THE TRUTH ABOUT THOSE TERRIBLE MONKEE RUMORS
RUMOR: Mike Nesmith's original green wool hat is so dear to him that he's having it cast in bronze to be kept in his new home.
FACT: Mike couldn't stand the nickname "Wool Hat" from the beginning. Thought he auditioned in his grean hat, and had to wear it from time to time on the TV shoe, he decided that the best thing to do was give it to somebody who really wanted it. So, in Cleveland on January 15, Mike tossed his original green hat into the audience, and if you were the lucky girl who caught it - you've got the real thing!
RUMOR: This one is once again from a zeech magazine: "Peter Tork is really wild about Cass Elliot of the Mams and Papas."
FACT: Cass Elliot of the Mamas and Papas is very much married to Jim Hendricks, an American folk singer. In fact, they are about to become parents. Her younger sister, Leah, is a buddy of Peter Tork - repeat, BUDDY - no romance.
RUMOR: The Monkees' music is "manufactured" by other people and is not performed by them.
FACT: The Monkees sing and play on every single one of their records. On some of the bands on their LP's, outside - or what is known in the recording industry as "back-up musicians" - are used. Every single recording group in the world - and that includes The Beatles - uses back-up musicians in record sessions, and most of them use back-up musicians in live performances on the road. If the Monkees themselves did not sing and play their records, the Musicians' Union would not permit them to collect royalities - and they have already collected thousands and thousands of dollars in royalities, which they are spending.