The Monkees (album)


The Monkees is the first 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. 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 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".

History

Recording

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, 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 get to play an instrument. No tracks on the original LP feature participation from all four Monkees.

Artwork

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.
Early pressings of the LP cover as well as side 1 of the label featured the misspelled song "Papa Jean's Blues". This was soon corrected as "Papa Gene's Blues". It was standard practice for RCA to add an "RE" when any one side of a record sleeve had a revision. Open copies of both versions are easy to find. In addition when the album was reissued in 1969 the Colgems symbol replaced the word "Colgems" on the bottom right-hand corner of the reverse side. There were no mono copies issued in 1969, as they were phased out altogether in 1968.

Track listing

Original 1966 Colgems vinyl issue

;Side 1
;Side 2

1994 Rhino CD reissue

Tracks 1-12: Original album in stereo
  2. "I Can't Get Her Off My Mind" - 2:55
  3. "I Don't Think You Know Me" - 2:18
  4. " The Monkees" - 0:52

    1996 Sundazed vinyl reissue

Bonus track at the end of Side 1: "I Can't Get Her Off My Mind" - 2:55
Bonus track at the end of Side 2: "I Don't Think You Know Me" - 2:18

2006 Rhino deluxe CD reissue

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
  2. " The Monkees" - 1:03
  3. "The Kind of Girl I Could Love" - 2:06
  4. "I Don't Think You Know Me" - 2:16
  5. "So Goes Love" - 3:31
  6. "Papa Gene's Blues" - 1:59
  7. "I Can't Get Her Off My Mind" - 3:38
  8. " Do Not Ask for Love" - 3:11
  9. "Gonna Buy Me a Dog" - 2:59
  10. Monkees Radio Spot - 0:53
Disc Two
Tracks 1-12: Original album in mono
  2. "Kellogg's Jingle" - 0:20
  3. "All the King's Horses" - 2:21
  4. "You Just May Be the One" - 1:59
  5. "I Wanna Be Free" - 2:46
  6. "I Don't Think You Know Me" - 2:16
  7. "I Won't Be the Same Without Her" - 2:41
  8. "Propinquity " - 2:27
  9. " The Monkees" - 0:50

    2014 Rhino Super Deluxe 3 CD reissue

The following tracks were included on the 2014 Super Deluxe edition of the album.
Disc 1
The Original Mono Album
  1. " The Monkees"
  2. "Saturday’s Child"
  3. "I Wanna Be Free"
  4. "Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day"
  5. "Papa Gene’s Blues"
  6. "Take a Giant Step"
  7. "Last Train to Clarksville"
  8. "This Just Doesn’t Seem to Be My Day"
  9. "Let’s Dance On"
  10. "I’ll Be True to You"
  11. "Sweet Young Thing"
  12. "Gonna Buy Me a Dog"
The Original Stereo Album
  1. " The Monkees"
  2. "Saturday’s Child"
  3. "I Wanna Be Free"
  4. "Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day"
  5. "Papa Gene’s Blues"
  6. "Take a Giant Step"
  7. "Last Train to Clarksville"
  8. "This Just Doesn’t Seem to Be My Day"
  9. "Let’s Dance On"
  10. "I’ll Be True to You"
  11. "Sweet Young Thing"
  12. "Gonna Buy Me a Dog"
Bonus Material
  1. " The Monkees"
  2. "You Just May Be the One" †
  3. "This Just Doesn’t Seem to Be My Day" †
  4. "Take a Giant Step" †
  5. "All the King’s Horses" †
  6. "I Wanna Be Free" †
  7. "The Kind of Girl I Could Love" †
  8. "Monkees NBC Promo Spot" †
  9. "Saturday’s Child" †
  10. "Kellogg’s Jingle"
  11. "Monkees Radio Spot"
  12. " The Monkees"
Disc 2
The Monkees - Sessions
  1. "I Wanna Be Free" †
  2. "All the King’s Horses" †
  3. "The Kind of Girl I Could Love" †
  4. "I Don’t Think You Know Me" †
  5. " The Monkees" †
  6. "Let’s Dance On" †
  7. "This Just Doesn’t Seem to Be My Day" †
  8. "Gonna Buy Me a Dog" †
  9. "So Goes Love" †
  10. "So Goes Love" †
  11. "Papa Gene’s Blues" †
  12. "Papa Gene’s Blues" †
  13. "I’ll Be True to You" †
  14. "I Won’t Be the Same Without Her" †
  15. "I Won’t Be the Same Without Her" †
  16. "Sweet Young Thing" †
  17. "Sweet Young Thing" †
  18. "You Just May Be the One" †
  19. "You Just May Be the One" †
  20. "I Wanna Be Free" †
  21. "I Wanna Be Free" †
  22. "I Wanna Be Free" †
  23. "Jokes" †
  24. "Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day" †
  25. "Gonna Buy Me a Dog" †
  26. "I Can’t Get Her Off of My Mind" †
  27. "Mary, Mary" †
  28. "Of You" †
  29. "Of You" †
  30. " Do Not Ask for Love" †
  31. " Do Not Ask for Love" †
Disc 3
David Jones - The Original Mono Album
  1. "What Are We Going to Do?"
  2. "Maybe It’s Because I’m a Londoner"
  3. "Put Me Amongst the Girls"
  4. "Any Old Iron"
  5. "Theme for a New Love"
  6. "It Ain’t Me, Babe"
  7. "Face Up to It"
  8. "Dream Girl"
  9. "Baby, It’s Me"
  10. "My Dad"
  11. "This Bouquet"
David Jones - The Singles
  1. "Take Me to Paradise"
  2. "The Girl from Chelsea"
David Jones - The Original Stereo Album
  1. "What Are We Going to Do?"
  2. "Maybe It’s Because I’m a Londoner"
  3. "Put Me Amongst the Girls
  4. "Any Old Iron"
  5. "Theme for a New Love"
  6. "It Ain’t Me, Babe"
  7. "Face Up to It"
  8. "Baby, It’s Me"
  9. "My Dad"
  10. "This Bouquet"
Michael Blessing - The Singles
  1. "The New Recruit"
  2. "A Journey With Michael Blessing"
  3. "Until It’s Time for You to Go"
  4. "What Seems to Be the Trouble, Officer?"
  5. "Who Do You Love?" †
  6. "Get Out of My Life, Woman" †
The Monkees – Demos
  1. "I Wanna Be Free" †
  2. "I Wanna Be Free" †
  3. "I Wanna Be Free" †
  4. "I Wanna Be Free" †
Note
" The Monkees"
"Saturday's Child"
"I Wanna Be Free"
"Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day"
"Papa Gene's Blues"
"Take a Giant Step"
"Last Train to Clarksville"
"This Just Doesn't Seem to be My Day"
"Let's Dance On"
"I'll Be True to You"
"Sweet Young Thing"
"Gonna Buy Me a Dog"
"I Can't Get Her Off My Mind"
"I Don't Think You Know Me"
" The Monkees"
"I Don't Think You Know Me"
"So Goes Love"
" Do Not Ask for Love"
"All the King's Horses"
"You Just May Be the One"
"I Wanna Be Free"
"I Won't Be the Same Without Her"

Album

Single

Certifications