Chip Douglas
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- This article is about an actual person. For the television character, see My Three Sons.
Douglas Farthing Hatlelid, better known as Chip Douglas, is a songwriter, musician (bass guitar and keyboards), and record producer, whose most famous work was during the 1960s. He was the producer of some of the Monkees biggest hits, including "Daydream Believer" and "Pleasant Valley Sunday."
Douglas was a member of the Modern Folk Quintet (along with musician and photographer Henry Diltz), who were signed by legendary producer Phil Spector in 1966, and recorded a song, "This Could Be The Night", written by Spector and up-and-coming singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson. The band became involved in business entanglements, and the record was never originally released, but Douglas and Nilsson became friends. Douglas also had his song "Christmas Is My Time Of Year" recorded by Linda Ronstadt.
When the Turtles's bassist Chuck Portz left that band, Douglas took his place, and his first record with them was "Happy Together", which they'd been performing for months (after hearing a well-worn demo that had been passed on by numerous other artists), but had never put to record. Douglas did the arrangement that was recorded, and it became a huge hit for the Turtles, actually ousting the Beatles's "Penny Lane" as the #1 single in the American pop charts.
Seeing the Turtles perform at Hollywood's Whisky a Go Go in early 1967, Monkee Michael Nesmith approached Douglas and asked if he'd like to become the new producer for the Monkees, who were tired of the "manufactured" recording setup they'd begun with. Douglas answered candidly "I've never produced a record in my life." Nesmith (who had produced album tracks for the group, but had little pull with their label Colgems Records, or Screen Gems, who produced their TV series for NBC) assured him "Don't worry; I'll show you everything you need to do," if Douglas was willing to quit the Turtles.
Douglas accepted the offer, and joined the Monkees in the studio, first to create a new single (with all four Monkees playing, abandoning their earlier studio methods), "All Of Your Toys" (written by Bill Martin), backed with a remake of Nesmith's "The Girl I Knew Somewhere". "All Of Your Toys" couldn't be released, because of a publishing restriction imposed by Screen Gems. Also, another song, Neil Diamond's "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You", recorded earlier with session musicians, had already been slated as the next Monkees single. "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" replaced Jeff Barry's "She Hangs Out" as the single's B-side, though, and Douglas' next Monkees project was their Headquarters album.
Recorded over six steady weeks of sessions at RCA Studios in Hollywood, Headquarters was the first album to feature the Monkees playing on every track, to refute the accusations that they "couldn't play their own instruments", and was regarded by all four members as their 'first album'. Douglas contributed a song, "Forget That Girl", and joined them on bass guitar in the studio, freeing Peter Tork to play keyboards and guitar. Other sidemen rounded out the sound, but the core was the Monkees themselves. The album was released in the spring of 1967, and began a steady climb up the charts, but was displaced by the latest Beatles album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
No singles from Headquarters were issued in the United States, but Douglas nonetheless scored hits working with the Monkees that year, first with "Pleasant Valley Sunday" (written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King), which featured an innovative bass-lead interlock played by Douglas and Nesmith, then later with "Daydream Believer", a song by John Stewart he thought would be perfect for Davy Jones, and Tork (who presented the song to the group) gave its memorable piano intro. (Jones wasn't too taken with the song, but trusted their judgement — wisely as it turned out, and the song became the band's all-time second-biggest single.) Douglas was pleased to have made hit records with the Monkees, but was disappointed that they weren't able to erase the common misconception that the Monkees "couldn't play", and that the press took little notice of their accomplishments.
Douglas next produced the sessions for Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, & Jones, Ltd., which unlike Headquarters was done in several different studios around the US between Monkees tour dates, and was played half by the band, and half by session musicians, to save time. Douglas again played bass, and coached Nesmith (who'd recently had a tonsillectomy) on vocals. He also introduced the Monkees to Harry Nilsson, who played them a selection of his original songs, and became friends with the band. (One of the songs, "Cuddly Toy", was covered by the Monkees, and featured on both the Pisces album and an episode of their TV series; Nilsson gained enough confidence — and royalties — to finally give up his regular job.) "Daydream Believer", although released shortly before Pisces debuted, was left off the album at the insistence of Colgems, since "Pleasant Valley Sunday" was included and the label wanted to keep one hit song on the hook, for the next album.
As 1967 ended, the Monkees wanted to take full control of their music, and said farewell to Douglas, who returned to the Turtles (whose bassist was now Jim Pons, formerly of The Leaves) to produce their next records. The last major Turtles hit, "You Showed Me", came through Douglas, who had learned it from writers (and Byrds) Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark. Originally an uptempo number, the slow, moody arrangement came about by accident; Douglas was demonstrating the song for vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, on an organ whose bellows was broken, requiring him to play it slowly. Douglas told them "This isn't the way it's supposed to sound," but Kaylan and Volman disagreed, thinking the new tempo would be perfect — correctly, as it happened. (The Lemonheads cover of the song, featured in the second Austin Powers movie, followed the Turtles arrangement.)
"Daydream Believer" stood out like a sore thumb on 1968's The Birds, The Bees, & The Monkees, which was otherwise an all-Monkees production (ironically played largely by session musicians, with the band returning to their earlier vocals-only practise). Douglas kept in touch with the Monkees though, returning in 1969 to record "Steam Engine", with Micky Dolenz on vocals. (The song appeared in reruns of their TV show, which had moved to CBS after production wrapped, but a disagreement between Screen Gems and Douglas over session costs kept the record from being released.)
In 1976, Douglas re-teamed with Dolenz, Jones and Tork to record a Christmas single, at Dolenz's home studio. (Nesmith had been approached to join in, or sign off on the credits to make it a 'Monkees' record, but had declined.) Douglas had done little production work since the end of the Sixties, and had mostly been "living off his royalty checks" from Monkees and Turtles repackages and greatest-hits compilations, and making new music of his own.
In 1986, a Monkees reunion tour reawakened interest in the band, and Rhino Records reissued all their original albums, including their work with Douglas. In the 1990s, Rhino Records bought all existing Monkees material (including all released and unreleased recordings, all episodes of their series, their movie Head, and the rights to the Monkees name), preparing to eventually issue everything that was suitable. This included previously-unreleased recordings with Douglas, including "Steam Engine"; Douglas finally got a settlement over the song, a long-delayed royalty check, and his own publishing company to handle it and other songs. (He also added a new verse, when he was asked for a lead sheet and noticed the lyrics came up short.)
Douglas has appeared in several documentaries about the Monkees, reminiscing about his work with the band, and telling his side of several related stories.
[edit] References
- The Monkees Tale, Eric Lefcowitz (Last Gasp Press) (ISBN 0-86719-338-7)
- Monkeemania! The True Story of the Monkees, Glenn A. Baker, Tom Czarnota & Peter Hogan (St. Martin's Press) (ISBN 0-312-00003-0)
