Monkees Memories Part II

I would have the opportunity to see the Monkees in concert in 1989 at Club Casino in Hampton Beach, NH. Meatloaf opened for the Monkees and my best friend Jenny tagged along to keep me company. I remember walking by the buses, giggling like a little girl...at least until I passed by the front of Davy's bus. Across the top of the front of the bus was a marquee where the bus leaser could write a message for all to see it said... "Show us your t$ts." Shocked and stunned, I did not do what the marquee suggested and I moved along quickening my steps.

Buying a tshirt was a must and I chose the I slept with a monkee nightshirt. It is still in my closet all these years later. The concert was fantastic and we had a blast.

Fast forward to we 1997: I got a postcard in the mail from Beachwood Recordings after having purchased Peter Tork's CD Stranger things have happened. It said that Peter Tork would be playing 3 nights in a row at various venues within driving distance of our Des Plaines IL home. He was touring with some guy named James Lee Stanley. We were able to get tickets to 2 of the 3 venues, Fitzgerald's in Berwyn IL and Shank Hall in Milwaukee, WI. I was excited to get the chance to see Peter play in an small club and maybe meet him.

The night before we were to see Peter and James, they performed on Nashville Now. I discovered this James Lee Stanley guy was pretty darn good and the harmonies the two sang together were amazing and that we would be in for a couple of entertaining nights.

We arrived at Fitzgerald's and grabbed a spot in the front off to the right side of the stage, James came on first and from the first chord of Daughter Divine I was hooked. He played a lot of songs from his latest CD Domino Harvest and then Peter took the stage to play songs from his Stranger things have happened CD. It was dreamlike, I had to pinch myself to make sure I really was sitting about 10 feet away from The Peter Tork.

During the intermission I had my first "Thrill of a lifetime, meet the artist" experience with James. I remember a wonderful hug, he signed a couple of CDs that we had bought which became the first of many "Can you sign this Connie and Paul" moments. After chatting with James a bit, I moved over to meet Peter, I shyly said hi and asked him to sign my CD and then ran away like a scared rabbit. Peter was nice, but my anxiety got the better of me and I chose to retreat back to my chair.

Peter and James ended the evening by playing a set of songs together which was absolutely amazing. We went home happy and totally entertained and looking forward to the night after next when we would go to the show at Shank Hall.

Shank Hall was equally as spectacular as Fitzgerald's, I bought another CD from James and then got the courage up to talk to Peter. He greeted me with one of the most amazing hugs I have ever gotten from a human being in my life. It is definitely in my top 5. Maybe sometime I will post a blog about the 5 best hugs I have ever gotten.

Over the years we lived in Chicago area I had the opportunity to see James many times and he introduced me to 2 wonderful singers, Michael Smith and Tom Dundee and that I am grateful for.

Another night I am grateful for was in February of 2001 back at Shank Hall. It was a snowy night and I had driven up alone to see James and Peter play another show. At some point during the show I realized it might be a long time before I would see either of them play a show because in 6 months I was pretty sure I was moving to Utah. I didn't want to leave my life in the burbs of Chicago, but at the same time, I knew we needed to move somewhere more affordable so we could eventually buy a house. After the show I was talking to James as he was packing up his gear and feeling really stressed and sad about life. I kiddingly made the comment that some days I felt the need to find the nearest bridge to test gravity instead of thinking about the move to Utah. Peter must have been listening in as he packed his gear and he made some comment about when we get mad at other people we really are mad at ourselves.  When that didn't get a grin or a chuckle out of me, he stopped what he was doing, came over to where I was standing,  put his hand under my chin and pulled my face up to his. "You're not really looking for a bridge to jump off of are you?" "No Peter, I am just freaking out at the thought of such major change." "It will be good, whatever happens..Don't worry. Promise me you won't go looking for a bridge." He wouldn't let go of my chin or let me look away until I promised. I would try to tell this story to him years later, but there were to many people around him and I was embarrassed so I thanked him for it, but lied and said I didn't remember exactly what he said because I didn't want to tell the story in front of strangers.