Recorded - July 25, 1966
Released - August 16, 1966
#1 for week of November 5, 1966.
...Well, here we go...The Monkees, A group that has been vilified and scorned nearly mercilessly by rock critics since 1967.
If you were a rock music critic during that time period and as much as mentioned The Monkees in the same breath as The Beatles or Stones, you'd probably get stoned, (and I don't mean in the groovy way!) The initial impression that has been stamped on The Monkees is that they were a prefabricated group who didn't write their own songs or play their own instruments. In the minds of many rock elitists, they're the bottom of the barrel. And all I got to say about that is...That's just wrong.
Yes, The Monkees were a pre-fabricated group that were initially formed to star in their own television series. Yet did you know that Stephen Stills auditioned? In fact it was Stephen who recommended that his friend Pete Tork try auditioning. Also, all four of The Monkees had unique personalities and singing styles, and these personalities weren't pre-fabricated.
And yes, The Monkees initially didn't play their own instruments or write their own songs. At least this was the case for most of what was produced in 1966. That all changed in 1967 with their third album Headquarters where they demanded the right to play their own instruments and write the songs. I give them credit for rebelling against the pop status quo and taking their career into their own hands.
Finally, despite many of the non-teenyboppers disliking The Monkees, many of Rock's elite at the time befriended the "Pre-Fab Four". This included The Beatles and The Who. Even Jerry Garcia has nice things to say about the early Monkees albums, recognizing them for what they were - "Good albums, and they should be since they have good musicians playing on them." Besides, if Frank Zappa befriended them, and appeared in some of their films, they can't be all that bad.
Sure, there are some truly sappy songs of theirs, but then again, you have to remember who they were originally appealing to. If you dig deeper into The Monkees catalog, you'll find some really good songs. Their first #1, "Last Train To Clarksville", is one of those. Written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart and featuring talented session musicians on instrumentation, "Last Train To Clarksville" was one of The Monkees first recorded numbers and thus, does not yet feature the group fully in control of their direction/music.
Regardless, "Last Train To Clarksville" features some very Beatles-esque instrumentation, and some very tasty guitar. Vocally, The Monkees aren't bad at all. If it wasn't for the band's unjust reputation, Mickey Dolenz would be considered one of the most recognizable voices of the 1960's. The song is even lyrically topical, dealing with the fact that many boys being shipped off to war were fearing that they would never return home again. How is this not relevant in today's society? Actually, the fact that it is still relevant is pretty sad.
So yeah, this song may be a fully prefabricated pop number, yet, look at all of the songs reviewed on this blog so far... Almost all of the Motown songs reviewed were written by outside writers and had a session band playing. Classics like "Wild Thing" and "When A Man Loves A Woman" were not written by their singers. Heck, even The Byrds' version of "Mr. Tambourine Man" uses mostly session musicians. So cut The Monkees some slack.
Final Verdict - "Last Train To Clarksville" features a memorable music arrangement and surprisingly mature lyrics. If you've never been a fan of The Monkees, open your mind, clear your bias, and give it a fair listen. It may not be among the very best of 1966, but it's certainly a good song.
Coming Up Next - "Poor Side Of Town" by Johnny Rivers.
Until Next Time - Hey Hey I'm Dr. Rock, some people say I rumble around, but I'm too busy grooving, to bring any mountain down -
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