" Forget Felix Unger and Oscar Madison. It's well-known today as one of the most "WTF!!!" odd couples in rock' n' roll history: In the summer of 1967, guitar god Jimi Hendrix - still mostly unknown in the U.S. - signed on as the opening act for The Monkees. "...
..." However, the core band creating the soundtrack for the Monkees' TV show and first records were known as the Candy Store Prophets, fronted by singer-songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, who together composed "Last Train to Clarksville," "(I'm Not Your" Steppin' Stone," and other Monkees hits (not to mention Fats Domino's million-selling "Be My Guest").
The Candy Store Prophets' rhythm section comprised drummer Billy Lewis, bassist Larry Taylor, a future Canned Heat member and longtime Tom Waits sideman, and guitarist Gerry McGee, a seasoned session musician and son of legendary Louisiana fiddler Dennis McGee, who has been called "the Rosetta Stone of Cajun music." [Note: McGee's first name is correctly spelled "Gerry," though his name often appears as "Jerry" in discographies.]
It was Gerry McGee who would go on to join another of the oddest matchups in rock history: In 1967, the Eunice, La., native who created the riffs for the Monkees' themesong and "Clarksville" was recruited to join Captain Beefheart's Magic Band when Ry Cooder quit in disgust after recording the landmark "Safe As Milk" LP. "...
..." "I probably started a guitar riff, like a country thing," McGee said of his role in contributing to the song, the sound of which would influence Beefheart's subsequent work, including his masterpiece "Trout Mask Replica" (#60 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The Top 500 Gratest Albums of All Time") "...
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