More of the Monkees

More of the Monkees
Studio album by
the Monkees
ReleasedJanuary 9, 1967
RecordedJune 25 – November 23, 1966
Studio
  • RCA Victor A, B (Hollywood)
  • RCA Victor A, B (New York)
  • Western Recorders, No. 2 (Hollywood)
  • American Recording Co. (Studio City)
  • RCA Victor (Hollywood)
GenrePop rock
Length28:34
Label
Producer
The Monkees chronology
The Monkees
(1966) 		More of the Monkees
(1967) 		Headquarters
(1967)
Singles from More of the Monkees
  1. "I'm a Believer" / "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone"
    Released: November 21, 1966
  2. "Mary, Mary"
    Released: 1968
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
MusicHound[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[3]

More of the Monkees is the second studio album by the American pop rock band the Monkees, released in 1967 on Colgems Records. It was recorded in late 1966 and displaced the band's debut album from the top of the Billboard 200 chart, remaining at No. 1 for 18 weeks, the longest run of any Monkees album. Combined, the first two Monkees albums were at the top of the Billboard chart for 31 consecutive weeks. More of the Monkees also went to No. 1 in the UK. In the U.S., it has been certified quintuple platinum by the RIAA, with sales of more than five million copies. More of the Monkees is also notable for being the first pop/rock album to be the best-selling album of the year in the U.S.

History

[edit]

Monkeemania had reached full swing by the time the album was released. The Monkees' second single, "I'm a Believer"—included on this album—held the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 and they were about to embark on a highly successful concert tour.

The release of More of the Monkees was rushed to capitalize on the band's popularity, catching even its members by surprise. The band learned of the album's existence while on tour in Cleveland, Ohio, surprised it had been released without their knowing. They were dismayed by the cover image of them (which was used in an advertisement for JCPenney) and were offended by production overseer Don Kirshner's liner notes, which praised his team of songwriters before mentioning, almost as an afterthought, the names of the Monkees. The band, particularly Nesmith, was also furious about the songs—selected for the record from 34 that had been recorded—leading Nesmith to later tell Melody Maker magazine that More of the Monkees was "probably the worst album in the history of the world".[4]

The group began to grow concerned over their musical output, since this album and their debut, The Monkees, featured them limited to just vocals with scattered instrumental contributions. Kirshner had a strict rule that the Monkees were to provide only vocals on his productions, though separate sessions produced by Michael Nesmith himself usually featured Peter Tork on guitar. More of the Monkees has Nesmith limited to one song as lead vocalist.

Within weeks of the release of More of the Monkees, Nesmith lobbied successfully with the group's creators, Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, for the Monkees to be allowed to play their instruments on future records, effectively giving the quartet artistic control. To make his point clear to Kirshner, who was balking at the idea, Nesmith proceeded to punch a hole in the wall of a suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel during a group meeting with Kirshner and Colgems lawyer Herb Moelis, declaring to the latter: "That could have been your face!". This outburst came after Moelis snapped to Nesmith, "You'd better read your contract", when Nesmith threatened to quit. Kirshner was later dropped from the project altogether.[4]

Artwork

[edit]

The original pressing catalog number is COM/COS 102. When the album was reissued in 1968 the Colgems symbol replaced the word "Colgems" on the bottom right-hand corner of the reverse side (Catalog number COS 102 RE). It was standard practice for RCA to add an "RE" when any one side of a record sleeve had a revision.[5]



Track listing

[edit]
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."She"Tommy Boyce, Bobby HartMicky Dolenz2:40
2."When Love Comes Knockin' (At Your Door)"Carole Bayer Sager, Neil SedakaDavy Jones1:49
3."Mary, Mary"Michael NesmithDolenz2:16
4."Hold On Girl"Billy Carr, Jack Keller, Ben RaleighJones2:29
5."Your Auntie Grizelda"Diane Hildebrand, Jack KellerPeter Tork2:30
6."(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone"Boyce, HartDolenz2:25
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)"Neil DiamondJones2:16
2."The Kind of Girl I Could Love"Nesmith, Roger AtkinsNesmith1:53
3."The Day We Fall in Love"Sandy Linzer, Denny RandellJones2:26
4."Sometime in the Morning"Gerry Goffin, Carole KingDolenz2:30
5."Laugh"Phil Margo, Mitch Margo, Hank Medress, Jay SiegelJones2:30
6."I'm a Believer"DiamondDolenz2:50
Total length:28:34

Personnel

[edit]

Credits adapted from 2017 Rhino "Super Deluxe Edition" box set.[6]

The Monkees

  • Micky Dolenz – lead vocals (1, 3, 6, 10, 12), backing vocals (1–4, 7–8, 10, 12)
  • Davy Jones – backing vocals (1, 4, 7–8, 10–12), lead vocals (2, 4, 7, 9, 11)
  • Peter Tork – backing vocals (1, 7–8, 10, 12), guitar (3), lead vocals (5)
  • Michael Nesmith – lead vocals (8), backing vocals (8), steel guitar (8)

Additional musicians

  • Wayne Erwin – guitar (1, 6), backing vocals (1, 6)
  • Gerry McGee – guitar (1, 6)
  • Louie Shelton – guitar (1, 6)
  • Bobby Hart – organ (1, 6), backing vocals (1, 6)
  • Larry Taylor – bass guitar (1, 6)
  • Billy Lewis – drums (1, 6)
  • Norm Jeffries – tambourine (1)
  • Tommy Boyce – backing vocals (1, 6)
  • Ron Hicklin – backing vocals (1)
  • Al Gafa – guitar (2)
  • Willard Suyker – guitar (2)
  • Don Thomas – guitar (2)
  • Neil Sedaka – keyboards (2)
  • Russ Savakus – bass guitar (2, 7, 12)
  • Herbie Lovelle – drums (2)
  • James Burton – guitar (3, 8)
  • Glen Campbell – guitar (3, 8)
  • Al Casey – guitar (3, 8–9, 11)
  • Mike Deasy – guitar (3)
  • Michael Cohen – keyboards (3)
  • Larry Knechtel – keyboards (3, 8)
  • Bob West – bass guitar (3, 8)
  • Hal Blaine – drums (3, 8–9, 11)
  • Gary Coleman – percussion (3, 8)
  • Jim Gordon – percussion (3, 8)
  • Neil Diamond – guitar (7, 12)
  • Sal DiTroia – guitar (7, 12)
  • Al Gorgoni – guitar (7, 12)
  • George Butcher – keyboards (7, 12)
  • Stan Free – keyboards (7, 12)
  • Buddy Saltzman – drums (7, 12)
  • George Devens – percussion (7, 12)
  • Carol Kaye – guitar (8, 11)
  • Don Randi – keyboards (8, 11)
  • Michel Rubini – keyboards (8, 11)
  • Ray Pohlman – bass guitar (8, 11)
  • Frank Capp – percussion (9, 11)
  • Julius Wechter – percussion (9, 11)
  • Louis Haber – violin (9)
  • Irving Spice – violin (9)
  • Louis Stone – violin (9)
  • David Sackson – viola (9)
  • Murray Sandry – viola (9)
  • Seymour Barab – cello (9)
  • Jeff Barry – backing vocals (11)

Unconfirmed personnel and duties

  • Percussion (2, 6)
  • Musicians (4–5, 10)
  • Additional backing vocals (11)
  • Other musicians (12)

Technical

Charts

[edit]

Album

[edit]
Chart (1967) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[7] 4
Canadian Albums (RPM)[8] 1
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[9] 1
French Albums (SNEP)[10] 25
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] 16
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[12] 1
UK Albums (OCC)[13] 1
US Billboard 200[14] 1

Singles

[edit]
Year Single Chart Peak
position
1966 "I'm a Believer" Billboard Hot 100 1[15]
1966 "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" Billboard Hot 100 20[15]
1968 "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)" Mexico Singles Chart 1[16]

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[17] 5× Platinum 5,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ More of the Monkees at AllMusic
  2. ^ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (2nd ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 774. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  3. ^ Brackett, Nathan; with Hoard, Christian (eds) (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York, NY: Fireside/Simon & Schuster. p. 553. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  4. ^ a b Lefcowitz, Eric (2011). Monkee Business: The Revolutionary Made-For-TV Band. Port Washington, NY: Retrofuture Products. pp. 74–75. ISBN 978-0-943249-00-1.
  5. ^ "Monkee45s - Albums - The Monkees". Monkee45s.net. Archived from the original on 21 February 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  6. ^ Sandoval, Andrew (2017). More of the Monkees (Super Deluxe Edition) (CD box set liner notes). The Monkees. Rhino Records. R2 560125.
  7. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, NSW. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. ^ "RPM: The Monkees (albums)". RPM Magazine. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  9. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 263. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  10. ^ "Tous les Albums de l'Artiste choisi". InfoDisc. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  11. ^ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  12. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Monkees – More Of The Monkees". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  13. ^ "The Monkees Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  14. ^ "The Monkees US Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  15. ^ a b "More of The Monkees - Charts and Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  16. ^ "Billboard "Hits of the World"". 10 February 1968. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  17. ^ "American album certifications – More of The Monkees – The Monkees". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 23 June 2014.

Works cited

  • More of the Monkees CD liner notes
  • The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation by Andrew Sandoval
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