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For a group that was famously manufactured, the Monkees have outlived vast swaths of supposedly more serious musical counterparts from the late ’60s. Perhaps that’s because the foursome was always more musically gifted than its initial TV-show origins might have let on. After all, though the band’s effervescent, British-inflected pop-rock was originally manufactured by a team of studio pros, the Monkees’ members eventually wrested back creative control and played most of the material on the group’s later albums. In fact, it was during this period when the Monkees released their biggest hit, “Daydream Believer.”
In latter days, though, intra-group relations have been more fraught. Original members Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, and Davy Jones reunited in 1997 and 2001 — outings that largely ended in acrimony. Over the past decade, though, the tensions have softened, and the three — notably without original guitarist Michael Nesmith — have hit the road this year to mark the band’s 45th anniversary.
