The Monkees
second album
More of the Monkees
lived up to its title. It was more successful commercially, spending an amazing 70 weeks on the
Billboard
charts and ultimately becoming the 12th biggest selling album of all time. It had more producers and writers involved since big-shots like
Carole King
and
Gerry Goffin
,
Jeff Barry
Neil Sedaka
, as well as up-and-comers like
Neil Diamond
all grabbed for a piece of the pie after
Tommy Boyce
Bobby Hart
, the men who made the debut album such a smash, were elbowed out by music supervisor
Don Kirshner
. The album also has more fantastic songs than the debut. Tracks like
"I'm a Believer,"
"She,"
"Mary, Mary,"
" (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone,"
"Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow),"
"Your Auntie Grizelda,"
"Sometime in the Morning"
are on just about every
Monkees
hits collection and, apart from the
novelty
"Grizelda,"
they are among the best
pop/rock
heard in the '60s or any decade since. The band themselves still had relatively little involvement in the recording process, apart from providing the vocals along with
Mike Nesmith
's writing and producing of two tracks (the hair-raising rocker
"Mary, Mary"
and the
folk-rock
gem
"The Kind of Girl I Could Love"
). In fact, they were on tour when the album was released and had to go to the record shop and buy copies for themselves. As with the first album though, it really doesn't matter who was involved when the finished product is this great. Listen to
Micky Dolenz
and the studio musicians rip through
"Stepping Stone"
or smolder through
listen to the powerful grooves of
or the heartfelt playing and singing on
and dare to say
the Monkees
weren't a real band. They were! The tracks on
(with the exception of the aforementioned
"Your Auntie Grizelda "
and the sickly sweet
"The Day We Fell in Love,"
which regrettably introduces the smarmy side of
Davy Jones
) stand up to the work of any other
pop
band operating in 1967. Real or fabricated,
rate with any
band of their era and
solidifies that position. ~ Tim Sendra