Maps of Music

Changes (1970)

Where the lyrics of Changes take you, and where it was really made.

Released after Michael Nesmith quit, it was made by only two Monkees, and it was their last all-new album until 1987.

Key places

Recording at RCA Victor, New York City (1970)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The recording list for this album names RCA Victor in New York City. The pin is set at city-center level, not at the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at The Sound Factory, Hollywood (1970)

Recording site The Sound Factory — The recording list for this album names The Sound Factory in Hollywood. The pin marks the building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Changes is the ninth studio album by the American pop rock band the Monkees
• Released in 1970 by Colgems Records
• Made after Michael Nesmith left, leaving Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones to fulfill the mid-1960s recording contract
• Last new album for Colgems Records
• Last album of all-new material until Pool It!, released in 1987

Background

• The title was first considered for the Monkees' 1968 movie, which was retitled Head
• A song with that title, co-written by Davy Jones and Steve Pitts, was recorded but shelved until 1990
• The album reunited Jones and Dolenz with producer Jeff Barry, who had his own label, Steed Records
• Several songs were outtakes from earlier sessions, including Barry's 99 Pounds from the January 1967 sessions

Recording

• Jones and Dolenz provided only vocals, as on the earliest Monkees recordings
• The backing tracks were provided by session musicians
• Midnight Train was recorded during sessions for The Monkees Present
• I Never Thought It Peculiar, sung by Jones, was recorded during the More of the Monkees sessions in 1967

Cover

• The cover shows Jones and Dolenz playing percussion, although they did not play on the backing tracks

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Artist

Formation

• The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s.
• The group was conceived in 1965 by television producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the NBC sitcom of the same name, which aired from 1966 to 1968.
• Casting drew 437 applicants; Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Micky Dolenz were chosen.

Members

• Micky Dolenz: lead and backing vocals, drums, guitar, keyboards.
• Davy Jones: lead and backing vocals, percussion, bass; died in 2012.
• Michael Nesmith: lead and rhythm guitars, keyboards, vocals; died in 2021.
• Peter Tork: bass, guitars, keyboards, banjo, vocals; died in 2019.

Career

• Early music was largely performed by session musicians such as the Wrecking Crew under Don Kirshner's supervision.
• The band had four consecutive No. 1 albums in 1966–1967: The Monkees, More of the Monkees, Headquarters, and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.
• They had three No. 1 singles: "Last Train to Clarksville", "I'm a Believer", and "Daydream Believer".
• The members gained control over their recordings in 1967 after a conflict with Kirshner.
• The film Head (1968) was a commercial failure; the group broke up in the early 1970s.
• A revival in 1986 led to intermittent reunions, new albums, and tours until 2021.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Changes appeared in June 1970 and initially failed to make the charts
• The initial pressing (COS-119) was limited, and it has become one of the more valuable Monkees albums
• Its first single, Oh My My, made the Top 100 in the Billboard charts

Reappraisal

• Davy Jones later stated that Changes was his least favorite Monkees effort
• In the 1994 Rhino Records CD liner notes he said the album was Jeff Barry and Andy Kim doing an Andy Kim album, and that he had terrible memories of the sessions
• Micky Dolenz said he was pleased to be invited to record new material, though he did not lavish praise on the album
• Dolenz said he and Jones were mainly fulfilling a contractual obligation to a record company

Records

• In the September 1986 Rhino reissue, the album made a belated Billboard album chart entry, reaching No. 152
• The Rhino vinyl reissue was transferred from a vinyl copy because the master tape had been lost over the years
• The 1994 Rhino CD used a first-generation master tape found at the Screen Gems publishing division

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title was first considered for the Monkees' 1968 movie, which was retitled Head
• Shake 'Em Up, a 1968 outtake sung by Dolenz, was offered for the album but rejected by Barry in favor of new material
• A finished album master compiled on April 7, 1970 was changed on April 29 when two songs were replaced for unknown reasons
• Time and Time Again was recorded in 1969 and slated for the album, but was not chosen; it was remixed as a bonus track on the 1994 CD
• Ride Baby Ride and Which Way Do You Want It? were thought lost as of the 1994 CD, and the latter was unveiled on February 17, 2023

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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