The Rolling Stones.
As a musical act, the music transcends the entire history of Rock, of which is rooted in the blues. They made their bones as a poor band living together in London. They actually played their own instruments on most recordings, wrote most of their own tunes, they invented what imitators are still trying to sell on comeback tours.
They then joyously gave back to the black musicians who's shoulders they stood upon.
(Did someone actually say the Monkees? lol
Yeah. I did. Got a problem with that?
No problem friend, didn't mean to rile your feathers: but just as Milli Vanilli didn't really sing, and Alex Baldwin surely pulled that trigger, and there ain't no Santa. The Monkees aren't a true rock band. And there's no law against enjoying the tunes written by Boyce and Hart and the music recorded by the Recking Crew and nobody will blame you. And the Monkees definitely sang those tunes. I didn't mean to insinuate anything.
In fact...cheers to that Last Train to Clarksville.
You're fine. And I apologize for getting a bit riled. I know that the Monkees have a somewhat "controversial" background/origin according to certain people, but they were the first music act I connected with as a kid, and I still love them, and I feel like they often get slighted, through no fault of their own, and I always want to defend them. I mean, they started during the time when music acts had just begun the transition to writing their own music and playing their own instruments, so utilizing outside writers and musicians wasn't exactly taboo at that time—in fact, several other acts were still utilizing outside writers and/or session musicians at least sometimes, including the Beach Boys, yet didn't (and don't) receive the criticism the Monkees get.
And the Monkees, after their first two albums, fought for and gained control of their musical output, and did most of the playing on their third and fourth albums (
Headquarters and
Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones, Ltd.) That, coupled with the fact that they did all of the playing on their early tours, is proof enough for me that they're a real rock group.
But, as the saying goes, art is subjective. I just like to make sure people know the whole Monkees story before they make any sort of judgment about them.