Editing The Monkees (section)

==== ''Headquarters'' and ''Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.'' ====
In February 1967, after Kirshner was dismissed as musical supervisor, Nesmith hired [[Chip Douglas]] to produce the Monkees' next album, ''Headquarters''.<ref name="SandovalPage80">Sandoval (2005), p. 80.</ref> This album was the first on which the Monkees primarily played their own instruments, with exceptions for most bass and horn parts. Douglas handled music direction, engineered recordings, and played bass on most tracks. ''Headquarters'' and its follow-up, ''Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.'', provided much of the music for the second season of the Monkees' television series.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

In March 1967, "The Girl I Knew Somewhere", written by Nesmith and performed by Dolenz, Nesmith, Tork, and bassist John London, was released as the B-side to "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You". The A-side peaked at No. 2 on the charts, while the B-side reached No. 39.<ref name="SandovalPage96">Sandoval (2005), p. 96.</ref>

Released in May 1967, ''Headquarters'' contained no U.S. singles but became the Monkees' third consecutive No. 1 album. With a country-folk-rock sound, the album reflected a departure from the pop style of their earlier works under Kirshner. According to Andrew Sandoval, the album topped the charts on May 24, 1967, but was displaced by the Beatles' ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' the following week, holding the No. 2 spot for 11 weeks during the "Summer of Love". The track "Randy Scouse Git", written and sung by Dolenz, was released internationally as "Alternate Title" (owing to [[Git (slang)|the controversial nature of its original title]]) and became a hit, reaching No. 2 in the UK and Norway.<ref name="SandovalPage116">Sandoval (2005), p. 116.</ref>

Tork's "For Pete's Sake" was used as the closing theme for the Monkees' television show. Nesmith contributed songs like "Sunny Girlfriend", incorporating pedal steel guitar, and "You Told Me", with a banjo intro by Tork that parodied the Beatles' "[[Taxman]]".<ref name="SandovalPage97">Sandoval (2005), p. 97.</ref> Other notable tracks included "You Just May Be the One", "Shades of Gray", "Forget that Girl", and "No Time". The band wrote six of the album's 12 tracks, along with two experimental pieces, "Band 6" and "Zilch".<ref name="SandovalPage101">Sandoval (2005), p. 101.</ref>

The ''Los Angeles Times'' praised the album, stating, "The Monkees Upgrade Album Quality" and "The Monkees are getting better. ''Headquarters'' has more interesting songs and a better quality level [than previous albums]... None of the tracks is a throwaway... The improvement trend is laudable."<ref name="SandovalPage109">Sandoval (2005), p. 109.</ref>

The collaborative approach on ''Headquarters'' was short-lived. In the 2007 Rhino reissue of ''Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.'', Nesmith said: <blockquote>Everybody in the press and in the hippie movement had got us into their target window as being illegitimate and not worthy of consideration as a musical force [or] certainly any kind of cultural force. We were under siege; wherever we went there was such resentment for us. We were constantly mocked and humiliated by the press. We were really gettin' beat up pretty good. We all knew what was going on inside. Kirshner had been purged. We'd gone to try to make ''Headquarters'' and found out that it was only marginally okay and that our better move was to just go back to the original songwriting and song-making strategy of the first albums except with a clear indication of how [the music] came to be... The rabid element and the hatred that was engendered is almost impossible to describe. It lingers to this day among people my own age.{{cn|date=May 2025}}</blockquote> 

Tork disagreed with Nesmith's assessment of ''Headquarters'', stating, "I don't think the ''Pisces'' album was as groovy to listen to as ''Headquarters''. Technically it was much better, but I think it suffers for that reason."<ref name="SandovalPage142">Sandoval (2005), p. 142.</ref> Tork favored working as a unified band, but Dolenz soon lost interest in drumming. "Dolenz was 'incapable of repeating a triumph,'" Tork commented in a DVD release of the second season. Producer Chip Douglas noted Dolenz's drumming required extensive editing, calling it "shaky".<ref name="SandovalPage108">Sandoval (2005), p. 108.</ref>

By late 1967, the band members pursued divergent musical directions. Nesmith gravitated toward country-rock, while Jones leaned into Broadway-style performances. ''Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.'', released in November 1967, marked a return to heavy use of session musicians, including the [[The Wrecking Crew (music)|Wrecking Crew]], [[Louie Shelton]], [[Glen Campbell]], [[Stephen Stills]], and [[Neil Young]]. Despite this, the Monkees retained creative control over song selection and production.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

''Pisces'' was their fourth consecutive No. 1 album, holding the top spot for five weeks.<ref name="SandovalPage142" /> The album featured hits like "Pleasant Valley Sunday" (No. 3) and "Words" (No. 11).<ref name="SandovalPage116" /><ref name="SandovalPage302">Sandoval (2005), p. 302.</ref> It also included early use of the Moog synthesizer on tracks like "Daily Nightly" and "Star Collector". Nesmith's "What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round?" became a milestone in the development of country-rock.<ref name="SandovalPage118">Sandoval (2005), p. 118.</ref> Nesmith reflected, ""One of the things that I really felt was honest was country-rock. I wanted to move the Monkees more into that because ... if we get closer to country music, we'll get closer to blues, and country blues, and so forth. ... It had a lot of un-country things in it: a familiar change from a I major to a VI minor—those kinds of things. So it was a little kind of a new wave country song. It didn't sound like the country songs of the time, which was Buck Owens."<ref name="SandovalPage118" />

Their next single, "Daydream Believer", with a piano intro by Tork, reached No. 1. Its B-side, "[[Goin' Down (The Monkees song)|Goin' Down]]", featured Nesmith and Tork on guitars and Dolenz on lead vocals. The Monkees simultaneously held No. 1 positions on the singles and album charts.<ref name="SandovalPage143">Sandoval (2005), p. 143.</ref>

Both ''Headquarters'' and ''Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.'' returned to the charts during the Monkees' 1986 reunion, remaining there for 17 weeks.<ref name="Discography"/>