The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees

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The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees
The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees - The Monkees.jpg
Studio album by
the Monkees
ReleasedApril 22, 1968
RecordedJune 14, 1967 – March 14, 1968
Studio
Length37:00
Label
Producer The Monkees, Chip Douglas
The Monkees chronology
Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.
(1967)		The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees
(1968)		 Head
(1968)
Singles from The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees
  1. "Daydream Believer" / "Goin' Down"
    Released: October 25, 1967
  2. "Valleri" / "Tapioca Tundra"
    Released: February 17, 1968
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
MusicHound Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
popdose(favorable) [3]
Record Collector Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]

The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees is the fifth studio album by the American pop rock band the Monkees, released in 1968 by Colgems Records. It was the first album released after the cancellation of their TV show and subsequently was their first not to reach No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200, peaking at No. 3, and their first not to chart in the UK, with their four previous efforts all having reached the top ten. The album has sold over a million copies.

Contents

History

While 1968 presented several misfortunes for the band (their eponymous television series was canceled; their first motion picture project, Head , failed at the box office; and, in December, Peter Tork left the group), The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees proved to be another successful album, yielding the group's sixth million-selling single in "Valleri" and yet another No. 1 in "Daydream Believer", written by former Kingston Trio member John Stewart. "Tapioca Tundra", an experimental piece of poetry put to music by Nesmith, charted well as the B-side to "Valleri" and reached No. 34.

After gaining complete artistic control over their musical direction and being allowed to play instruments on their own records in early 1967, the success of that year's Headquarters and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. began to somewhat rebuff the critics who viewed the Monkees as a band of talentless individuals who were simply lucky enough to gain recognition through their "manufactured" origins.

After the Pisces album, however, the desire and focus to remain as a complete band unit in the studio evaporated, and each individual band member began to produce his own sessions with his own selected studio musicians, often at entirely different studios around the Los Angeles area. According to Chip Douglas, producer of the Monkees' previous two albums, "Peter kind of drifted away first, and then everybody did. Everyone wanted to do their own songs and produce them the way they wanted to hear them." [6] An agreement was made to label all finished efforts as "Produced by the Monkees" but, in reality, beyond a few exceptions the recordings featured on The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees reverted to the recording process of the first two albums (fewer group dynamics), except now each band member was fully in charge of the sessions. Douglas fully expected to continue as the band's representative in the studio, but found the individual Monkees more interested in exploring their diverse musical backgrounds with their own friends and associates rather than relying on him as the central figure. "I was ready to do that Boyce & Hart song 'P.O. Box 9847' – it sort of had that 'Paperback Writer' feel on the demo. We passed on it for Pisces, and I began to think, 'Well, we should do that one now.' Then somebody said, 'Chip, we're not working with you anymore; we're gonna do our own thing.'" [6]

While being credited as the producers, in reality the Monkees were assisted in the studio by Colgems' president, and head of Screen Gems-Columbia Publishing, Lester Sill, jazz musician and arranger Shorty Rogers, or future manager and later MCA vice president Brendan Cahill. "At that point their contract read that they were to be credited as producers on any product of theirs that came out", Rogers recalls. "Brendan Cahill and I really did all the studio work and production with Lester Sill. When we finished the album, Lester said, 'We'll put you down as producers', but The Monkees didn't want it, so that went by the wayside." [7]

Davy Jones' Broadway rock, Michael Nesmith's country and western leanings and psychedelic experiments, and the rock and soul of Micky Dolenz made for a diverse album. Several of Peter Tork's compositions were considered for release on Birds; however, they were all rejected (for reasons unknown). Aside from playing piano on "Daydream Believer", he did not participate in the making of the record at all. Veteran Monkees tunesmiths Boyce and Hart returned to the fold to contribute the psychedelic "P.O. Box 9847", as well as a new version of "Valleri".

Artwork

The front cover of the album shows a shadow box that contains some memorabilia from the 1940s through 1960s, including a Cootie bug, a popgun, a fan that folds out into a paper flower, ceramic birds, various paper flowers and stick flowers (which were popular in 1968). Alan Wolsky, whose agency created the cover, put a picture of himself in the bottom center square, partially obscured by some flowers. The rear cover [8] contains the term "MIJACOGEO" alongside Micky's photo, a term that is an acronym for the members of Micky's family (Micky, Janelle, Coco and George, respectively). Another quirk was that while Davy and Peter signed autographs in a traditional manner on their rear cover photos, Michael Nesmith signed "Carlisle Wheeling" to be superimposed onto his picture. This was the title of a song that did not make it on to any Monkees release at that time. However, it appeared on his post-Monkees album Loose Salute (1970) with the First National Band, having been renamed "Conversations". The song also was later released on various Monkees rarities collections.

Release

The rare U.S. mono album (COM-109) was released in a limited quantity, as mono albums were being phased out by 1968, and has become a highly sought item for its unique mixes that differ from the common stereo versions. Mono copies from Australia, India, Israel, Mexico and Puerto Rico are known to have the same mix as the U.S. There may be others as well. Most countries' mono versions — including the UK's — feature a "fold-down" mix where the stereo channels are reduced to one monaural channel (a mono version of the stereo mix).

On February 8, 2010, Rhino Records' Rhino Handmade released a three-CD boxed set reissue of the album. It was made available only online directly from Rhino. The set is housed in a 7 inch by 7 inch box with a 3D lenticular cover. It contains the original stereo and U.S. mono versions of the album in miniature vinyl replica sleeves, over 60 demos, rehearsals and outtakes from the original album's sessions, a commemorative pin and a booklet of essays and session information by Monkees historian Andrew Sandoval. The first 1,000 orders include a bonus vinyl single featuring two more unreleased tracks, acoustic versions of "St. Matthew" and "Lady's Baby".

The mono mix was re-released in October 2014 by Friday Music, as part of The Monkees in Mono box set. This pressing features messages in the dead wax reading "Thanks to the Monkees" and "In memory of Davy Jones" on sides 1 and 2, respectively. [9]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
1."Dream World" (David Jones, Steve Pitts)Jones3:22
2."Auntie's Municipal Court" (Michael Nesmith, Keith Allison) Micky Dolenz 4:05
3."We Were Made for Each Other" (Carole Bayer, George Fischoff)Jones2:25
4."Tapioca Tundra" (Nesmith)Nesmith3:08
5."Daydream Believer" (John Stewart)Jones3:00
6."Writing Wrongs" (Nesmith)Nesmith5:08
Side two
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
1."I'll Be Back Up on My Feet" (Sandy Linzer, Denny Randell)Dolenz2:26
2."The Poster" (Jones, Pitts)Jones2:21
3."P.O. Box 9847" (Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart)Dolenz3:16
4."Magnolia Simms" (Nesmith)Nesmith3:48
5."Valleri" (Boyce, Hart)Jones2:15
6."Zor and Zam" (Bill Chadwick, John Chadwick)Dolenz2:10

Aborted track listing

The original track lineup for the album, compiled in March 1968, included the following songs: [10]

Side one

  1. "Through the Looking Glass"
  2. "We Were Made for Each Other"
  3. "Writing Wrongs"
  4. "I'll Be Back Up on My Feet"
  5. "Valleri"
  6. "Long Title: Do I Have to Do This All Over Again"

Side two

  1. "Dream World"
  2. "P.O. Box 9847"
  3. "Tapioca Tundra"
  4. "The Poster"
  5. "Alvin"
  6. "Daydream Believer"
  7. "Zor and Zam"

Personnel

Credits adapted from Rhino Handmade 2010 "Deluxe Edition" box set. [11]

The Monkees

Additional musicians

Unconfirmed personnel and duties

Technical

Charts

Album

Chart (1968)Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [12] 5
Canadian Albums ( RPM ) [13] 6
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [14] 8
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [15] 28
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [16] 44
US Billboard 200 [17] 3

Singles

YearSingleChartPeak
position
1967"Daydream Believer" Billboard Hot 100 1 [18]
1967"Daydream Believer" UK Charts 5 [19]
1968"Valleri"Billboard Hot 1003 [18]
1968"Valleri"UK Charts12 [19]
1968"Tapioca Tundra"Billboard Hot 10034 [18]

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [20] Platinum1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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References

  1. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r44968
  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. ↑ Harris, Will (February 22, 2010). "CD Review: The Monkees, 'The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees'". popdose. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  4. ↑ Easlea, Daryl (June 2010). "The Monkees – The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees". Record Collector . Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. 1 2 Sandoval, Andrew. "The True Story of The Monkees". Album Liner Notes. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
  7. ↑ Sandoval, Andrew. "The Birds, The Bees". Album Liner Notes. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
  8. ↑ "birds". web.295.ca.
  9. ↑ "Monkees Albums USA Friday Music Mono Box Set FRM-1966". monkee45s.net. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  10. ↑ Sandoval, Andrew (1994). The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees (CD liner notes). The Monkees. Los Angeles, California: Rhino Records. R2 71794.
  11. ↑ Sandoval, Andrew. The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees (Deluxe Edition) (CD box set liner notes). The Monkees. Los Angeles, California: Rhino Handmade. RHM2 522248.
  12. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, NSW. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  13. ↑ "RPM: The Monkees (albums)". RPM Magazine. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Monkees – The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  16. ↑ "Oricon Archive - The Monkees". Oricon. February 2, 2016. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  17. ↑ "The Monkees US Chart History". Billboard . Archived from the original on October 13, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  18. 1 2 3 "The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees - Charts and Awards". AllMusic . Retrieved June 23, 2014.
  19. 1 2 "UK Charts - Monkees". Official Charts . Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  20. ↑ "American album certifications – The Monkees – The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved June 23, 2014.
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