Though this arrangement yielded multiple hit albums and singles, the band members revolted and, after a brief power struggle, gained full control over the recording process in 1967.

In September 1964, Jones had signed to a long-term contract to appear in TV programs for Screen Gems, to make feature films for Columbia Pictures and to record music for the Colpix label.

Nesmith had been working as a musician since early 1963 and had been recording and releasing music under various names, including Michael Blessing and "Mike & John & Bill", and he had studied drama in college.

Tork, the last to be chosen, had been working the Greenwich Village scene as a musician and had shared the stage with Pete Seeger; he learned of The Monkees from Stephen Stills, whom Rafelson and Schneider had rejected as a songwriter.

[20] Raybert set up a rehearsal space and rented instruments for the group to practice playing in April 1966,[21] but it quickly became apparent they would not be in shape in time for the series debut.

[24] Kirshner came back to the enthusiastic Boyce and Hart to be the regular producers, but he brought in one of his top East Coast associates, Jack Keller, to lend some production experience to the sessions.

[citation needed] The Monkees' first single, "Last Train to Clarksville" b/w "Take a Giant Step", was released in August 1966, just weeks prior to the TV broadcast debut.

[30][better source needed] Unlike most television shows of the time, The Monkees episodes were written with many setups, requiring frequent breaks to prepare the set and cameras for short bursts of filming.

The Monkees were annoyed at not having even been told of the release in advance, at having their opinions on the track selection ignored, at Kirshner's self-congratulatory liner notes and also because of the cover photo, which was a composite of photographs taken for a J.C. Penney clothing advertisement.

Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., released in November 1967, marked a return to heavy use of session musicians, including the Wrecking Crew, Louie Shelton, Glen Campbell, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young.

Receiving mixed critical reviews and virtually non-existent box office receipts, the film succeeded in alienating the band's teenage fanbase while failing to attract a more adult audience.

In the DVD commentary for the television special, Dolenz noted that after filming was complete, Nesmith gave Tork a gold watch as a going-away present, engraved "From the guys down at work."

Most of the songs from the 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee TV Special were not officially released until over 40 years later, on the 2010 and 2011 Rhino Handmade Deluxe boxed sets of Head and Instant Replay.

[72] According to Rhino Handmade's 2011 Deluxe Edition reissue of this album, Davy Jones told Melody Maker, "Half of the songs were recorded over the last three years, but there are also about six new ones."

The Monkees wanted to please the original 1966 fans by offering up new recordings of some previously unreleased older styled songs, as well as gain a new audience with what they considered a more mature sound.

80 Canada[78]) Other notable songs include the Dolenz composition "Little Girl", which featured Louie Shelton on electric guitar, joining Micky on acoustic guitar,[79] along with "Mommy and Daddy" (B-side to the "Good Clean Fun" single) in which he sang about America's treatment of the Native Americans and drug abuse, and in an earlier take, released on Rhino Handmade's 2011 Deluxe Edition of Instant Replay, sang about JFK's assassination and the Vietnam war.

Except for the two singers' vocal performances, Changes is the only album that fails to win any significant praise from critics looking back 40 years to the Monkees' recording output.

[citation needed] A Christmas single (credited to Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones and Peter Tork for legal reasons) was produced by Chip Douglas and released on his own label in 1976.

To promote Pool It!, Rhino Records released "Heart and Soul: The Official Monkee Videography", featuring contemporary music videos, interviews, and additional content.

During the 1980s revival, Michael Nesmith expressed increased willingness to participate in Monkees-related activities but remained largely absent due to commitments with his Pacific Arts video production company.

Nevertheless, he made several notable appearances, including a 1986 Christmas medley music video for MTV and a performance with the group at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on September 7, 1986.

[96] On August 8, 2011, the band canceled ten last-minute shows due to what was initially reported as "internal group issues and conflicts",[97] though Tork later confirmed "there were some business affairs that couldn't be coordinated correctly.

"The Monkees Farewell Tour" consisted of over 40 dates in the US from September to November; because of restrictions due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they were unable to play shows in Canada, the UK or Australia.

Honoring the contributions of his bandmates – the late Davy Jones, Mike Nesmith & Peter Tork – in song and with personal multimedia footage of the legendary performers".

[122] The Monkees, selected specifically to appeal to the youth market as American television's response to the Beatles[123] with their manufactured personae and carefully produced singles, are seen as an original precursor to the modern proliferation of studio and corporation-created bands.

Andrew Sandoval wrote the following in The Hollywood Reporter: [The Monkees] pioneered the music video format and paved the way for every boy band that followed in their wake, from New Kids on the Block to 'N Sync to the Jonas Brothers, while Davy set the stage for future teen idols David Cassidy and Justin Bieber.

[33]Mediaite columnist Paul Levinson noted that "The Monkees were the first example of something created in a medium—in this case, a rock group on television—that jumped off the screen to have big impact in the real world.

It was far better TV than it had to be; during an era of formulaic domestic sitcoms and wacky comedies, it was a stylistically ambitious show, with a distinctive visual style, absurdist sense of humor and unusual story structure.

[136] The production is a Jukebox musical and starred Stephen Kirwan, Ben Evans, Tom Parsons and Oliver Savile[136] as actors playing the parts of the Monkees (respectively Dolenz, Jones, Nesmith, Tork) who are hired by an unscrupulous businessman to go on a world tour pretending to be the real band.

[136] The Grammy Awards is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry.