"Listen to the Band" is a song by American pop rock band

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 ...

, released on Colgems single 5004 on April 26, 1969. Written by

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� ...

, it is the first time Nesmith sang lead vocals on a Monkees single A-side.

Background

The song was written during Nesmith's

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 ...

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

sessions and recording commenced on June 1, 1968. It was completed on December 9, 1968 at RCA studios in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, with a horn section added to the track (arranged by

Shorty Rogers Milton "Shorty" Rogers (born Milton Rajonsky; April 14, 1924 – November 7, 1994) was an American jazz musician, one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played trumpet and flugelhorn and was in demand for his skills as an arran ...

). "Listen to the Band" was first heard in a live performance on the Monkees' television special '' 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee'' (filmed in late 1968), with

Peter Tork Peter Halsten Thorkelson (February 13, 1942 – February 21, 2019), better known by his stage name Peter Tork, was an American musician and actor. He was best known as the keyboardist and bass guitarist of the Monkees and a co-star of the TV ...

making his final appearance before leaving the band. The one-hour special aired on NBC on April 14, 1969, and the single was released 12 days later. The single's flip side, "Someday Man", was a song written by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols and produced by

Bones Howe Dayton Burr "Bones" Howe (born March 18, 1933) is an American record producer and recording engineer who scored a string of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, often of the sunshine pop genre, starting in 1965 with The Turtles cover of Bob Dylan's "It ...

. It was sung by Jones and recorded at the same time as

Goffin and King Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the US No.1 hits "Will You Love ...

's "A Man Without a Dream", which had appeared on the Monkees' previous album, ''

Instant Replay Instant replay or action replay is a video reproduction of something that recently occurred which was both shot and broadcast live. The video, having already been shown live, is replayed in order for viewers to see again and analyze what had j ...

'' (1969). "Someday Man" was heavily promoted in trade ads and was designated as the "plug side" on the promotional single, peaking on the Billboard chart at No. 81. However, DJs began to prefer the B-side, and Colgems accordingly began making updated picture sleeves, with "Listen to the Band" now listed as the A-side. The single reached No. 63 on the

Billboard charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

. The song was later included on the Monkees' album ''

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 ...

'', released on Colgems 117 on October 11, 1969. The Monkees were by now a trio (Nesmith,

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), with

having left in December 1968. The album version runs 2 minutes and 45 seconds, 15 seconds longer than the single version. In 1970, Nesmith re-recorded the song with

The First National Band The First National Band or Michael Nesmith and The First National Band was a short-lived American collaborative band, led by Monkee Michael Nesmith. During the two active years, The First National Band released three albums in the country rock g ...

for their second album, ''

Loose Salute ''Loose Salute'' is the second solo album by American singer-songwriter Michael Nesmith released during his post-Monkees career. Issued by RCA Records in 1970 and dedicated to Tony Richland, it peaked at No. 159 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts ...

''. The updated recording faded in through the first verse and reached full volume on the words "Listen to the band".

Composition

The song includes a long held

cadenza In music, a cadenza (from it, cadenza, link=no , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvisation, improvised or written-out ornament (music), ornamental passage (music), passage played or sung by a solo (music), sol ...

on the electric guitar that rises from G to the key of C with the accompaniment of the organ before Nesmith repeats the spoken title of the song to "Listen to the Band". The song features a brass section that plays during the instrumental section as if the brass were the band. The song ends with the recorded sound of an audience cheering for the band, sourced from the album ''144 Genuine Sound Effects'' on the Mercury Hill label. Nesmith later revealed that the chord progression of "Listen to the Band" was created by playing another song he wrote, "Nine Times Blue", backwards.

Chart performance

References

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's ''The Monkees Present'' CD booklet liner notes by Andrew Sandoval

External links

* http://monkee45s.net/USA/66-5004.html {{authority control 1969 songs The Monkees songs Songs written by Michael Nesmith Songs about music Country rock songs American country music songs