My mistake, it was I’m A Believer. Quite an illustrious song-writing line-up
Their hits came from some of the greatest up-and-coming pop songwriters around. (Not to mention that Stephen Stills auditioned for the TV series and that the Monkees gave a relatively unknown Jimi Hendrix his first, if ill-advised, high-profile break as an opening act in July 1967. Even Frank Zapa made an appearance).
That was Harry Nilsson’s “Cuddly Toy” that Jones made his own.
The Monkees boosted the careers of songwriters and producers Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart making hits of the “Monkees Theme,” “I Wanna Be Free” (another Jones’ signature) and “Last Train to Clarksville.”
Carole King and Gerry Goffin wrote “Take a Giant Step,” the gorgeous “Sometime in the Morning, “Sweet Young Thing” (with Nesmith) and, of course, “Pleasant Valley Sunday.”
Augie Meyers of the Sir Douglas Quintet and Texas Tornados remembers the pandemonium generated by Jones and the Monkees. He’d first met Mike Nesmith in 1958. Nesmith even penned a song for Meyers’ teenage group the Fabulous Goldens — “I Guess I’ll Go Somewhere and Cry.”
“It was like Elvis or the Beatles, you know what I’m saying? Just ahhhhhhh!! Just screaming little teenies,” Meyers recalled.
The Sir Douglas Quintet and Monkees did several dates together. Meyers remembers Jones and the others as nice guys. “We’d hang out backstage,” he said. ”We’d say, Hi.’ And talk for a few minutes. The , ‘See you next time.’”
Meyers praised the Monkees for giving songwriters a break.
“They were a manufactured band. But it would have been fantastic to (get them a song),” he said. “But we were doing it, too, at that point. We had ‘Mendocino’ out.”
Before he became a superstar, Neil Diamond provided the monster hit “I’m a Believer,” as well as “Look Out Here Comes Tomorrow.”
Neil Sedaka and Carole Bayer Sayer contributed “When Love Comes Knockin’ (At Your Door)” to the second album.
Jeff Barry and Marianne Faithfull had a hand in the rocker, “She.”
Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil delivered the haunting “Shades of Gray.” Actor Jack Nicholson even got in on the action during the band’s “Head” period.
Singer-songwriter John Stewart, a second-generation member of the Kingston Trio, produced Jones’ most popular and well-known song, “Daydream Believer.”
