Monkees – Pleasant Valley Sunday

I’ve heard so many times, How can you listen to the Monkees? Easy answer: I might not have gotten into rock music as early as I did without them. They inspired me later on to pick up a guitar and join a band. When I was 7, I saw the reruns of the Monkees in the mid-seventies. They made being in a band look fun. Of course, they never told you about the backbiting and the politics. The thing is, they made some good pop singles.

Also, the claim that they didn’t play their instruments, which was true on their first two albums, until their third album on. No, the hits didn’t dry up after they started to play their own instruments. This one they played on. Michael Nesmith was a singer-songwriter and guitarist before joining; Peter Tork was the best musician in the band at the time and played with Stephen Stills, Davy Jones played drums before joining, and Mickey Dolenz was a guitar player. Micky soon learned drums and possessed one of the best pop voices of the sixties. Mickey and Mike did the vocals on this song, singing together. 

This song was written by Goffin and King about suburbia. The Monkees started to play their own instruments on the Headquarters album. Pleasant Valley Sunday was released from that album and peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100, #11 in the UK, and #1 in Canada in 1967. The song had a rebellious streak. It is a dig at suburban life, but a really catchy dig. 

The Monkees were hot in 1967. Their show was on the air from 1966 to 1968. The opening guitar lick of this song was based on The Beatles’ “I Want To Tell You.” They influenced at least a couple of generations of musicians.

Peter Tork: “A notion of mine that I was real pleased with took over at one point, and that was having two guys sing in unison rather than one guy doubling his own voice. So you’ve got Mike, who was really a hard-nosed character, and Micky, who’s a real baby face, and these two voices blended and lent each other qualities. It’s not two separate voices singing together, it’s really a melding of the two voices. Listening to that record later on was a joy.”

One more thing…Jan Wenner of Rolling Stone Magazine can stuff it.  

Here is a demo by Carol King

“Pleasant Valley Sunday”

The local rock group down the street
Is trying hard to learn their song
They serenade the weekend squire
Who just came out to mow his lawn
Another pleasant valley Sunday
Charcoal burning everywhere
Rows of houses that are all the same
And no one seems to care See Mrs. Gray, she’s proud today
Because her roses are in bloom
And Mr. Green, he’s so serene
He’s got a TV in every room
Another pleasant valley Sunday
Here in status symbol land
Mothers complain about how hard life is
And the kids just don’t understand Creature comfort goals, they only numb my soul
And make it hard for me to see
(Ah ah ah) ah thoughts all seem to stray to places far away
I need a change of scenery Ta ta ta ta, ta ta ta ta
Ta ta ta ta, ta ta ta taAnother pleasant valley Sunday
Charcoal burning everywhere
Another pleasant valley Sunday
Here in status symbol land
Another pleasant valley Sunday (a pleasant valley Sunday)
Another pleasant valley Sunday (a pleasant valley Sunday)
Another pleasant valley Sunday (a pleasant valley Sunday)
Another pleasant valley Sunday (a pleasant valley Sunday)
Another pleasant valley Sunday (a pleasant valley Sunday)

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

57 thoughts on “Monkees – Pleasant Valley Sunday”

  1. Pingback: Monkees – Pleasant Valley Sunday – MobsterTiger

    1. It hit me hard when I saw this…while my sister was into the Osmonds…I thought hey…the Monkees are cooler…then came The Beatles the following year and I was lost forever.

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      2. Now Carol King I have always liked…my sister had the album Tapestry.
        I heard enough of Donny Osmond to have my fill lol…every time Tammy, my sister, broke up with someone…it was either Puppy Love or that song The End of the World by Skeeter Davis.

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      3. Oh, I love that End of the World song and Skeeter Davis! Very appropriate about now too. Ugh
        And yes, I hear you about Donny. He can kind of wear on people. But overall, I think he and his siblings/family have good hearts. I named my daughter after Marie (plus subconsciously for the town she was born in, Marietta).

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  4. My older sister introduced me to the Monkees, calling them “the new Beatles”. That was the basis of some of the real-time backlash. They were heavily hyped. Yes, they were a decent pop band. No, they were not equal to the Beatles. The “wacky hijinks” of the TV show were a blatant attempt to cash in on “A Hard Day’s Night”. The characters were based on the Beatles. “Pleasant Valley Sunday” was ironic in that it was a critique of phony suburban life by a band that was a phony suburban rip-off of the Beatles. They were a safe alternative to the Beatles for my suburban sister and parents; since by the time the TV show premiered, the Beatles had released “Revolver” and were no longer the safe moptops.

    So I’d say no, they were not as good as their hype; but they were better than some of us gave them credit for back then. Artistically, they were victims of their own hype machine. Financially, they were the beneficiaries of that machine.

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    1. OH I agree with what you have said. They just happened to be a bridge for me to the Beatles…being that I was a decade behind. One led to another and I had my own music to listen to… separate from my Osmonds loving sister.
      They did have some good pop songs.

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    2. Great comment. They were way better than expected by a long shot. True, they were a put-it-together Lego group , but well before the later lesser Pretty Boy Bands that were arranged into something that looked great and could sing passably, at least given an autotune or two.

      Yet a few of those Monkees singles are top notch pop efforts by any measure. Classic 60s pop. They actually deserved their time in the sun. That said I have never heard anything on the radio from the ‘Head’ soundtrack. I guess that was too subversive for their audience by then.

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  5. I have always liked this song, Max. Goffin’s and King’s inspiration for the name of this song was a street named Pleasant Valley Way, in West Orange, New Jersey where they were living at the time.  The lyrics were a social commentary on status symbols, creature comforts, their dissatisfaction with life in the suburbia and “keeping up with the Joneses”. 

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    1. It’s a good song and I would say…not my favorite by them but…probably the best song they ever did as far as quality. I think many bands would have loved to have this one.

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  7. My next oldest sister was the perfect age for the Monkees, so I heard a lot through her. I saw some of the shows in real time, but mostly in reruns. I think most of the songs hold up as good pop music. Mike Nesmith wrote some very good songs. I love “You Just May Be The One”. Interesting demo. Pardon my ignorance, is the Jann Wenner reference about the Hall Of Fame?

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    1. Yes the Wenner comment is about that….I thought I would be a little cryptic lol.
      Like I told someone else…they were my bridge to The Beatles and other rock music. Nesmith was a really good songwriter I agree…he was great at what would become Alt-Country.
      Their last shows were really trippy. They knew they would be canceled…they are very interesting to watch.

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  8. we all wanted to be the Monkees!..I think I knew them before I knew the Beatles, and still listen…..Let’s Dance On, I’m a Believer, and yes I always wore a toque. like Nesmith. Looking back they started out with the best songwriters…the Wrecking Crew, and unlike a lot of television acts (David Cassidy) they actually looked like they were play and did…and they were a part of that era – there’s that picture with Alice Cooper, Harry Neilson, Anne Murray and Mickey floating around – but this tune, I prefer King’s version…her voice just is just I guess different?

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    1. Yea I will admit without The Monkees…I wouldn’t have been into rock music at such an early age with my sister blasting out Osmonds and Skeeter Davis…
      I saw them in 1986….and Warren I’m not kidding on this….they were one of the loudest bands I’ve seen. My ears rang for days lol. Don’t know why but they cranked it up to 11.

      You brought up a good point…they did look the part! I do like King’s version but I love that guitar intro that Nesmith played.

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  10. y’know, I never really listened to the lyrics, they’re pretty good (as you’d expect from Goffin and King). Great pop song. An under-rated band as we’ve talked about frequently before – made good records, really jumped the idea of music videos forward several steps , sold a ton for a couple of years. Yet another dumb snub from the Rockhall. Ironically, semi spoiler-alert, tomorrow I have a post about another ’60s band who started off with a cover , played by the Wrecking Crew but sung by them who fairly quickly ascended to be considered one of the all-time greats

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    1. It’s not my favorite song by them Dave…but I believe it’s their best single that was released…if that makes sense. It’s very pop/rock…and that guitar intro is really cool that Nesmith played.
      Oh cool! Looking forward to that!

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      1. I think I get that. Sometimes artists make great songs that don’t necessarily connect well as singles – too long, too complex, lacking a traditional verse/chorus/verse formula, so it’s the good but lesser, snappy tunes that make for great hit singles

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      2. For example ‘Stairway to Heaven’ – not my fave LZ song, but many people’s – not really a good single, which might be why it wasn’t. Something like ‘Hot Dog’ by them, tailor made for the charts

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      4. Yea this has a little bit of everything to it. They marry pop and rock here well for the time..Just like I love the Beatles White Album personally but I believe Revolver was their artistic best…as you would Sgt Pepper.

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  14. great record great pedigree and I often say when agreeing with you about the Monkees critics know nothing they generally just speak for men of a certain age with sniffy attitudes that ignore demographics that also love music.

    my rating? When it comes to 60s bands The Monkees are the best band that isnt called The Beatles or The Beach Boys …

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    1. Yea they were THE pop band for a while. I agree…do people realize how many musicians they influenced? I’m a nobody…but there are plenty of big ones that were influenced by them. Michael Stipe of REM being one.

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  15. I’ve always loved “Pleasant Valley Sunday” by the Monkees. Together with “Daydream Believer” and “Last Train to Clarkville,” it’s among my top 3 by the group. I suppose it also doesn’t hurt it was written by my beloved Carole King and Jerry Goffin. 🙂

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    1. Christian I was so into that show…that I know so many of their songs! I do love this song but my favorites are Listen To The Band (written by Nesmith), Randy Scouse Git, and then probably this one. I agree…this one is great!

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      1. Holy 60’s Batman! I’ll look at that whole show tonight. So far, from the first minute on YT all I can say is ‘wow man. or Max.’ I’m short on time this morning. But tonight…carazzzzy.)

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      2. It’s a wild show! I’m sure all of it is up there. A different look….I think that was it for Pete…his last time playing with them.

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  16. It’s all mostly been said above, but they were an example of getting more than you could have expected. Davy could sing, at least well enough to have been in a stage show as the Artful Dodger, Tork was playing for a living pre-Monkees, Nesmith was no dummy, he could sing and write (Linda Ronstadt ‘Different Drum,’) and a younger Dolenz had been in ‘Jungle Boy’ or whatever it was called. And he had a great pop voice.

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    1. Like you said…they had some great radio pop hits of the sixties. I love the Head soundtrack…The Porpoise Song…
      They adapted well and ran with it. Just think if Stephen Stills would have passed the audition…that would have changed a lot. Crosby-Tork-Nash? lol…probably not but it is interesting.

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      1. Lol. Yep, I like ‘Porpoise’ too, and its fun to see the’ ‘Daddy’s Boy’ black and white song and dance routine with Davy and Toni Basil too. Pretty avant garde before MTV.

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      2. I remember talking about that song with you years ago…I just watched it again. There is one clip of them obbverse….on a TV show (33 1/3)…not their tv show…they were doing my favorite song by them…Listen To The Band and out came Buddy Miles. I have to paste the link here. I cut it short…but its really good…and it goes all 60s.

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  17. Pingback: Monkees – Pleasant Valley Sunday – BWS MUSIC BLOG

  19. This brings back 60s childhood memories every time I hear it. I like Carole’s version as well, which is unusual because I generally can’t stand her music. Awhile back, one of our local independent TV stations ran a weekend marathon of Monkees tv episodes. I DVR’ed them. They are as entertaining watching as an adult as when I was little. I concur about Jann Wenner.

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    1. I never heard the demo Carole made beore so hat was new to me. I think the same thing of when I was growing up.
      You are one of the few who got my cryptic message about Wenner…I thought well the people who knows will get it.

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