"D.W. Washburn" is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, recorded by both the Coasters and the Monkees.

The lyrics tell a story of a derelict (Washburn) who is chosen by a well-meaning charity to be cleaned up and fed a meal.

Washburn declines the offer, preferring his jobless, drunken but easygoing lifestyle to a life of responsibility.

It’s one thing to have Tommy (Boyce) and Bobby (Hart) singing 'ohhs' and 'ahhs' in the background; it's another to have a prominent black bass singer responding that way.'

The thing about the Monkees project at the end was, I think basically Bert and Bob (Rafelson) were running out of steam.

The original version with the black bass singer was released on The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees box set in 2010.

A medley of "D.W. Washburn" and "L. David Sloane (A Good Man Is Hard to Find)" by the Hutch Davie Calliope Band entered the Cash Box Looking Ahead survey on August 25, 1968.