The Monkees

"The Monkees" was released in October 1966, a month after the premiere of their half hour sit-com on NBC. Shortly it went to No. 1 on The Billboard Charts and stayed in The Hot 100 for well over a year. I've had the album on vinyl for over 30 years and now I got it on CD and I still love it. Produced by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart,(who in 2019 were nominated for The Songwriters Hall of Fame,) with the music provided by their group "The Candy Store Prophets" and some members of the legendary studio musicians nicknamed "The Wrecking Crew."Boyce&Hart wrote the first track on the album, "Theme from The Monkees," which here features a longer and I think better version. Remember,"People say they monkey around. But they're too busy singing to put anybody down." They wrote "I Wanna Be Free" one of Davy Jones' favorites,(one of Peter Tork's least favorites,.) Andy Williams did his version of this song on his 1967 album "Born Free." Tommy Boyce co-wrote "Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day" an upbeat,rocking tune sung by Micky Dolenz that is one of my favorites. Davy sings Boyce&Hart's kind of mellow "This Just Doesn't Seem To Be My Day."Boyce&Hart also wrote "Gonna Buy Me A Dog" with Davy and Micky monkeying around on it. And, they wrote The Monkees' first single "Last Train To Clarksville" which went to No. 1 on The Billboard Charts even before the television show premiered. Louie Shelton of "The Wrecking Crew" played a great lead guitar on it. This was the only song they did that was ever nominated for a "Grammy." It was was nominated for "Record of The Year" of 1966. "Monday,Monday" by "The Mamas and The Papas",(which "The Wrecking Crew" also played on ,) won the award. I liked "Last Train To Clarksville" better. With the beat,like the sound of a rolling train. I think it was Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart's best song.David Gates who went on to form the group "Bread" in the '70's and is a member of The Songwriters Hall of Fame wrote the second track on the album "Saturday's Child" which Micky sings. And, Rock&Roll Hall of Fame members Carole King and her then husband Gerry Goffin wrote the flip side of the 45 single "Last Train To Clarksville", "Take A Giant Step" a cool, upbeat,psychedelic tune sung by Micky. Remember, "Come and leave yesterday behind and take a giant step outside your mind." Peter did his version of this song on his first solo album,1994's "Stranger Things Have Happened" which is good.Mike Nesmith produced and wrote the Country-Rock "Papa Gene's Blues" ,(which a then unknown Glen Campbell who was then was a member of "The Wrecking Crew" played lead guitar,) Peter played acoustic guitar on it. Mike produced and co-wrote along with Carole King, the Country-Rock tune "Sweet Young Thing" which Glen Campbell also played on. Both tunes are really good. Finally,Davy sings a cover of The Hollies' 1965 song "Yes I Will", "I'll Be True To You" which the teenybopper girls or tweens as they're called now will think is groovy as they used to say back then.I once heard on Casey Casum's American Top 40 some years back, that for 10 years from 1966 to 1976 ,(when "Pink Floyd" and "The Eagles" came along,) this and The Monkees' next album, "More of The Monkees" were the top selling albums. Not too shabby.

Great songs that I remember back in the 70's.

Either you like the Monkees or not, if you do this is the CD for you, the sound quality is good and the memories will come flooding back .Reasonably priced and fast shipping in a padded envelope .-Nate

To get a few obvious things out of the way:1. With two exceptions (Nesmith's "Papa Gene Blues" and "Sweet Young Thing") the Monkees did not actually write these songs.2. Except for a little guitar by Nesmith, the band didn't play on this album.3. Peter Tork was hardly involved in recording of this album at all.4. The Monkees were an artificial band created for a TV show that was thrown together by suits at NBC.Be that as it may; the Monkees still possessed a timeless undeniable charm and youthfulness that propelled them to stardom, and, to this day, has kept them in the hearts and minds of generations of fans. Look at it this way; If the Monkees music wasn't good, they would have been famous for 15 minutes in the 60s, and then forgotten. The fact that their entire catalogue has been remastered by Rhino with extensive liner notes speaks volumes.The Monkees were very good songwriters as future albums would prove. By their third album, "Headquarters," the Monkees wrote most of their own songs and played their own instruments. In the beginning, however, they just sang the songs.Even though the Monkees self-titled album was an artificial creation, just a product to tie in with a TV show, it remains a classic. This is because the songs are well crafted and written, have great hooks, and are all very memorable. Some of the best songwriters of the day (Boyce & Hart, Carol King) were enlisted by Don Kirshner to write songs for the band. The songs were written to sound something like the Beatles, but with a targeted teenage American audience in mind. The result is a fine collection of pop songs and a perfect time capsule of 60s pop music and culture.The entire album is quite memorable. These songs are not prolific or complicated. It's just a sunny, fun, pop album. These early classics "Saturday's Child," "I Wanna Be Free," "Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day," "Take a Giant Step," and "Last Train to Clarksville" will transport you back to another era and put a smile on your face.

Those guys pulled it off, who knew they di not play their own instruments. According to Micky's book, he had trouble getting into Last Train to Clarksdale. Davy and Peter went to the nearby park with their peanutbutter and jelly lunch. Mike stayed with Mickyand said,"why don't you sing this song like you want to." Mike got his guitar and practiced with Micky, by the end of the lunch break Micky was ready to sing the song. He told the guys who were his bosses he felt he had to sing it like he was in a hurry, cause he needed know when he would see his girl again. They picked the right guys to play the parts that they sang most of there lives. I love the album.

This music is a 60s delight! My CD was perfect condition & shipped very quickly. What very nice memories occur in listening to the Monkees music.