"Shades of Gray" is a song which was written by

Barry Mann Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman; February 9, 1939) is an American songwriter and musician, and part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil. He has written or co-written 53 hits in the UK and 98 in the US. Early li ...

and

Cynthia Weil Cynthia Weil (born October 18, 1940) is an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann. Life and career Weil was born in New York City, and was raised in a Conservative Jewish family. Her father was Morris Wei ...

, and recorded 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 ...

for their 1967 album ''

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 ...

''. Lead vocals were shared by Davy Jones and

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 ...

, and this is the only track on the album featuring instruments performed by session musicians instead of the band members (and producer

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 ...

) themselves (

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

and

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

). The song had been recorded previously by a folk-rock trio, the Will-O-Bees, and released in 1967 on the Date Records label (Date 45 #1543). Although the Will-O-Bees' version was accorded "Chart SpotlightsPredicted to reach the HOT 100" status in

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

's issue of December 31, 1966, the record is little known today. "Shades of Gray" has been included on several compilation albums by the Monkees, including ''

Barrel Full of Monkees ''Barrel Full of Monkees'' is a compilation album of songs by the Monkees, released by Colgems Records in 1971. The double album was produced and marketed for children, after the success of the Monkees' television show being rebroadcast on Saturda ...

'', '' Re-Focus'', and ''

The Best of The Monkees ''The Best of the Monkees'' is a Monkees compilation released by Rhino Entertainment. It contains 25 songs from the Monkees' repertoire, listed in chronological order by release date. Also included is a bonus karaoke CD with five tracks. Unlike ...

Sons of Champlin The Sons of Champlin are an American rock band, from Marin County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, formed in 1965. They are fronted by vocalist-keyboardist-guitarist Bill Champlin, who later joined rock band Chicago, from 1981 to 20 ...

recorded the song at about the same time, but the ''Headquarters'' version was released first. The album ''Fat City'', released in 2015 by The Thick Boys, finally featured the Sons of Champlin version of the song, named "Shades of Thickness" (whereas the original Monkees release was titled "Shades of Gray").

Sandy Posey Sandy Posey (born Sandra Lou Posey, June 18, 1944) is an American popular singer who enjoyed success in the 1960s with singles such as her 1966 recording of Martha Sharp's compositions "Born a Woman" and "Single Girl". She is often described as a ...

covered the song on her 1968 album ''Looking At You''. Another version was recorded in 2016 by P.K. Limited (Screen Gems/Columbia Music songwriters Dan Peyton and Marty Kaniger); it was featured in the film ''

Getting Straight ''Getting Straight'' is a 1970 American comedy film motion picture directed by Richard Rush, released by Columbia Pictures. The story centered upon student politics at a university in the early 1970s, seen through the eyes of non-conformist grad ...

''. A cover of "Shades of Gray" by Mind Venertion appears on the album, ''Through the Looking Glass - Indie Pop Plays The Monkees''.

Personnel

Credits from Andrew Sandoval. *Lead vocals by Davy Jones and Peter Tork *Backing vocals: Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Peter Tork *Steel Guitar: Michael Nesmith *Bass: Jerry Yester *Drums: Micky Dolenz *Tambourine: Davy Jones *Piano: Peter Tork *Maracas: Davy Jones

Session musicians and production staff

*Cello: Frederick Seykora *French Horn:

Vincent DeRosa Vincent Ned DeRosa (October 5, 1920 – July 18, 2022) was an American hornist who served as a studio musician for Hollywood soundtracks and other recordings from 1935 until his retirement in 2008. Because his career spanned over 70 years, duri ...

*Engineered by: Hank Cicalo

In popular culture

In the 1986 film '' Soul Man'',

C. Thomas Howell Christopher Thomas Howell (born December 7, 1966) is an American actor. He has starred in the films '' Soul Man'', '' The Hitcher'', '' Grandview U.S.A.'', ''Red Dawn'', ''Secret Admirer'' and '' The Outsiders''. He has also appeared in '' Gett ...

's character Mark attempts to impress a girl, so he says, "Today there is no black or white, only shades of gray," a direct quote from the song.

References

External links

monkees.net Lyrics to the Monkees song
The Monkees songs 1965 songs Songs written by Barry Mann Songs with lyrics by Cynthia Weil 1960s ballads Pop ballads {{1960s-pop-song-stub