Last Train to Clarksville by The Monkees (Cover version)

Everybody knows that the Monkees were the first band ever spun off from a TV show. But their debut, “Last Train to Clarksville” was released as a single a full month before the show premiered in September 1966, and went Top Ten before anyone saw the Monkees on TV.

Lovingly covered for Rock Band, this was a prime slice of '60s pop that featured a roomful of the best studio players around; that was Glen Campbell playing guitar on the original. Songwriters Boyce and Hart were plugging into the folk-rock sound that was in fashion at the time, and “Last Train to Clarksville” included a subtle antiwar message: The singer is a new recruit on his way to Vietnam.

Two years before the Monkees, Davy Jones appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show as part of the Broadway cast of “Oliver!” One of the guys who failed his Monkees audition was Stephen Stills, later of Crosby, Stills & Nash. Asked if he knew anyone that looked like him but had better teeth, Stills referred the producers to Peter Tork.

For a three-minute '60s pop song, this one packs a lot of surprises. Toughest part vocally would be the “dit-dit-dit” break halfway through; get tongue-tied and you’re out.

The guitar part involves a lot of arpeggios, including fast triplets in the solo.

And the drummer should be ready for a major switch-up in the final verse, where the snare drum suddenly springs into action and you have to start keeping time with your left hand instead of the right. There are enough red hits to fail you at 90% if you don’t see them coming.

All four Monkees toured England in 1996, playing their own instruments with no outside help. Now a successful video entrepreneur, Mike Nesmith dropped out soon after; the remaining three last toured together in 2001.

“Last Train To Clarksville”
Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart
Screen Gems- EMI Music Inc. (BMI) All rights reserved. Used by permission
Performed by:
Mark Edwards: Vocals
Lance Tabers: Guitars
Nick Gallant: Bass
Scott Dugdale: Drums, Additional Percussion
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup