When cover artist Bernard Yeszin came to illustrate The Monkees’ fourth album, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., he took a brave step.  The group would be drawn in silhouette only, with just their respective astrological signs hinting at their identities.  “The Monkees were so popular and so hot at the time,” says Yeszin of the concept, “that I could do just about anything that reminded you of The Monkees.  I could do an album cover and just show their outline and people would identify them.  People would know they were The Monkees.

“It was really based upon a photograph that I had taken of them,” explains Yeszin, who took this idea a step further by obscuring the band’s famed guitar logo in a crop of water-colored flowers.  “At first I had it up at the top,” says Yeszin of the emblem, “and I said, ‘Just go for it, Bernie; just drop it way down into the flowers and hopefully the people will get it.’  The flowers were part of that flower child love-fest that was going on during that period of time.  Historically, it was right on the money.”

Seemingly everything The Monkees did in 1967 was right on the money.  They outsold The Beatles and Rolling Stones with three #1 albums, broke box office records with a colossal summer tour, and dominated the small screen with their television series.  Unfortunately, they also suffered from acute overexposure and a media backlash.  “Everybody in the press and the hippie movement had got us their target window as being illegitimate and not worthy of consideration as a musical force [or] certainly any kind of cultural force,” remembers Michael Nesmith.  “We were under siege; wherever we went there was such resentment for us.  We were constantly mocked and humiliated by the press.  We were really gettin’ beat up pretty good.

“We all knew what was going on inside.  Kirshner had been purged.  We’d gone to try to make Headquarters and found out that it was only marginally okay and that our better move was to just go back to the original songwriting and song-making strategy of the first albums except with a clear indication of how [the music] came to be.  When I say that we were under siege, it’s very difficult to explain now.  The rabid element and the hatred that was engendered is almost impossible to describe.  It lingers to this day among many people my own age.”

Amid this bittersweet symphony of success and scorn, The Monkees pulled off a creative coup; their fourth album would be their finest.  “Pisces Aquarius was the one that caught it all,” states Nesmith, “because we went back to the basics of making music for the television shows and trying to make good pop records, and I think we did a good job at it.  I think it sounds good; it’s well-produced and so forth.”

But if Chip Douglas had his hands full producing an album with the fledgling musical unit on Headquarters, completing Pisces Aquarius was rather like pulling teeth.  “Each guy had so many different interests going,” recalls Douglas, “[between] touring and doing the TV show.  They just liked to hang out and relax and talk to their friends.  Instead, we’d have to get into the studio and work.  I was always pulling and tugging at them, ‘Come on, you guys, we’ve got to finish this.  Let’s get in the studio.’  The little jealousies and rivalries began to crop up.”

It’s no wonder since the band had little time to unwind.  Work commenced on their fourth album just as soon as the Headquarters sessions wrapped.  Towards the end of April, The Monkees recorded Harry Nilsson’s “Cuddly Toy.”  The song had been demoed for them at a private session on March 17th, and the group instantly fell in love with Nilsson’s songwriting.  “[Friend and songwriter] Bill Martin brought Harry over to one of the recording [sessions],” recalls Nesmith.  “I think it might have been while we were doing Headquarters.  Harry was working at a bank at the time and writing songs on the side trying to make a living at it.  He had a stack of ‘em, but I loved ‘Cuddly Toy’ when I heard it.  I said, ‘Oh, man, we gotta do this.’”

A jaunty Davy Jones-sung toe-tapper, “Cuddly Toy” would mark Micky’s last solo stand as studio drummer for The Monkees.  “He did a great job on Headquarters,” says a disappointed Peter Tork.  “[But] he wasn’t going to do it again, and there was nothing you could do [to change his mind].  We had to go back in the studio.  He said, ‘Peter, you can’t go back.’”  For the remainder of the album sessions, Micky would be replaced on the skins by a friend of Chip’s.  “Eddie Hoh did the drumming,” says Tork.  “Chip got him ‘cause he could read [music].  The result is that you get directed stuff, there’s no group interaction, which is why I wanted the group to be on the album in the first place.  You listen to Beatle albums and one of the things that makes them great is that they have found ways to use who they have to get what they want without asking anyone to do what they couldn’t do.  That’s what makes group music happen.  That’s all I ever hoped for, and I had it for like a minute on Headquarters.”

There were still some wonderful moments on Pisces Aquarius,” Tork maintains.  “It’s sort of a mixed-mode band: you hear us, and you hear the pros.  It’s a compromise.  It’s not what I would have liked, but it’s better than what was before, as far as I’m concerned.”

In addition to bringing Nilsson to The Monkees, songwriter Bill Martin also proffered his brilliant anti-war song “The Door Into Summer.”  Sessions for the tune began in May and were spread over the next several months as Chip Douglas pieced together the final production.  “We did a demo of that together, Bill Martin and I,” says Douglas.  “It had a real good feel to it, but we had to redo it for some reason.  I was always a little disappointed in the newer version from the original demo of it.”

This reissue features a bonus alternative mix of “The Door Into Summer” which may surpass the released version.  “Probably one of those things where you keep working on it and keep working on it and it changes and it changes,” muses Douglas.  “You get to the final version, and it’s sometimes not as good as the earlier version.  That was around the time we went from Studio C at RCA to Studio A; they had just started bringing in 8-track [tape machines].  We had a few more tracks to kind of work with and had more room to play [on this album].”  As a result, every track on Pisces would be saturated with inventive sounds.

After a prestigious Friday-night gig at the Hollywood Bowl, The Monkees entered RCA’s Studio A on June 10th to tape their next single, Goffin & King’s “Pleasant Valley Sunday.”  Chip Douglas did a brilliant job of arranging the song using Carole King’s demo as a model and writing his own distinctive opening to the song (based on The Beatles’ “I Want To Tell You”).  Nesmith recalls, “Chip came in and said, ‘You know what we need is a riff.  We’re living in the time of the riff: “Paperback Writer” and “Last Train To Clarksville,” “Day Tripper.”  How does this riff sound?’  He played the riff [he had written] to ‘Pleasant Valley Sunday.’  I said, ‘Well, teach it to me.  Let me see.’  So he taught it to me and he said, ‘You know we could put this to “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” and it would work really well.’  I said, ‘That sounds good to me.’  So I pulled out [my guitar] the black beauty, hooked it up, and we made it.

“I remember that we went after the guitar sound.  Everybody was trying to get that great big present guitar sound – nobody knew quite how to do it.  I think I used like three [Vox] Super Beatle [amplifiers] in the studio playing really loud, trying to get the sound, and it just ended up sounding kind of, you know, like it does, kind of wooden.  There was a type of limiter/compressor called a UREI 1176.  It was a tube-type limiter/compressor and boy, you could really suck stuff out of the track.  That was the first time that we really could do it.  I think everybody got a little carried away with the 1176 on that record.”

Released at the end of July, “Pleasant Valley Sunday” hit #3 a few weeks later – though not everyone was thrilled by Chip’s final production.  “I do remember seeing Carole King up at the Screen Gems office after we did ‘Pleasant Valley Sunday,’ she kind of gave me this dirty look,” recalls Chip Douglas, who mistakenly transposed some lyric lines from the bridge of King’s original demo.  “I thought, Was it that line that I got wrong, perhaps, or didn’t she like the guitar intro?”

Regardless, The Monkees were now off and rolling, and on the evening of June 14th they knocked out three of their most impressive recordings to date.  Among these, Boyce and Hart’s “Words” was a stellar song that had been recorded and rejected during late 1966 (an earlier version can be heard on the reissue of More Of The Monkees).  “‘Words’ we tried to do close to the original which was done by Boyce and Hart,” comment Chip Douglas on his new production.  “The only difference is there’s Monkees in the background instead of Boyce and Hart.  Peter did the solo [on Hammond organ, which replaced Boyce and Hart’s flute solo].”  Appearing as the flipside of “Pleasant Valley Sunday” in July, the song shot to #11 on the Billboard chart.

Another single side taped on June 14th was the #1 smash “Daydream Believer.”  Surprisingly, the track was held from inclusion on Pisces.  “Actually, I always felt the reason Pisces didn’t sell [more was] because they didn’t put ‘Daydream Believer’ on it,” opines Douglas.  “‘Daydream Believer’ was supposed to be in the album, [but Music Coordinator] Lester Sill said, ‘Well, we’re not puttin’ it on this album, we’re gonna put it on the next album.’  That was their theory; we’ll just keep one as an ace in the hole for the next album.”

A song definitely not destined for single release was Craig Smith’s “Salesman.”  “The wonderful story attached to that has to do with ‘The Devil And Peter Tork’ episode,” says Tork of The Monkees series installment in which he sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for musical aptitude.  “That song was [featured in the episode], and NBC said, ‘We’re not putting that song out.’  We said, ‘How come?’  They said, ‘Because “Salesman’s” got drug references in it.’  In fact, it sort of does, but not directly, and it’s not approving by any stretch of the imagination.  What it really says is: Salesmen are so sleazy, they’ll sell anything.  [That’s] the basic thrust of that song.”

Nesmith had come across “Salesman” when he took an interest in a local band, The Penny Arkade, who he produced.  “Craig Smith was a member,” says Nesmith of the song’s composer.  “I really liked the way they sang.  The reason I was drawn to ‘Salesman’ was because it reminded me of Sir Douglas and the Tex-Mex oom-pah.”  An alternate mix of “Salesman” featuring a deleted vocal rap about using a cigarette rolling machine is included here as a bonus track.  Craig Smith later went on to make two rather disturbing self-released albums, one of which included a version of “Salesman” with The Beach Boys’ Mike Love on guest vocals.

Returning to the studio on June 19th, the band created a pair of psychedelic-sounding tracks for Pisces: “Daily Nightly” and “Love Is Only Sleeping.”  Penned by Michael Nesmith, “Daily Nightly” lyrically touched on the November ‘66 riots on the Sunset Strip.  The song’s ethereal backing track was later augmented by Micky playing a modular Moog synthesizer (an instrument he had just purchased the previous weekend at the Monterey International Pop Festival).  “It’s the Hollywood street scene,” says Nesmith of “Daily Nightly’s” lyrical setting.  “I wrote it because I had bought a Hammond B-3 [organ].  That guitar line, that’s a keyboard lick that got over to the guitar.  Somewhere around that time [the Sunset Boulevard nightclub] Pandora’s Box burned down.  The street scene [of people] which would congregate had gotten a bus on fire which in turn burned down Pandora’s Box.  That was the first real time that those crazy kids got out of control.  I was amused by the obvious inability of the press to digest this information; they just didn’t have any sense of what was going on at all.  So I just wrote it down in that poem.”

Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil’s “Love Is Only Sleeping” had a similarly entrancing sound.  Kicked off by another homespun guitar riff, the production was capped by a stunning Nesmith lead vocal.  “Kind of a smoky background there too, wasn’t it?” comments Tork of the song’s atmospheric backing track.  “Kind of a little surreal… Pisces, Aquarius was all a mixed bag.”  Michael Nesmith adds, “I remember when they would send me Barry and Cynthia’s songs.  We were always looking for songs to record.  I just remember liking the song quite a bit in the demo.”  “Love Is Only Sleeping” was nearly issued as a single, but its vaguely risqué lyrics kept it confined to album-only status.

Nesmith was at the forefront of another session on June 20th, which produced a further pair of Pisces tracks.  His somber “Don’t Call On Me” was rescued from Nesmith’s folk period when he performed as a duet with bassist John London (the song’s co-author).  “That was pre-Monkees [when] I wrote that song.  [It was] kind of a musical experiment for me trying out the Major 7th [chord] notion and what cocktail lounge music was all about.”  To enhance the ambiance, “Don’t Call On Me” was later augmented by a mock lounge intro.  “That was just to give it a framework [so] you knew it was [being performed at] some mythical cocktail lounge in a downtown Chicago hotel ballroom,” says Nesmith, “or a restaurant in the sky.  It was just a send-up of those kinds of things.”

More sincere was Nesmith’s take on “What Am I Doing Hangin’ ‘Round?”  He says, “One of the things that I felt was honest was country-rock.  I wanted to move The Monkees more into that because I felt like, ‘Gee, you know, if we get closer to country music, we’ll get closer to blues, and country blues, and so forth.’  [The guys who wrote the song] Michael [Murphey] and Boomer Castleman – Boomer was his nickname – were writers at Screen Gems and they just wrote all kinds of really wonderful little songs, and ‘Hangin’ ‘Round’ was one of them.  It had a lot of uncountry things in it: a familiar change from a first major to a sixth minor – those kinds of things.  So it was kind of a new wave country song; [it] didn’t sound like the country of the time which was Buck Owens.”  This reissue features a previously unissued alternate vocal take of the song as a bonus track.

Prior to setting off on a European tour, The Monkees produced a new recording of Jeff Barry’s “She Hangs Out,” followed by a jam session that resulted in a rare group creation called “Goin’ Down.”  “That was originally a track we did for a tune I wanted to do by Mose Allison called ‘Parchment Farm,’” says the song’s lead vocalist Micky Dolenz.  “It was the exact same song, and we were covering it basically.  So we did the tracks, and it came out real good.  I remember Mike saying, ‘All it is is the chord progression, we’re not going to steal the melody or anything.  Let’s use this track but write other words, another melody to it.  Why should we just cover somebody else’s tune?’  So I said, ‘Okay, fine.  Good idea.’  [Songwriter] Diane Hildebrand was given the track, and she was told to go away and write a song.  She came back with [‘Goin’ Down’].”  Originally issued as the flipside of “Daydream Believer” in November 1967, “Goin’ Down” was initially intended as an album track for Pisces.  Picking up some regional airplay, “Goin’ Down” briefly bubbled under the Billboard chart at #104.

The band’s final recording of the early summer was Goffin and King’s adult-themed “Star Collector.”  Despite the group’s popularity, the fact that teen heartthrob Davy Jones was clearly singing a song about groupies went over most listener’s heads.  “There were a lot of those double entendres and innuendos and stuff going around,” remarks Nesmith.  “I ignored all that stuff.  I certainly never had any sense of, ‘Oh boy, this will be cool.  We’ll say something euphemistically.’  I mean, if I wanted to say something, you know, straight out, I would have said something straight out.”  Musically, “Star Collector” was one of the band’s lengthiest instrumental workouts, originally extending to nearly five minutes.  Two previously unissued extended mixes of the song are featured here as bonus tracks.

Journalist Keith Altham attended the “Star Collector” session and filed this fascinating eyewitness report in Britain’s New Musical Express, “When I arrived at 10 p.m., Peter, Micky and Mike were completing the last track for their fourth album – ‘Star Collector.’  There were ten or twelve takes before the group and Lester Sill were satisfied with the track.  ‘Star Collector’ was supposed to run for about two and a half minutes, but ran out of control as they improvised their way into six minutes of playing time, with Micky ‘buh-by-ooing’ his way into infinity.  Dolenz was particularly gratified by the playback.  ‘That’s great, you guys,’ he shouted.  ‘I can do some fantastic things with my sound synthesizer in there!’  This electronic machine is Micky’s latest plaything.

“The group went back to tape some dialogue, and the conversation wheeled around to what they could have on the album cover.  Mike suggested, ‘I thought we might have this gigantic organ grinder thing which goes up right out of the picture so you can just see the handle and a huge hand turning it.  Then the four of us in monkey suits, with shackles and chains around our necks, attached to the giant wrist.’  Dolenz suggested: ‘How about a huge monkey foot with just us squatting beside it?’  Dolenz decided the muse was upon him, and further expounded: ‘Black!  That’s what I want.  I want the whole sleeve black – black, black, black!’  Nobody seemed terrible enthusiastic about the idea and they all went home.”

For the next two months, producer Chip Douglas followed the band on their summer tour, recording overdubs and mixing Pisces at stops in Nashville, Chicago and New York City.  In late August a final track was taped in Hollywood for inclusion on the album, “Hard To Believe.”  Composed by Davy in conjunction with members of The Monkees’ summer tour opening act, The Sundowners, it fully utilized RCA’s new 8-track facility.  For the first time, a Monkees song would be built up one instrument at a time.  “[Composer] Kim Copli did all the instruments on that starting with the drums.  It came out well for what he did and sounded like a real track.  But I’d never done that with anybody before.  When it came to anyone but The Monkees in [the studio], I didn’t like anyone but them around really.  Anyone [from] the outside that they collaborated with was like pulling it apart to me.  [Having The Monkees] collaborating together on something, that’s what I was always wishing for, you know.”  The first in a series of “Broadway rock” styled songs for Davy, “Hard To Believe” was topped off by a snazzy brass and string arrangement.  “I went to Harry Nilsson’s arranger [George Tipton],” says Jones, “to consider putting that kind of flavor to it.”

Mixed during October and issued in November 1967, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. coasted to #1 by year’s end.  Simultaneously, the band held down the #1 slot on the Singles chart with “Daydream Believer.”  Having succeeded in becoming a true musical unit, the members now pursued individual goals.  “Things were kind of falling apart,” explains producer Chip Douglas, “and there was less and less time, and everybody was more and more frustrated and wanting to do their own ideas and didn’t want to have to go through a central interpreter like me.

“Everybody wanted to do these songs and produce them the way they wanted to hear them.  It was sad.  I was ready to do that Boyce and Hart song ‘P.O. Box 9847.’  I thought, Boy, that could probably be pretty good.  We began to talk a little bit about that.  I was getting more ideas, you know.  Then [they said], ‘Chip, we’re not working with you anymore.  We’re going to do our own thing.’  It just drifted apart.”

Thus The Monkees returned to being a band in name only.  Exactly one year after the release of Pisces, Nesmith told a television interviewer: “Each of us has an individual road or path that we’re traveling.  There’s no group sound.  There hardly ever was really.”  Davy Jones quickly chimed in, “There never was.”  Driving home the point, Dolenz repeated the same words, “There never was.”  Peter Tork sat by silently.  Two weeks later he left the band.

– Andrew Sandoval

Andrew Sandoval is the author of The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story Of The '60s TV Pop Sensation.
___________________________________________________

Disc 1

THE ORIGINAL STEREO ALBUM

1. SALESMAN
(Craig Vincent Smith)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/14/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, New York, NY (7/15/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67 & other dates)
Featuring/MICHAEL NESMITH: lead vocals, guitar, shaker
CHIP DOUGLAS: nylon-string guitar, bass (& possibly backing vocals)
EDDIE HOH: drums
MICKY DOLENZ & DAVY JONES: percussion, backing vocals
PETER TORK: (possibly acoustic guitar)

2. SHE HANGS OUT
(Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/21/67, 7/3/67 & 8/9/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67, 9/23/67 & other dates)
Featuring/DAVY JONES: lead & backing vocals
MICHAEL NESMITH: electric guitar
PETER TORK: organ
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass, backing vocals
EDDIE HOH: drums
PETE CANDOLI, AL PORCINO & MANNY STEVENS: trumpet
DICK NOEL: trombone
DICK LEITH & PHIL TEELE: bass trombone
MICKY DOLENZ: backing vocals
Unknown additional electric guitar, tambourine, handclaps & other percussion

3. THE DOOR INTO SUMMER
(Chip Douglas/Bill Martin)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO B, Hollywood, CA (8/23/67 & 8/24/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67, 9/7/67, 10/3/67 & other dates);
WESTERN RECORDERS STUDIO 1, Hollywood, CA (10/4/67)
Featuring/MICHAEL NESMITH: lead vocals (& possibly guitar)
MICKY DOLENZ: harmony vocals (& possibly drums)
CHIP DOUGLAS: guitar, bass
PETER TORK: keyboards
EDDIE HOH: drums
BILL MARTIN & HARRY NILSSON: unknown
Unknown percussion

4. LOVE IS ONLY SLEEPING
(Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO C, Hollywood, CA (6/19/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (7/10/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67, 9/7/67, 9/23/67, 10/1/67 & other dates)
Featuring/MICHAEL NESMITH: lead vocals, guitar
CHIP DOUGLAS: guitar, bass, backing vocals
PETER TORK: organ
EDDIE HOH: drums
DAVY JONES: backing vocals, tambourine
MICKY DOLENZ: backing vocals
BILL MARTIN & HARRY NILSSON: unknown
Unknown handclaps, percussion

5. CUDDLY TOY
(Harry Nilsson)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (4/26/67, 9/5/67 & other dates)
Featuring/DAVY JONES: lead & backing vocals, tambourine
MICKY DOLENZ: harmony & backing vocals, drums
MICHAEL NESMITH: acoustic guitar
PETER TORK: keyboards, backing vocals
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass, backing vocals
TED NASH, THOMAS SCOTT & BUD SHANK: reeds, winds
EDGAR LUSTGARTEN: cello

6. WORDS
(Tommy Boyce/Bobby Hart)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/14/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIO C, Hollywood, CA (6/15/67 & other dates)
Featuring/MICKY DOLENZ: lead vocals
PETER TORK: lead vocals, organ
MICHAEL NESMITH: tremolo guitar, percussion, backing vocals
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass, backing vocals
EDDIE HOH: drums
DAVY JONES: percussion (& possibly backing vocals)

7. HARD TO BELIEVE
(David Jones/Kim Capli/Eddie brick/Charlie Rockett)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO B, Hollywood, CA (8/23/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67, 9/6/67, 9/9/67, 9/15/67 & 9/23/67)
Featuring/DAVY JONES: lead vocals
KIM CAPLI: guitar, piano, bass, drums, shaker, cowbell, claves & other percussion
VINCENT DeROSA: French horn
OLLIE MITCHELL & TONY TERRAN: flugelhorn
BOBBY KNIGHT: bass trombone
JIM HORN: baritone sax
LEONARD ATKINS, ARNOLD BELNICK, NATHAN KAPROFF, WILBERT NUTTYCOMBE, JEROME REISLER & DARRELL TERWILLIGER: violin

8. WHAT AM I DOING HANGIN’ ‘ROUND?
(Michael Martin Murphey/Owen Castleman)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/20/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67 & other dates)
Featuring/MICHAEL NESMITH: lead vocals, guitar
DOUG DILLARD: electric banjo
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass, backing vocals
EDDIE HOH: drums
MICKY DOLENZ & DAVY JONES: backing vocals

9. PETER PERCIVAL PATTERSON’S PET PIG PORKY
(Peter Tork)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/10/67);
WESTERN RECORDERS STUDIO 1, Hollywood, CA (10/4/67)
Featuring/PETER TORK: spoken word

10. PLEASANT VALLEY SUNDAY
(Gerry Goffin/Carole King)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/10/67, 6/11/67, 6/13/67 & other dates)
Featuring/MICKY DOLENZ: lead vocals (& possibly guitar)
MICHAEL NESMITH: electric guitar, backing vocals
BILL CHADWICK: acoustic guitar
PETER TORK: piano, backing vocals
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass (& possibly backing vocals)
EDDIE HOH: drums, percussion
DAVY JONES: backing vocals

11. DAILY NIGHTLY
(Michael Nesmith)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO C, Hollywood, CA (6/19/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67 & other dates);
WESTERN RECORDERS STUDIO 1, Hollywood, CA (10/4/67)
Featuring/MICKY DOLENZ: lead vocals, Moog synthesizer
MICHAEL NESMITH: guitar
PETER TORK: organ
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass
EDDIE HOH: drums

12. DON’T CALL ON ME
(Michael Nesmith/John London)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/20/67 & 7/7/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67, 10/9/67 & other dates)
Featuring/MICHAEL NESMITH: lead vocals, guitar
CHIP DOUGLAS: acoustic guitar, bass
BOB RAFELSON: piano intro
PETER TORK: organ
EDDIE HOH: drums, claves
MICKY DOLENZ, DAVY JONES, BILL MARTIN, CHARLIE ROCKETT and others: intro chatter

13. STAR COLLECTOR
(Gerry Goffin/Carole King)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/22/67 & 7/6/67 & other dates);
AMERICAN RECORDING CO., Studio City, CA (10/4/67);
UNITED RECORDERS STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (10/16/67)
Featuring/DAVY JONES: lead & backing vocals
MICKY DOLENZ: harmony & backing vocals
MICHAEL NESMITH: guitar
PETER TORK: organ
PAUL BEAVER: Moog synthesizer
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass, backing vocals (& possibly electric guitar)
EDDIE HOH: drums
Unknown additional backing vocals

Bonus Material

14. GOIN’ DOWN (Stereo Mix)
(Diane Hildebrand/Peter Tork/Michael Nesmith/Micky Dolenz/Davy Jones)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/21/67 & 7/5/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/15/67, 9/23/67, 10/3/67 & other dates);
WESTERN RECORDERS STUDIO 1, Hollywood, CA (10/4/67)
Featuring/MICKY DOLENZ: lead vocals
MICHAEL NESMITH & PETER TORK: electric guitar
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass
EDDIE HOH: drums
BUD BRISBOIS, VIRGIL EVANS, UAN RASEY & THOMAS SCOTT: trumpet
BOBBY HELFER: trumpet, bass clarinet
LOU BLACKBURN & DICK NASH: trombone
DICK LEITH & PHIL TEELE: bass trombone
BUDDY COLLETTE, BILL HOOD & PLAS JOHNSON: sax
JOHN LOWE: bass sax, bass clarinet
SHORTY ROGERS: arrangement
Originally unissued.  First collected on the CD reissue of the album Then And Now… The Best Of The Monkees, Arista #8432 (8/86)

15. SALESMAN (Alternate Stereo Mix)
(Craig Vincent Smith)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/14/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, New York, NY (7/15/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67 & other dates)
Featuring/MICHAEL NESMITH: lead vocals, guitar, shaker
CHIP DOUGLAS: nylon-string guitar, bass (& possibly backing vocals)
EDDIE HOH: drums
MICKY DOLENZ & DAVY JONES: percussion, backing vocals
PETER TORK: (possibly acoustic guitar)
Previously unissued

16. SHE HANGS OUT (Alternate Stereo Mix)
(Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/21/67 & 7/3/67)
Featuring/DAVY JONES: lead & backing vocals
MICHAEL NESMITH: electric guitar
PETER TORK: organ
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass, backing vocals
EDDIE HOH: drums
MICKY DOLENZ: backing vocals
Unknown additional electric guitar, tambourine, handclaps & other percussion
Previously unissued

17. LOVE IS ONLY SLEEPING (Alternate Mix)
(Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO C, Hollywood, CA (6/19/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (7/10/67)
Featuring/MICHAEL NESMITH: vocals, guitar
CHIP DOUGLAS: guitar, bass, backing vocals
PETER TORK: organ
EDDIE HOH: drums
DAVY JONES: backing vocals, tambourine
MICKY DOLENZ: backing vocals
Originally unissued.  First collected on the CD reissue of the album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., Rhino #71793 (1/24/95)

18. WHAT AM I DOING HANGIN’ ‘ROUND? (Alternate Mix)
(Michael Martin Murphey/Owen Castleman)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/20/67 & other dates)
Featuring/MICHAEL NESMITH: lead vocals, guitar
DOUG DILLARD: electric banjo
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass
EDDIE HOH: drums
Previously unissued

19. STAR COLLECTOR (Alternate Stereo Mix)
(Gerry Goffin/Carole King)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/22/67 & 7/6/67 & other dates)
Featuring/DAVY JONES: lead & backing vocals
MICKY DOLENZ: harmony & backing vocals
MICHAEL NESMITH: guitar
PETER TORK: organ
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass, backing vocals (& possibly electric guitar)
EDDIE HOH: drums
Previously unissued

20.  RIU CHIU (TV Version)
(Trad.)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (8/24/67)
Featuring/MICKY DOLENZ, DAVY JONES, MICHAEL NESMITH & PETER TORK: vocals
Previously unissued
_________________________________________________________________

Disc 2

THE ORIGINAL MONO ALBUM

1. SALESMAN
(Craig Vincent Smith)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/14/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, New York, NY (7/15/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67 & other dates)
Featuring/MICHAEL NESMITH: lead vocals, guitar, shaker
CHIP DOUGLAS: nylon-string guitar, bass (& possibly backing vocals)
EDDIE HOH: drums
MICKY DOLENZ & DAVY JONES: percussion, backing vocals
PETER TORK: (possibly acoustic guitar)

2. SHE HANGS OUT
(Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/21/67, 7/3/67 & 8/9/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67, 9/23/67 & other dates)
Featuring/DAVY JONES: lead & backing vocals
MICHAEL NESMITH: electric guitar
PETER TORK: organ
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass, backing vocals
EDDIE HOH: drums
PETE CANDOLI, AL PORCINO & MANNY STEVENS: trumpet
DICK NOEL: trombone
DICK LEITH & PHIL TEELE: bass trombone
MICKY DOLENZ: backing vocals
Unknown additional electric guitar, tambourine, handclaps & other percussion

3. THE DOOR INTO SUMMER
(Chip Douglas/Bill Martin)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO B, Hollywood, CA (8/23/67 & 8/24/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67, 9/7/67, 10/3/67 & other dates);
WESTERN RECORDERS STUDIO 1, Hollywood, CA (10/4/67)
Featuring/MICHAEL NESMITH: lead vocals (& possibly guitar)
MICKY DOLENZ: harmony vocals (& possibly drums)
CHIP DOUGLAS: guitar, bass
PETER TORK: keyboards
EDDIE HOH: drums
BILL MARTIN & HARRY NILSSON: unknown
Unknown percussion

4. LOVE IS ONLY SLEEPING
(Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO C, Hollywood, CA (6/19/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (7/10/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67, 9/7/67, 9/23/67, 10/1/67 & other dates)
Featuring/MICHAEL NESMITH: lead vocals, guitar
CHIP DOUGLAS: guitar, bass, backing vocals
PETER TORK: organ
EDDIE HOH: drums
DAVY JONES: backing vocals, tambourine
MICKY DOLENZ: backing vocals
BILL MARTIN & HARRY NILSSON: unknown
Unknown handclaps, percussion

5. CUDDLY TOY
(Harry Nilsson)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (4/26/67, 9/5/67 & other dates)
Featuring/DAVY JONES: lead & backing vocals, tambourine
MICKY DOLENZ: harmony & backing vocals, drums
MICHAEL NESMITH: acoustic guitar
PETER TORK: keyboards, backing vocals
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass, backing vocals
TED NASH, THOMAS SCOTT & BUD SHANK: reeds, winds
EDGAR LUSTGARTEN: cello

6. WORDS
(Tommy Boyce/Bobby Hart)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/14/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIO C, Hollywood, CA (6/15/67 & other dates)
Featuring/MICKY DOLENZ: lead vocals
PETER TORK: lead vocals, organ
MICHAEL NESMITH: tremolo guitar, percussion, backing vocals
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass, backing vocals
EDDIE HOH: drums
DAVY JONES: percussion (& possibly backing vocals)
This mono version was also issued as Colgems #1007 (7/67); Pop #3

7. HARD TO BELIEVE
(David Jones/Kim Capli/Eddie Brick/Charlie Rockett)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO B, Hollywood, CA (8/23/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67, 9/6/67, 9/9/67, 9/15/67 & 9/23/67)
Featuring/DAVY JONES: lead vocals
KIM CAPLI: guitar, piano, bass, drums, shaker, cowbell, claves & other percussion
VINCENT DeROSA: French horn
OLLIE MITCHELL & TONY TERRAN: flugelhorn
BOBBY KNIGHT: bass trombone
JIM HORN: baritone sax
LEONARD ATKINS, ARNOLD BELNICK, NATHAN KAPROFF, WILBERT NUTTYCOMBE, JEROME REISLER & DARRELL TERWILLIGER: violin

8. WHAT AM I DOING HANGIN’ ‘ROUND?
(Michael Martin Murphey/Owen Castleman)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/20/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67 & other dates)
Featuring/MICHAEL NESMITH: lead vocals, guitar
DOUG DILLARD: electric banjo
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass, backing vocals
EDDIE HOH: drums
MICKY DOLENZ & DAVY JONES: backing vocals

9. PETER PERCIVAL PATTERSON’S PET PIG PORKY
(Peter Tork)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/10/67);
WESTERN RECORDERS STUDIO 1, Hollywood, CA (10/4/67)
Featuring/PETER TORK: spoken word

10. PLEASANT VALLEY SUNDAY
(Gerry Goffin/Carole King)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/10/67, 6/11/67, 6/13/67 & other dates)
Featuring/MICKY DOLENZ: lead vocals (& possibly guitar)
MICHAEL NESMITH: electric guitar, backing vocals
BILL CHADWICK: acoustic guitar
PETER TORK: piano, backing vocals
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass (& possibly backing vocals)
EDDIE HOH: drums, percussion
DAVY JONES: backing vocals
This mono version was also issued as Colgems #1007 (7/67); Pop #3

11. DAILY NIGHTLY
(Michael Nesmith)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO C, Hollywood, CA (6/19/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67 & other dates);
WESTERN RECORDERS STUDIO 1, Hollywood, CA (10/4/67)
Featuring/MICKY DOLENZ: lead vocals, Moog synthesizer
MICHAEL NESMITH: guitar
PETER TORK: organ
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass
EDDIE HOH: drums

12. DON’T CALL ON ME
(Michael Nesmith/John London)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/20/67 & 7/7/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67, 10/9/67 & other dates)
Featuring/MICHAEL NESMITH: lead vocals, guitar
CHIP DOUGLAS: acoustic guitar, bass
BOB RAFELSON: piano intro
PETER TORK: organ
EDDIE HOH: drums, claves
MICKY DOLENZ, DAVY JONES, BILL MARTIN, CHARLIE ROCKETT and others: intro chatter

13. STAR COLLECTOR
(Gerry Goffin/Carole King)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/22/67 & 7/6/67 & other dates);
AMERICAN RECORDING CO., Studio City, CA (10/4/67);
UNITED RECORDERS STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (10/16/67)
Featuring/DAVY JONES: lead & backing vocals
MICKY DOLENZ: harmony & backing vocals
MICHAEL NESMITH: guitar
PETER TORK: organ
PAUL BEAVER: Moog synthesizer
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass, backing vocals (& possibly electric guitar)
EDDIE HOH: drums
Unknown additional backing vocals

Bonus Material

14. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (10/9/67)
Featuring/PETER TORK: spoken word, dog barks
STEVE PITTS & BOB RAFELSON: dog barks
Originally unissued.  First collected on the CD reissue of the album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., Rhino #71793 (1/24/95)

15. SALESMAN (Alternate Mono Mix)
(Craig Vincent Smith)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/14/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, New York, NY (7/15/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67 & other dates)
Featuring/MICHAEL NESMITH: lead vocals, guitar, shaker
CHIP DOUGLAS: nylon-string guitar, bass (& possibly backing vocals)
EDDIE HOH: drums
MICKY DOLENZ & DAVY JONES: percussion, backing vocals
PETER TORK: (possibly acoustic guitar)
Originally unissued.  First collected on the CD reissue of the album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., Rhino #71793 (1/24/95)

16. CUDDLY TOY (Alternate Mix)
(Harry Nilsson)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (4/26/67, 9/5/67 & other dates)
Featuring/DAVY JONES: lead & backing vocals, tambourine
MICKY DOLENZ: harmony & backing vocals, drums
MICHAEL NESMITH: acoustic guitar
PETER TORK: keyboards, backing vocals
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass, backing vocals
TED NASH, THOMAS SCOTT & BUD SHANK: reeds, winds
EDGAR LUSTGARTEN: cello
Previously unissued

17. GOIN’ DOWN (Mono Single Version)
(Diane Hildebrand/Peter Tork/Michael Nesmith/Micky Dolenz/Davy Jones)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/21/67 & 7/5/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/15/67, 9/23/67, 10/3/67 & other dates);
WESTERN RECORDERS STUDIO1, Hollywood, CA (10/4/67)
Featuring/MICKY DOLENZ: lead vocals
MICHAEL NESMITH & PETER TORK: electric guitar
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass
EDDIE HOH: drums
BUD BRISBOIS, VIRGIL EVANS, UAN RASEY & THOMAS SCOTT: trumpet
BOBBY HELFER: trumpet, bass clarinet
LOU BLACKBURN & DICK NASH: trombone
DICK LEITH & PHIL TEELE: bass trombone
BUDDY COLLETTE, BILL HOOD & PLAS JOHNSON: sax
JOHN LOWE: bass sax, bass clarinet
SHORTY ROGERS: arrangement
Originally issued as Colgems single #1012 (10/67); Pop #104

18. THE DOOR INTO SUMMER (Alternate Mix)
(Chip Douglas/Bill Martin)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO B, Hollywood, CA (8/23/67 & 8/24/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67, 9/7/67, 10/3/67 & other dates)
Featuring/MICHAEL NESMITH: lead vocals (& possibly guitar)
MICKY DOLENZ: harmony vocals (& possibly drums)
CHIP DOUGLAS: guitar, bass, backing vocals
PETER TORK: keyboards
EDDIE HOH: drums
Unknown percussion
Originally unissued.  First collected on the CD reissue of the album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., Rhino #71793 (1/24/95)

19. DAILY NIGHTLY (Alternate Mix)
(Michael Nesmith)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO C, Hollywood, CA (6/19/67);
RCA VICTOR STUDIOS, Hollywood, CA (9/5/67 & other dates)
Featuring/MICKY DOLENZ: lead vocals
MICHAEL NESMITH: guitar
PETER TORK: organ
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass
EDDIE HOH: drums
Previously unissued

20. STAR COLLECTOR (Alternate Mono Mix)
(Gerry Goffin/Carole King)
Recorded at RCA VICTOR STUDIO A, Hollywood, CA (6/22/67 & 7/6/67 & other dates);
AMERICAN RECORDING CO., Studio City, CA (10/4/67)
Featuring/DAVY JONES: lead & backing vocals
MICKY DOLENZ: harmony & backing vocals
MICHAEL NESMITH: guitar
PETER TORK: organ
PAUL BEAVER: Moog synthesizer
CHIP DOUGLAS: bass, backing vocals (& possibly electric guitar)
EDDIE HOH: drums
Unknown additional backing vocals
Previously unissued
__________________________________________________

Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. was originally issued as Colgems #104 (11/67).

NOTE: Numbers in italics (following original single release information) denote peak positions obtained on Billboard’s “Hot 100” chart – courtesy BPI Communications and Joel Whitburn’s Record Research Publications.
__________________________________________________

Produced by CHIP DOUGLAS
Music Supervision: LESTER SILL
Recording Engineers: HANK CICALO, PETE ABBOTT & RICHIE SCHMITT
Original Cover Design: BERNARD YESZIN

Reissue Produced for Release by ANDREW SANDOVAL & BILL INGLOT
Remastering: DAN HERSCH, ANDREW SANDOVAL & BILL INGLOT at DIGIPREP
Product Manager: MATT ABELS

Discographical Annotation Courtesy of the Book The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Stony Of The ‘60s TV Pop Sensation (ISBN 1-59223-372-4)
Editorial Supervision: SHERYL FARBER
Reissue Art Direction & Design: STEVE STANLEY
Business Affairs: GREGG GOLDMAN
Photo Research: STEVEN P. GORMAN & ALESSANDRA QUARANTA
Unless Otherwise Credited, all Photos © RHINO/RAYBERT COLLECTION

Project Assistance: REGGIE COLLINS, KAREN LeBLANC, JASON SPITZ & JAMES O'TOOLE
Special Thanks: MICHAEL NESMITH, PETER TORK, DAVY JONES, MICKY DOLENZ, BOBBY HART, TOMMY BOYCE, CHIP DOUGLAS, CARMEN FANZONE, GARY STROBL, MARK EASTER, BERNARD YESZIN, HENRY DILTZ, LESTER SILL & GLENN KORMAN
__________________________________________________

Text Monkees to 74466 for official Monkees mobile content*

* Requires compatible handset and service through participating carriers.  Standard text messaging rates apply.  See your contract for details.  Available content subject to change at any time. © 2007 Rhino Entertainment Company


All selections controlled by Rhino Entertainment Company. “GOIN’ DOWN” (Stereo Mix) (P) 1986 Rhino Entertainment Company; “SALESMAN” (Alternate Stereo Mix), “SHE HANGS OUT” (Alternate Stereo Mix), “WHAT AM I DOING HANGIN’ ‘ROUND?” (Alternate Mix), “STAR COLLECTOR” (Alternate Stereo Mix), “CUDDLY TOY” (Alternate Mix), “STAR COLLECTOR” (Alternate Mono Mix), and “RIU CHIU” (TV Version) (P) 2007 Rhino Entertainment Company; “LOVE IS ONLY SLEEPING” (Alternate Mix), “SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT,” “SALESMAN” (Alternate Mono Mix), “THE DOOR INTO SUMMER” (Alternate Mix), and “DAILY NIGHTLY” (Alternate Mix) (P) 1995 Rhino Entertainment Company.

This Compilation (P) 2007 Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group Company.


It’s Time To Play Some “D”
Earth has been pretty sporting so far – but unless we start playing some defense, we’re going to have to move this game to another planet.  Did you know that the rate of extinction of species is at least 100 times higher than it was in the preindustrial era?  Alarming truths like that gave rise to Environmental Defense, a nonprofit organization that, since 1967, has linked science, economics, and law to create innovative, equitable, and cost-effective solutions to the most urgent environmental problems – the need to stabilize our climate, safeguard the world’s oceans, protect human health, and save endangered species.  Get more information – or get involved – at

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(212) 505-2100  www.environmentaldefense.org