More of the Monkees


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 Top LPs chart, remaining at No. 1 for 18 weeks, the longest run of any Monkees album. The first two Monkees albums were at the top of the Billboard chart for 31 combined consecutive weeks. More of the Monkees also reached 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 as the first pop album to become the best-selling album of the year in the U.S.

History

The Monkees' popularity was at its peak when the album was released. Their second single, "I'm a Believer", held the No. 1 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 that it had been released without their knowledge. They were dismayed by the cover image 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".
The group began to grow concerned over their musical output because for this album and their debut, The Monkees, they were limited to just vocals with scattered instrumental contributions. Kirshner had a strict rule that the Monkees were to provide only vocals on his productions, although separate sessions produced by Michael Nesmith 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 had balked at the idea, Nesmith punched 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 Moelis: "That could have been your face!". Kirshner was later dropped from the project.

Artwork

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. It was standard practice for RCA to add an "RE" when any one side of a record sleeve had a revision.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from 2017 Rhino "Super Deluxe Edition" box set.
The Monkees
Additional musicians
Unconfirmed personnel and duties
  • Percussion
  • Musicians
  • Additional backing vocals
  • Other musicians
Technical

Album

Singles

Certifications