For the follow up to their Heavy Metal opus, Black Veil of Silence, the team of Rob Gravelle and John Perinbam went way back to the 60s to reimagine The Monkees classic in a modern driving rock style.
Inspired by a street named Pleasant Valley Way and their move to suburban West Orange, New Jersey, Gerry Goffin and Carole King wrote the song about dissatisfaction with the life in the suburbs.
The Monkees version added a flashy guitar intro played by Michael Nesmith and a reverb ending. It became one of the band's most successful singles, peaking at No. 3 and continuing their string of top 10 hits. The song was included on Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.
The duo also recently a Prog Rock trilogy of covers consisting of The Monks' Suspended Animation, Oingo Boingo's Private Life, and Saga's Mouse In a Maze. Saga's Michael Sadler described Gravelle-Perinbam's rendition as "very well done" and "intense".
Gravelle and Perinbam have collaborated several times on covers of classic rock songs before, starting with Cheap Trick’s Dream Police back in 2010. The duo also recorded the KNIGHTFALL CD with Annihilator’s Jeff Waters in 2009 as well as several albums with their band Ivory Knight.
Follow the bands at these links:
https://robgravelle.com
https://johnperinbam.com/
https://twitter.com/rob_gravelle
https://www.youtube.com/c/RobGravelle
https://www.facebook.com/RobGravelleOfficial
https://soundcloud.com/rob-gravelle-450614847/
https://robgravelle.bandcamp.com/
https://www.reverbnation.com/robgravelle
https://www.deezer.com/en/album/225835192
https://open.spotify.com/artist/148BjUFhtNiX2lJxv2He4N