When Neil Young played with The Monkees as a session musician
In an alternate universe, Buffalo Springfield split up because of The Monkees, and, as a result, CSNY would never come to fruition. Famously, Stephen Stills almost joined the group, but Neil Young’s dalliance with the televised band has been less widely documented.
In many people’s eyes, The Monkees were the antithesis of rock ‘n’ roll because they were handpicked by television executives who wanted an American equivalent to The Beatles. However, the initial idea for the programme came prior to Beatlemania, but it wasn’t until the success of the Liverpudlians that The Monkees became a reality.
While they didn’t pay their dues in a traditional sense and regularly relied upon session musicians, there was an irresistible charm to The Monkees. Stills was earmarked for a role when the band were looking for members, and he was almost recruited before Stills decided to suggest Peter Tork instead.
In Harold Bronson’s book, Hey, Hey, We’re The Monkees, Stills recalls: “When I auditioned for The Monkees, I sang and hung out for a while. They called me the next day to tell me they were interested and could I come another day. When I came in, I got the feeling they thought I was gonna happen, and they wanted to keep contact somehow, being up and coming Hollywood moguls. They were polite, and I sensed they were interested in me as a person. I was real upfront with them. I said, ‘Basically, I’m not that interested in the show, but mainly, I want to write the songs because that’s where the moola is.'”
He continued: “And then I said, ‘Listen, I know another guy that’s a lot like me, and he’s probably a little bit brighter, and he might be a little bit quicker and funnier’. I had that beaten into me by this guy from New York, for reasons that still escape me, that I was not funny, and I should not try to be funny. That’s when I suggested Peter Tork.”
Although Stills never became an official member of the group, he did play on a couple of tracks, including ‘Long Title: Do I Have to Do This All Over Again?’. However, Stills’ Buffalo Springfield and CSNY comrade Neil Young did feature on more songs. He performed on ‘As We Go Along’, ‘You and I’ as well as the outtakes, ‘Smile’ and ‘That’s What It’s Like Loving You’.
In 1968, when the collaboration occurred, Young was yet to become a major player in the scene and couldn’t refuse work as a session musician with The Monkees. Young first met Monkee Mike Naismith at The Troubadour in 1965, and they sparked a friendship that led to the collaboration. Although the Canadian wasn’t a prolific session musician, he made an exception for his friend.
While he’d likely have preferred to have been elsewhere, the Canadian left an impression on Mikey Dolenz. He later recalled the making of ‘As We Go Along’ to Entertainment Weekly in 2016: “And, at the session, the guitars were played by Neil Young and Ry Cooder. Yep. Listen to that song. Those guitar parts are Neil Young and Ry Cooder!”
Listen to ‘As We Go Along’ below.
