While 1968 presented several misfortunes for the band (their eponymous television series was canceled; their first motion picture project, Head, failed at the box office; and, in December, Peter Tork left the group), The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees proved to be another successful album, yielding the group's sixth million-selling single in "Valleri" and yet another No.

"Tapioca Tundra," an experimental piece of poetry put to music by Nesmith which was the B-side to "Valleri," spent six weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, debuting at No.

[6][7] After gaining complete artistic control over their musical direction and being allowed to play instruments on their own records in early 1967, the success of that year's Headquarters and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. began to somewhat rebuff the critics who viewed the Monkees as a band of talentless individuals who were simply lucky enough to gain recognition through their "manufactured" origins.

"[8] An agreement was made to label all finished efforts as "Produced by the Monkees" but, in reality, beyond a few exceptions the recordings featured on The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees reverted to the recording process of the first two albums (fewer group dynamics), except now each band member was fully in charge of the sessions.

Douglas fully expected to continue as the band's representative in the studio, but found the individual Monkees more interested in exploring their diverse musical backgrounds with their own friends and associates rather than relying on him as the central figure.

Alan Wolsky, whose agency created the cover, put a picture of himself in the bottom center square, partially obscured by some flowers.

It contains the original stereo and U.S. mono versions of the album in miniature vinyl replica sleeves, over 60 demos, rehearsals and outtakes from the original album's sessions, a commemorative pin and a booklet of essays and session information by Monkees historian Andrew Sandoval.

The first 1,000 orders include a bonus vinyl single featuring two more unreleased tracks, acoustic versions of "St. Matthew" and "Lady's Baby".

This pressing features messages in the dead wax reading "Thanks to the Monkees" and "In memory of Davy Jones" on sides 1 and 2, respectively.

[13] The Monkees Additional musicians Unconfirmed personnel and duties Technical ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.