD he was selling there that contained a medley of Oliver! tunes. She was amazed not only at his generosity but at the sheer fact that he remembered her and thought to do that. What a shame to lose someone that charming.