Chip Douglas - The Monkees

The Monkees

Douglas accepted Nesmith's offer, and joined The Monkees in the studio, first to create a new single with all four Monkees playing. Unfortunately, it couldn't be released because of a publishing restriction imposed by Screen Gems (who both produced The Monkees series and controlled their music publishing). Douglas' next Monkees project was their Headquarters album. Recorded over six steady weeks of sessions at the RCA Studios in Hollywood, Headquarters was the first album to feature The Monkees playing on every track, to refute the accusation that they couldn't play their own instruments, and was regarded by all four members as their 'first album'. Douglas contributed a song, "Forget That Girl", and joined them on bass guitar in the studio, freeing Peter Tork to play keyboards and guitar. Other sidemen rounded out the sound, but the core was The Monkees themselves. The album was released in the spring of 1967, and began a steady climb up the charts, eventually reaching #1 on Billboard's album chart, but was displaced by the latest Beatles album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

No singles from Headquarters were issued in the United States, but Douglas nonetheless scored hits working with The Monkees that year, first with "Pleasant Valley Sunday" (written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King), which featured an innovative guitar intro composed by Douglas and played by Nesmith. Later, Douglas became aware of a song, "Daydream Believer", written by his friend John Stewart. He thought would be perfect for Davy Jones, and Tork gave its memorable piano intro. The song became the band's all-time second-biggest single and was included on the 1968 album “The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees”. Douglas was pleased to have made hit records with The Monkees, but was disappointed that they weren't able to erase the common misconception that The Monkees weren’t actually musicians, and that the press took little notice of their accomplishments.

Douglas next produced their album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, & Jones, Ltd., on which he also played bass. Unlike “Headquarters”, it was done in several different studios around the U.S. between Monkees tour dates, and was played by the band and augmented by session musicians. He also introduced the Monkees to Harry Nilsson, who played them a selection of his original songs, and became friends with the band. One of the songs, "Cuddly Toy", was covered by The Monkees, and featured on both the “Pisces” album and an episode of their TV series. Douglas has been quoted as saying, “I like to think I gave Harry his big break, which resulted in a record deal with RCA”.