Maps of Music

The Monkees Present (1969)

Where the lyrics of The Monkees Present take you, and where it was really made.

The album was made after the Monkees' commercial peak had already passed, and it reached only No. 100 on the Billboard charts.

Key places

Hollywood studio credited for recording (1969)

Recording site Sunset Sound — Sunset Sound is named as a recording location for The Monkees Present. Most songs on the album were recorded in 1968 or 1969. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Studio 3 used for recording (1969)

Recording site Hollywood Sound — Studio 3 at Wally Heider is named as a recording location for The Monkees Present. Most songs on the album were recorded in 1968 or 1969. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Gold Star as a recording location (1969)

Recording site Track Record Studios — Gold Star Studios is named as a recording location for The Monkees Present. Most songs on the album were recorded in 1968 or 1969. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

RCA Victor in Hollywood (1969)

Recording site RCA Studio B — The RCA Victor studio in Hollywood is named as a recording location for The Monkees Present. Most songs on the album were recorded in 1968 or 1969. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• The Monkees Present: eighth studio album by the American pop rock band the Monkees
• Released in 1969 by Colgems Records; release date 11 October 1969
• Second Monkees album released after Peter Tork's departure
• Last Monkees album to feature Michael Nesmith until 1996's Justus
• Originally planned as a double album with one side devoted to each member
• Track selection pared down to a single disc as Tork left and record sales waned

Background

• By the time recording began in earnest, the Monkees had passed their commercial peak
• Screen Gems' interest in the group's activities waned, so the members gained more control over the album
• Strong advertising push, including a cross promotion with Kool-Aid
• Tour with Sam & The Goodtimers, a seven-piece R&B backing band
• Album was the Monkees' last attempt at commercial viability
• Shortly after release, Nesmith announced he was leaving to form the First National Band

Recording

• All but two songs were recorded in 1968 or 1969
• Unlike Instant Replay, the album was recorded in a period when the members had more say in its creation

Cover

• Cover design credited to Neko Cholis

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

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.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

• Album reached only No. 100 on the Billboard charts
• Singles: "Listen to the Band" b/w "Someday Man", and "Good Clean Fun" b/w "Mommy and Daddy"
• In the US, "Listen to the Band" reached No. 63 and "Good Clean Fun" reached No. 82 on release
• Neither single charted in the UK
• In Australia, "Listen to the Band" reached No. 15 and "Good Clean Fun" reached No. 26
• The Australian chart runs gave the Monkees their last hits

Records

• US Billboard chart peak: No. 100
• US singles peaks: No. 63 and No. 82
• Australian singles peaks: No. 15 and No. 26
• No UK chart entry for either single

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title "Good Clean Fun" bears no relation to the lyrics; it answered a music publisher who advised Nesmith to write "good clean fun" songs to have hits.
• "Listen to the Band" later gave its title to the group's box set released by Rhino in April 1991.
• "Mommy and Daddy" openly tackles the treatment of American Indians; the album version was toned down from an original that also touched on drug use, war and the JFK assassination.
• Nesmith's "Hollywood" and Boyce and Hart's "Apples, Peaches, Bananas and Pears" and "(My) Storybook of You" were considered for the album but rejected.
• Nesmith left the Monkees shortly after the album came out to form the country rock group The First National Band.

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

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