''Changes'' is the ninth studio album by

the Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...

. The album was issued after

Michael Nesmith Robert Michael Nesmith or Mike Nesmith, (December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He was best known as a member of the pop rock band the Monkees and co-star of the TV series ''The Monkees'' (1966� ...

's exit from the band, leaving only

Micky Dolenz George Michael Dolenz Jr. (born March 8, 1945) is an American actor, musician, TV producer and businessman. He is best known as the drummer and one of three primary vocalists for the pop-rock band the Monkees (1966–1970, and multiple reunions ...

and Davy Jones to fulfill the recording contract they had signed in the mid-1960s. ''Changes'' was their last new album for

Colgems Records Colgems Records was a record label that existed from 1966 to 1971. History Colgems was a joint venture between Screen Gems, the television division of Columbia Pictures, and RCA Victor to issue records by The Monkees and other artists affiliated ...

and the group's last album of all new material until ''

Pool It! ''Pool It!'' is the tenth studio album by the Monkees, issued by Rhino Records in 1987. It was the first Monkees studio album of new material since ''Changes'' in 1970 and the first Monkees album to feature Peter Tork since the 1968 ''Head'' soun ...

'', released in 1987.

History

The album's title had originally been considered for the Monkees' movie (released in 1968), and a song with that title (cowritten by Jones with Steve Pitts) had been recorded. The movie was retitled ''

Head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

'', however, and the song was subsequently shelved, remaining unreleased until 1990, when it appeared on the archival compilation album ''

Missing Links Volume Two ''Missing Links Volume Two'' is a compilation album of rare and previously unreleased songs by the Monkees, issued by Rhino Records in 1990. It is the second volume of a three-volume set, preceded by '' Missing Links'' in 1987 and followed by ' ...

''. ''Changes'' reunited Jones and Dolenz with producer

Jeff Barry Jeff Barry (born Joel Adelberg; April 3, 1938) is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer. Among the most successful songs that he has co-written in his career are " Do Wah Diddy Diddy", " Da Doo Ron Ron", " Then He Kiss ...

, who now had his own successful

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, Steed Records. As with the earliest Monkees recordings, Jones and Dolenz provided only their vocals, despite the album cover featuring them playing percussion, while the backing tracks were provided by session musicians. Several of the songs selected for the album were outtakes from previous album sessions: Barry resurrected his own produced outtake of his composition "99 Pounds" from the final

Don Kirshner Donald Kirshner (April 17, 1934 – January 17, 2011) was an American music publisher, music consultant, rock music record producer, producer, talent manager, and songwriter. Dubbed "the Man with the Golden Ear" by Time (magazine), ''Time' ...

-supervised Monkees sessions in January 1967 that also yielded the hit single " A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You"; Micky's "Midnight Train" was recorded during sessions for ''

The Monkees Present ''The Monkees Present'' (full title being ''The Monkees Present Micky, David, Michael,'' also known as simply ''Present'') is the Monkees' eighth album. It is the second Monkees album released after the departure of Peter Tork and the last to feat ...

'' and had been featured in

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

-TV reruns of ''

The Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...

'' television show (most notably in "The Chaperone"); "I Never Thought It Peculiar," with vocals by Davy, was written by frequent Monkees collaborators Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart and was recorded during the sessions for ''

More of the Monkees ''More of the Monkees'' is the second studio album by the American pop rock band the Monkees. It was recorded in late 1966 and released on Colgems label #102 on January 9, 1967. It displaced the band's own debut album from the top of the ''Billb ...

''. Jones later stated that ''Changes'' was his least favorite Monkees effort, going so far as to comment in the CD version's liner notes that the album "was Jeff Barry and Andy Kim doing an Andy Kim album," adding that he had terrible memories of the recording sessions. Dolenz, while not lavishing praise on ''Changes'', said that he was pleased to be invited to record new material. "I was quite happy to do it as long as somebody wanted to record me. It was simple as that." Dolenz added, "by that time, it was pretty obvious that the Monkees were over. Davy and I were still getting along, but we were mainly fulfilling a contractual obligation to a record company — that's what ''Changes'' is all about".

Release

" Oh My My" became the first single from the album and made the Top 100 in the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' charts. Written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim, it is unrelated to the later 1973

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

single of the same name. In addition to being the album's opening track and lead-off single, "Oh My My" was also accompanied by a rare promo film directed by Micky Dolenz, showing Micky and Davy Jones riding their motorcycles and horses. "Acapulco Sun" was released as a single in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, becoming a minor hit there. ''Changes'' appeared in June 1970 and initially failed to make the charts. Consequently, its initial pressing (COS-119) was limited and has become one of the more valuable Monkees albums. Jones announced shortly after its release that he was resuming his solo career, but he and Dolenz would release one more single together before reuniting in 1976 with Monkees songwriters and producers Boyce and Hart. In the wake of the success of the Monkees' television show being rebroadcast on Saturday mornings by CBS (in which all but two tracks from ''Changes'' were featured in the reruns), the duo recorded " Do It in the Name of Love" and "Lady Jane" in September 1970. Instead of appearing under the "Monkees" name on Colgems Records, however, the single was released on

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny ...

, the successor label to Colgems, and was credited to "Mickey Dolenz and Davy Jones". This was due to the prohibitive costs of licensing the Monkees name in the US; however, in Japan, the record was issued under the name "the Monkees." Like all of the original Monkees albums from 1966 to 1970, ''Changes'' was reissued in September 1986 by Rhino Records (RNLP-70148) and made a belated entry into the ''Billboard'' album charts, reaching No. 152. The Rhino vinyl reissue was transferred from a vinyl copy of the album, the master tape having been lost over the years. For the 1994 CD reissue on Rhino, a first-generation master tape was used, which had been found at the Screen Gems publishing division.

Session outtakes

One track recorded during the studio sessions, "Time and Time Again", was dropped in favor of "I Never Thought It Peculiar." The track later surfaced on the Monkees rarities collection '' Missing Links'' and in remixed form as a bonus track on the 1994 CD release of ''Changes''. Another song, "Steam Engine," was recorded in 1969 for ''Changes'' and was written and produced by

Chip Douglas Douglas Farthing Hatlelid (born August 27, 1942), better known as Chip Douglas, is an American songwriter, musician (bass, guitar and keyboards), and record producer, whose most famous work was during the 1960s. He was the bassist of the Turtle ...

, featuring Micky Dolenz on vocals. This song was not released at the time due to a disagreement between

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

and Douglas over session costs and only saw the light of day via a Saturday morning rerun of the Monkees' TV series episode "Monkees on Tour." In 1979, it was finally issued on the semi-official Australian compilation album ''Monkeemania - 40 Timeless Hits'', and in 1982 it was issued in the USA on the

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

picture disc compilation '' Monkee Business''. As of 2020, two "lost" outtakes from the sessions, "Which Way (Do You Want It)" and "Ride Baby, Ride," have not been found in any archives, despite ongoing efforts to locate them.

Track listing

Original 1970 Colgems vinyl issue

;Side 1 ;Side 2 ;Notes All tracks except "You're So Good to Me" and "It's Got to Be Love" were dubbed into the

reruns of ''

'' from 1970–1972.

1994 Rhino CD reissue

''Tracks 1-12: Original album''

Session information

"Oh My My" *Written by

and Andy Kim *Lead vocal by

*Other personnel unknown *Produced and arranged by Jeff Barry *Engineered by Mike Moran *Recorded in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, February 5, 1970 *Issued as Colgems Records 45 RPM single 5011, April 1970 (No. 98) "Ticket on a Ferry Ride" *Written by Jeff Barry and

Bobby Bloom Robert Bloom (January 15, 1946 – February 28, 1974) was an American singer-songwriter. He is known best for being a one-hit wonder with the 1970 song, "Montego Bay", which was co-written with and produced by Jeff Barry. Biography Bloom was bo ...

*Lead vocal by Micky Dolenz *Other personnel unknown *Produced and arranged by Jeff Barry *Engineered by Mike Moran *Recorded in New York City, March 25, 1970 "You're So Good to Me" *Written by Jeff Barry and Bobby Bloom *Lead vocal by Davy Jones *Other personnel unknown *Produced and arranged by Jeff Barry *Engineered by Mike Moran *Recorded in New York City, March 25, 1970 *While Jeff Barry and Bobby Bloom are officially credited as the writers of the song, several sites and sources credit Robert Stone as co-writer. These findings are incorrect, as the song "You're So Good" by Robert Stone which was recorded by the Monkees in 1969 is a completely different song from the one co-written by Barry and Bloom. "It's Got to Be Love" *Written by Neil Brian Goldberg *Lead vocal by Micky Dolenz *Other personnel unknown *Produced and arranged by Jeff Barry *Engineered by Mike Moran *Recorded in New York City, April 2, 1970 "Acapulco Sun" *Written by Ned Albright and

Steven Soles Steven Soles is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and guitarist. Known also as J. Steven Soles, he was asked by Bob Dylan to join the band for his 1975–1976 "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour, he appeared on Dylan's album "Desire" and h ...

*Lead vocal by Micky Dolenz *Other personnel unknown *Produced and arranged by Jeff Barry *Engineered by Mike Moran *Recorded in New York City, April 2, 1970 "99 Pounds" *Written by Jeff Barry *Lead vocal by Davy Jones *Backing vocals: Unknown *Guitars:

Al Gorgoni Al Gorgoni (born 1939) is an American guitarist, composer, arranger, and producer, known for his work as a studio musician during the 1960s and 1970s. Biography Growing up in Philadelphia, his family moved to The Bronx where he took up the guit ...

, Don Thomas and

Hugh McCracken Hugh Carmine McCracken (March 31, 1942 – March 28, 2013) was an American rock guitarist and session musician based in New York City, primarily known for his performance on guitar and also as a harmonica player. McCracken was additionally ...

*Bass: Lou Mauro *Drums:

Herb Lovelle Herbie Lovelle (1 June 1924 - April 8, 2009) was an American drummer, who played jazz, R&B, rock, and folk. He was also a studio musician and an actor. Lovelle's uncle was the drummer Arthur Herbert. Lovelle began his career with the trumpete ...

*Clavinet: Stan Free *Organ: Arthur Butler *Tambourine: Thomas Cerone *Handclaps: Unknown *Produced and arranged by Jeff Barry *Engineered by Ray Hall *Recorded at

RCA Studio B RCA Studio B was a music recording studio built in 1956 in Nashville, Tennessee by RCA Victor. Originally known simply as "RCA Studios," Studio B, along with the larger and later RCA Studio A became known in the 1960s for being an essential fa ...

, New York City, January 21 (11:00 A.M. - 7:00 P.M.), and February 4 and 6, 1967, during the final

-supervised Monkees sessions for what would become known as ''

Headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

'' (1967) "Tell Me Love" *Written by Jeff Barry *Lead vocal by Micky Dolenz *Other personnel unknown *Produced and arranged by Jeff Barry *Engineered by Mike Moran *Recorded in New York City, February 5, 1970 "Do You Feel It Too?" *Written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim *Lead vocal by Davy Jones *Other personnel unknown *Produced and arranged by Jeff Barry *Engineered by Mike Moran *Recorded in New York City, March 26, 1970 "I Love You Better" *Written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim *Lead vocal by Micky Dolenz *Backing vocals: Davy Jones & unknown *Guitar: Hugh McCracken *Bass:

Chuck Rainey Charles Walter Rainey III (born June 17, 1940) is an American bass guitarist who has performed and recorded with many well-known acts, including Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan, and Quincy Jones. Rainey is credited for playing bass on more than 1,00 ...

*Drums:

Gary Chester Gary Chester (born Cesario Gurciullo; October 27, 1924 – August 17, 1987) was an American studio drummer, author, and teacher. Beginning in the 1960s, he played on hundreds of records for bands such as The Coasters, The Monkees, and The Lovin ...

*Unknown: Ned Albright, Bobby Bloom, Andy Kim and Steven Soles *Produced and arranged by Jeff Barry *Engineered by Mike Moran *Recorded in New York City, February 5, 1970 *Issued as Colgems Records 45 RPM single 5011, April 1970 (No. 98) "All Alone in the Dark" *Written by Ned Albright and Steven Soles *Lead vocal by Micky Dolenz *Harmony vocal: Davy Jones *All others unknown *Produced and arranged by Jeff Barry *Engineered by Mike Moran *Recorded in New York City, March 26, 1970 "Midnight Train" *Written by Micky Dolenz *Lead vocal by Micky Dolenz *Backing vocals: Micky Dolenz and Coco Dolenz *Electric Guitar: Louie Shelton *Bass: Joe Osborn *Banjo: James Burton *Drums: Hal Blaine *Harmonica: Tommy Morgan *Produced by Micky Dolenz *Recorded at

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

Victor Studios, Hollywood, CA, July 16 (7:00 P.M. - 10:00 P.M.), 1969, during the sessions for ''

'' (1969) *While Micky Dolenz is officially credited as the writer of the song, several sites and sources claim Chris McCarty, Kenny Lee Lewis and Steve Miller to have co-written the track. These findings are incorrect, as the song co-written by McCarty, Lewis, and Miller is a completely different song from the one written by Dolenz. "I Never Thought It Peculiar" *Written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart *Lead vocal by Davy Jones *Backing vocals: Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart and Ron Hicklin *Guitars: Wayne Erwin, Gerry McGee and

Louie Shelton William Louis Shelton (born April 6, 1941) is an American guitarist and music producer. Biography During the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s Shelton was a session musician working in recording studios around Hollywood. Among his more notable session wo ...

*Acoustic Guitar: Tommy Boyce *Bass:

Larry Taylor Samuel Lawrence Taylor (June 26, 1942 – August 19, 2019) was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee Le ...

*Drums: Billy Lewis *Violins: Harold Ayres, John DeVoogdt, Jimmy Getzoff, Joy Lule and Norman Serkin *Violas: William Hymanson and Gareth Nuttycombe *Cello: Frederick Seykora *Saxophone:

Jay Migliori Jay Migliori (November 14, 1930 – September 2, 2001) was an American saxophonist, best known as a founding member of Supersax, a tribute band to Charlie Parker. Biography Migliori started playing the saxophone after he received one as a birthday ...

*Trumpet:

Chuck Findley Charles B. Findley (born December 13, 1947 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania) is an American trumpet player known for his diverse work as a session musician. He also plays other brass instruments such as flugelhorn and trombone. His technical abilities ...

*French Horn: Alan Robinson *Trombone: Dick Hyde *Bell:

Gene Estes The Wrecking Crew was a loose collective of Los Angeles-based session musicians whose services were employed for a great number of studio recordings in the 1960s and 1970s, including hundreds of top 40 hits. The musicians were not publicly rec ...

*Unknown: Michael Anthony *Produced by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart *Arranged by

Jimmie Haskell Jimmie Haskell (born Sheridan Pearlman, November 7, 1926 – February 4, 2016) was an American composer and arranger for motion pictures and a wide variety of popular artists, including Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Steely Da ...

*Recorded at RCA Victor Studios, Hollywood, October 28, 1966, during the sessions for ''

'' (1967), with further recording done at

The Sound Factory The Sound Factory (also known as Sunset Sound Factory) is a recording studio in Los Angeles, California. The Sound Factory was built in the 1960s on Selma Avenue in Hollywood. At the time, it served as the home of Moonglow Records and the Moon ...

, Hollywood, September 5 (12:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M.) and 12 (1:00 P.M. - 5:30 P.M.), 1969

Bonus tracks session information

"Time and Time Again" *Written by Bill Chadwick and Davy Jones *Lead vocal by Davy Jones *Backing vocals: Davy Jones and Bill Chadwick *Electric Guitar: Louie Shelton and unknown *Bass:

Joe Osborn Joseph Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018John Guerin John Payne Guerin (October 31, 1939 – January 5, 2004) was an American percussionist. He was a proponent of the jazz-rock style. Biography Guerin was born in Hawaii and raised in San Diego. As a young drummer he began performing with Buddy De ...

*Moog Synthesizer:

Paul Beaver Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

*Calliope:

Michel Rubini Michel Rubini (born December 3, 1942) is an American musician, conductor, arranger, producer, songwriter and composer. A professional classical pianist since early childhood, he was a prolific session musician of the 1960s and '70s, part of a gro ...

*Produced by Bill Chadwick and Davy Jones *Recorded at RCA Victor Studios, Hollywood, CA, August 14, and November 11, 1969, during the sessions for ''The Monkees Present'' *Originally considered for, but rejected from, ''Changes'' *First released on '' Missing Links'' in 1987. The mix presented here is slightly different than on ''Missing Links''. The opening and ending dialogues are removed and the song fades out at the end, whereas the mix on ''Missing Links'' does not fade out. The Moog also doesn't appear in this mix until the instrumental bridge, whereas the Moog can be heard throughout the song in the mix on ''Missing Links''. The Moog is also more restrained in this mix than on ''Missing Links''. "Do It in the Name of Love" *Written by Bobby Bloom and Neil Brian Goldberg *Lead vocals by Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones *Backing vocals: Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones and unknown *Guitar: Unknown *Drums: Unknown *Piano: Unknown *Keyboard: Unknown *Tambourine: Unknown *Produced and arranged by Jeff Barry *Recorded in New York City, September 22, 1970 *Issued as Bell Records 45 RPM single 986, April 1971 "Lady Jane" *Written by Bobby Bloom and Neil Brian Goldberg *Lead vocals by Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz *Backing vocals: Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones and unknown *Acoustic Guitar: Unknown *Drums: Unknown *Piano: Unknown *Keyboard: Unknown *Tambourine: Unknown *Produced and arranged by Jeff Barry *Recorded in New York City, September 22, 1970 *Issued as Bell Records 45 RPM single 986, April 1971

Charts

References

{{Authority control The Monkees albums 1970 albums RCA Records albums Rhino Records albums Colgems Records albums Albums produced by Micky Dolenz Albums produced by Davy Jones (musician) Albums produced by Tommy Boyce Albums produced by Bobby Hart Albums produced by Jeff Barry