Track Listing
DISC 1:
1. Monkees, The (Theme From)
2. Last Train to Clarksville
3. I Wanna Be Free
4. Papa Gene's Blues
5. I'm a Believer
6. Steppin' Stone, (I'm Not Your)
7. She
8. Mary, Mary
9. Your Auntie Grizelda
10. Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)
11. Sometime in the Morning
12. Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You, A
13. Girl I Knew Somewhere, The
14. Shades of Gray
15. Randy Scouse Git
16. For Pete's Sake
17. You Just May Be the One
18. Pleasant Valley Sunday
19. Words
20. Daydream Believer
21. Goin' Down
22. What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round?
23. Valleri
24. Porpoise Song (Theme From "Head")
25. Listen to the Band
DISC 2: 1: BONUS KARAOKE DISC:
1. Monkees, The (Theme From)
2. I'm a Believer
3. Steppin' Stone, (I'm Not Your)
4. Pleasant Valley Sunday
5. Daydream Believer
| Details | | Distributor: | WEA (Distributor) | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Includes a bonus karaoke disc.
The Monkees: Michael Nesmith (vocals, guitar, pedal steel guitar, organ); Peter Tork (vocals, guitar, banjo, piano, celeste, electric piano, harpsichord, keyboards, bass); Micky Dolenz (vocals, guitar, zither, Moog synthesizer, drums, timpani, percussion); Davy Jones (vocals, organ, maracas, percussion, chimes).
Producers include: Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart, Jack Keller, The Monkees, Carole King.
Compilation producers: Andrew Sandoval, Bill Inglot.
Recorded between 1966 & 1968. Includes liner notes by Andrew Sandoval.
This is as fine a job as anyone could look for in a single-disc Monkees career summary. Over the course of this generous 25-song disc, all of the Monkees numerous hits are included ("Last Train to Clarksville," "Daydream Believer," etc.), but perhaps more significantly, many lesser-known songs of equal quality can be heard. While the Monkees' many unforgettable hits were generally written by great pop composers of the day like Neil Diamond ("I'm a Believer"), Gerry Goffin & Carole King ("Pleasant Valley Sunday"), and the team of Boyce & Hart (damn near everything else), that's not the whole story.
Though the Monkees were criticized for being merely actors playing a band, Mike Nesmith was in fact a superb songwriter. He's represented by several songs here (the garagey "Mary Mary," the expansive "The Girl I Knew Somewhere," et al), and went on to release some of the best country-rock albums ever made. And though most of the playing on Monkees tracks was done by L.A. studio musicians, the blend of British-Invasion and pop-psych is totally convincing in a manner not unlike self-contained fellow Californians the Beau Brummels. Besides, as great as the Brummels were, would you really want to put their rhythm section up against the likes of Carole Kaye and Hal Blaine?
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