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If you ever watched the Monkees TV show, you were bound to see the credit every week for Bob Rafelson. He, along with the late Bert Schneider, created the so-called Pre-Fab Four for NBC back in 1966 and won an Emmy for his trouble. He was also the force behind "Five Easy Pieces" and had a hand in "Easy Rider."
Here's a fact I find hard to believe, but the AP story about his life insists it's true. If so, it's an incredible coincidence.
"The idea for The Monkees, he said, predated The Beatles and the musical comedy “A Hard Day’s Night,” but it hit the moment well when it premiered on NBC in 1966. It ran for two years and allowed Rafelson to take a stab at directing himself.
"The Monkees also appeared in his feature directorial debut, “Head,” which would be the first of many collaborations with [Jack] Nicholson.
“I may have thought I started his career,” Nicholson told Esquire in 2019, “but I think he started my career.”
Rafelson passed away on the weekend at age 89 and I'm grateful to him. Some of my favorite pop music of the 60s came from the Monkees. A lot of people try to downplay them because they were "artificially created" but their music - despite all the personal battles they fought to control it - was magnificent.
Micky Dolenz remains the only surviving member.
Bob Rafelson, New Hollywood era director and co-creator of The Monkees, dies at 89
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