Listen to the Band (song)
| "Listen to the Band" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 US single cover reprint | ||||
| Single by The Monkees | ||||
| from the album The Monkees Present | ||||
| B-side | "Someday Man" | |||
| Released | 26 April 1969 | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded |
1 June & 9 December 1968 RCA Victor Studios Nashville, TN & Hollywood, CA | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:33 | |||
| Label | Colgems #5004 | |||
| Writer(s) | Michael Nesmith | |||
| Producer(s) | Michael Nesmith | |||
| The Monkees singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Listen to the Band" is a song by The Monkees that was released on Colgems single #5004 on April 26, 1969. Written by Michael Nesmith, it is the first time Nesmith sang lead vocals on a Monkees A-side single. Running 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the song is about a man finding solace in music after a romantic break-up. "Listen to the Band" was first heard on The Monkees TV special 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee as a live performance with Peter Tork making his last appearance before leaving the Monkees. The one-hour special aired on NBC on April 14, 1969.
"Someday Man", the original A-side was heavily promoted in trade ads and was designated as the 'plug side' on the promotional single. However, DJs began to recognize the superiority of the B-side, "Listen To The Band" and this justified Colgems making an updated picture sleeve.
The studio/single version of the song was recorded on June 1, 1968, and went to #63 on the Billboard chart. "Someday Man", a non-LP song written by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols, was sung by Davy Jones and charted on the Billboard chart at #81). "Listen to the Band" is from The Monkees record album The Monkees Present, released on Colgems 117 on October 1, 1969. The album version runs 2 minutes and 45 seconds, 15 seconds longer than the single version. The Monkees were by now a trio (Dolenz, Nesmith, and Davy Jones), Peter Tork having left in December 1968.
The song includes a long held cadenza on the electric guitar that rises from G to the key of C with the accompaniment of the organ, before Nesmith repeats the spoken title of the song to "Listen to the Band". The song features a brass section that plays during the instrumental section, as if the Brass were the band. The song ends with the recorded sound of an audience cheering for the band, sourced from the album 144 Genuine Sound Effects on the Mercury Hill label.
After The Monkees disbanded in the early 1970s, Nesmith re-recorded the song with The First National Band and appeared on their album Loose Salute. The updated recording faded in through the first verse and reached full-volume on the words "Listen to the Band".
References
- Joel Whitburn Billboard Top Pop Hits
- Rhino's "Present" CD booklet
