The Monkees - "L.A., D.C., Houston and Openshaw"

There were a lot of outtakes from The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees album, and I guess that shouldn't be surprising. Despite the success of the previous two albums, Headquarters and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. where the band members worked together as a team, for The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees the members worked mostly independently. As a result, there were a lot more tracks than were needed for a single album.

I guess I could have reconfigured The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees into a double album, but that's not as fun as creating a whole new LP.

SIDE A

1. Changes

2. If I Ever Get to Saginaw Again

3. Rosemarie

4. Lady's Baby

5. Carlisle Wheeling

6. Come on In

7. My Share of the Sidewalk

SIDE B

1. Tear the Top Right off My Head

2. Shake 'Em Up (and Let 'Em Roll)

3. Party

4. Nine Times Blue

5. War Games

6. Merry Go Round

7. Auntie's Municipal Court

The only real problem with assembling the tracks for this album is that it has only three with Micky Dolenz on lead vocals -- "Rosemarie," "Shake 'Em Up (and Let 'Em Roll)" and "Auntie's Municipal Court." The latter song actually appeared on the album The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees, however, I use the original, aborted track listing for that album (see here) that didn't include that song. Considering Micky sang most of the band's hits, the album is a bit lacking without more of his voice. But on the other hand, it allows the other three members to shine a bit.

I thought the jangly “Changes” sung by Davy was a good opener for side one, and Peter’s rockin’ “Tear the Roof Right Off My Head” a good opener for side two. Besides Micky's three lead vocals, Davy and Peter have lead vocals on four tracks each, and Mike sings lead on three.

All songs can be found on Missing Links, Missing Links Volume Two or Missing Links Volume Three. 

For an album title, I took a cue from The Monkees' Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. album that was named after their zodiac symbols (both Nesmith and Jones having the same, Capricorn). L.A., D.C., Houston and Openshaw is named after the towns each band member was born in.

For an album cover, I used a tie-dye (or is that batique?) background and placed over it The Monkees logo. Then I added London underground signs with the names of the cities, as well as the Colgems Records logo. Came out nice, I think.