What happened on this day 55 years ago? The Monkees arrived with their first number one record:
Last Train to Clarksville, #1 in September 1966
Written by songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart as a protest song to the Vietnam War, it’s about a guy who gets drafted and is taken to an Army post. Boyce and Hart were picked by music mogul Don Kirshner to supply the band with hit songs. But who were the Monkees, that banded together from 1966 to 1971? Mickey Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Davy Jones. They were brought together not for the purpose of being a musical group, but for starring in a situation comedy television series, which lasted two years from ’66 to ’68.
The band’s music was first supervised by Kirshner. There was animosity right off the bat, mainly because all four Monkees were talented musicians but didn’t play their own music. They only sang vocal tracks. In other words, “Let’s create a Beatles-type Hard Days Night for TV and rake in the profits.” Producer Snuff Garret (Bobby Vee, Gary Lewis) was chosen to produce their first records, but his decision to make Davy Jones lead singer caused a riff, and Garret was fired. Boyce and Hart weren’t the only writers. Guess who wrote their second number one hit?
I’m A Believer, #1 in December 1966
That’s Neil Diamond, who also wrote another chart buster for The Monkees, A Little Bit Me A Little Bit You. Nesmith has said that fellow actor and drummer Mickey Dolenz’s voice is what made the band’s sound so distinctive. Nesmith was now producing the group in the studio, but still wasn’t allowed to use anyone but session musicians on the tracks for the first two albums, basically a soundtrack to the TV show. The flip side to I’m a Believer was a Boyce Hart tune:
Steppin’ Stone, #20 in December 1966
The group’s first album was a huge hit, spending 13 weeks at number one and staying on the charts for 78 weeks. For a variety of reasons around this time, Kirshner was sent packing. The boys wanted control over anything that came out. All could and did sing, but who would play the instruments? Nesmith was a skilled guitarist and bassist, Tork could also play keyboards, Jones could sing but wasn’t a drummer. That left Dolenz to pick up the sticks. But session pros were still being used at this point, as you can hear in this Neil Diamond composition.
A Little Bit Me A Little Bit You, #2 in March 1967
The Monkees did find time to tour, but their TV commitments and studio work left them little time. When they did play live, they were as popular as The Beatles. Also at this time, it became apparent that more people were buying the music than watching the TV show. Confusion continued. Were the boys movie actors or were they members of a rock ‘n’ roll band? Boyce and Hart, stilll in the musical mix, wanted Dolenz to sing fast songs and Jones to sing ballads, and felt that Nesmith’s country leaning didn’t fit. Michael persevered, writing a follow-up hit to A Little Bit Me.
The Girl I Knew Somewhere, #39 in March 1967
Nesmith’s Girl was the first record by The Monkees as a self-contained band. Kirshner’s relocation to NYC from LA offered Brill Building songwriters Carole King and Gerry Goffin the opportunity to compose the group’s next single:
Pleasant Valley Sunday, #3 in July 1967
Suffice it to say, the musical side of The Monkees employed lots of writers and musicians along with the band’s desire to compose and record their own material. In 1967, a prolific year for the group, they were a hot commodity over the airwaves and on TV. However, many thought the whole adventure was phony, especially the four guys. Their final number one Billboard hit was a song written by ex-Kingston Trio member John Stewart. Sung by Davy Jones, it became a smash for many other artists thereafter.
Daydream Believer, #1 in November 1967
On the B-side of Daydream is a fast, jazzy number featuring drums, Going Down, written in part by Monkees Tork, Dolenz and Nesmith. This single was followed by the band’s final Top Ten hit, written by Boyce and Hart and sounding very Monkee-ish.
Valleri, #3 in March 1968
By mid-1968, their TV series wouldn’t be renewed and the boys, while still cranking out singles and albums, started feeling the stress of it all. It wasn’t until a year later that a break-up would loom following their last major hit, a song obviously written by Mike Nesmith because of its country flavor.
Listen To The Band, #63 in June 1969
Reunions and tours continue, right up to today. Dolenz and Nesmith remain on stage without Jones, who died in 2012, and Tork, who died in 2019.