The Monkees is the debut studio album by the band the Monkees. It was released in October 1966 by Colgems Records in the United States and RCA Victor in the rest of the world. It was the first of four consecutive U.S. number one albums for the group, taking the top spot on the Billboard 200 for 13 weeks, after which it was displaced by the band's second album.[4] It also topped the UK charts in 1967. The Monkees has been certified quintuple platinum by the RIAA, with sales of over five million copies.
The Monkees | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 10, 1966 (1966-10-10) | |||
Recorded | July 5 – 25, 1966 | |||
Genre | Pop rock[1] | |||
Length | 29:39 | |||
Label | Colgems Records | |||
Producer |
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The Monkees chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Monkees | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
MusicHound | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The song "Last Train to Clarksville" was released as a single shortly before the release of the album and went to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was the only hit single from the album. "I'll Be True to You" was previously released as a single by The Hollies in January 1965 under the title "Yes I Will".
The album was recorded in several separate sessions around Los Angeles from July 5–25, 1966. Early sessions were produced by the trio of Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart and Jack Keller; later sessions were produced by Boyce and Hart. Michael Nesmith produced two sessions scheduled around the work done by Boyce, Hart, and Keller.
Famously, the Monkees were not permitted by their management to function as a working band for this album. Although the album cover credits the band as playing instruments (drums for Dolenz; guitar for the other three members), the group's actual contributions were limited almost entirely to vocal tracks. Eight of the original LP's twelve tracks feature one lone Monkee singing lead vocal over instrumentation and backing vocals recorded entirely by a group of session musicians which varies from song to song. Other tracks feature multiple Monkees singing over session players; only on the two tracks produced by Michael Nesmith does a Monkee (Peter Tork) get to play an instrument (guitar). (Nesmith wrote or co-wrote these two tracks.) No tracks on the original LP feature participation from all four Monkees.
The photos in the "film strip" on the left side of the back cover are from two episodes of The Monkees TV series. The first three photos are from "Your Friendly Neighborhood Kidnappers"; the other two are from the episode "The Spy Who Came in from the Cool". Also included are brief stats on each band member (height, weight, age).
Early pressings of the LP cover as well as side 1 of the label featured the misspelled song "Papa Jean's Blues" (Catalog number COM/COS 101). This was soon corrected as "Papa Gene's Blues" (Catalog number COM/COS 101 RE). It was standard practice for RCA to add an "RE" when any one side of a record or sleeve had a revision. Open copies of both versions are easy to find. In addition when the album was reissued in 1968 the Colgems logo replaced the word "Colgems" on the bottom right-hand corner of the reverse side (Catalog number COS 101 RE2).[5]
All tracks are written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, except where noted.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
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1. | "(Theme From) The Monkees" | Micky Dolenz | 2:18 | |
2. | "Saturday's Child" | David Gates | Dolenz | 2:43 |
3. | "I Wanna Be Free" | Davy Jones | 2:39 | |
4. | "Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day" | Tommy Boyce, Steve Venet | Dolenz | 2:39 |
5. | "Papa Gene's Blues" | Michael Nesmith | Michael Nesmith | 1:57 |
6. | "Take a Giant Step" | Gerry Goffin, Carole King | Dolenz | 2:33 |
Total length: | 14:49 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
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1. | "Last Train to Clarksville" | Dolenz | 2:44 | |
2. | "This Just Doesn't Seem to Be My Day" | Jones | 2:09 | |
3. | "Let's Dance On" | Dolenz | 2:30 | |
4. | "I'll Be True to You" | Gerry Goffin, Russ Titelman | Jones | 2:50 |
5. | "Sweet Young Thing" | Gerry Goffin, Carole King, Michael Nesmith | Nesmith | 1:56 |
6. | "Gonna Buy Me a Dog" | Dolenz, Jones | 2:41 | |
Total length: | 14:50 |
Tracks 1–12: Original album in stereo
Bonus track at the end of Side 1: "I Can't Get Her Off My Mind" (Prev. unissued early version) – 2:55
Bonus track at the end of Side 2: "I Don't Think You Know Me" (Goffin, King) (Prev. unissued alternate version) – 2:18[6]
The following tracks were included on the 2006 deluxe edition of the album. Some were previously unreleased, while others were on the 1994 Rhino reissue or the Missing Links series. Studio chatter is included between some bonus tracks.
Disc One
Tracks 1–12: Original album in stereo
Disc Two
Tracks 1–12: Original album in mono
Disc 1
Tracks 1–12: Original album in mono
Tracks 13–24: Original album in stereo
Bonus Material
Disc 2: The Monkees - Sessions
Disc 3
David Jones - The Original Mono Album
David Jones - The Singles
David Jones - The Original Stereo Album
(Does not include "Dream Girl", as there is no true stereo mix known to exist)
Michael Blessing - The Singles
The Monkees - Demos
Note
"(Theme from) The Monkees"
"Saturday's Child"
"I Wanna Be Free"
"Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day"
"Papa Gene's Blues"
"This Just Doesn't Seem to be My Day"
"Let's Dance On"
"I'll Be True to You"
"Sweet Young Thing"
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"Gonna Buy Me a Dog"
1994 bonus tracks session information"I Can't Get Her Off My Mind" (first recorded version)
"I Don't Think You Know Me" (Micky Dolenz vocal version)
"(Theme from) The Monkees" (second recorded version)
2006 bonus tracks session information"I Don't Think You Know Me" (Michael Nesmith vocal version)
"So Goes Love" (second recorded version)
"(I Prithee) Do Not Ask for Love" (alternate mix)
"All the King's Horses"
"You Just May Be the One" (first recorded version)
"I Wanna Be Free" (fast version)
"I Won't Be the Same Without Her" (mono mix)
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Chart (1966–67) | Peak position |
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Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[8] | 3 |
Canadian Albums (RPM)[9] | 1 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[10] | 1 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] | 11 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[12] | 3 |
UK Albums (OCC)[13] | 1 |
US Billboard 200[14] | 1 |
Year | Single | Chart | Peak position |
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1966 | "Last Train to Clarksville" | Billboard Hot 100 | 1[15] |
1967 | "Last Train to Clarksville" | UK Charts | 23[16] |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United States (RIAA)[17] | 5× Platinum | 5,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
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