The Monkees started out as a TV band, created for NBC’s The Monkees to cash in on Beatlemania. But they quickly became a real pop sensation, with one of their biggest hits coming from a young Neil Diamond.
In 1966, The Monkees recorded Diamond’s “I’m a Believer,” which became their second No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. The song spent seven weeks at the top of the charts and became one of the defining hits of the era.
But Diamond hadn’t originally written the song for The Monkees. At the time, he was still trying to establish himself as both a singer and songwriter. His debut album, The Feel of Neil Diamond, was released in 1966, just as his own recording career was beginning to gain momentum.
Diamond had country star Eddy Arnold in mind when he wrote “I’m a Believer.” He considered it a country song and thought Arnold would be a good fit. Instead, music executive Don Kirshner brought the song to The Monkees after hearing Diamond’s work.
Micky Dolenz sang lead on “I’m a Believer,” which gave The Monkees their second chart-topper after “Last Train to Clarksville.”
The success was particularly meaningful to Diamond, who considered himself a songwriter first. As he later recalled, his record company was upset that he had given away a potential No. 1 hit.
“The head of my record company was very angry — I’d given away a number one hit — but I was thrilled,” Diamond told Guitar Player. Diamond added that he was happy to see another artist take his song to the top of the charts. “Having the Monkees get the number one was as good as if I had recorded it, honestly.”
The success of “I’m a Believer” came at a particularly important point for the group. Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Davy Jones weren’t inexperienced musicians, but they had been assembled to play a fictional band on TV. Their early records leaned heavily on outside songwriters and session musicians.
As The Monkees became more established, the four members wanted greater control over what they recorded and how they made their music. Tensions grew with Kirshner and the executives overseeing their recordings, and by 1967, the group had won a much bigger role in the recording process.
“The [show’s] producers backed us and David [Davy Jones] went along,” Nesmith explained to Rolling Stone, recalling how the group gained more control. “None of us could have fought the battles we did [with the music publishers] without the explicit support of the show’s producers.”
The Monkees went on to make two albums with more say in their music, but the group eventually began to splinter. Tork left in 1968, followed by Nesmith in 1970.
The Monkees reunited in 1986 following renewed interest in the TV series and continued to reunite for performances in the years that followed.
Related: 1967 Motown Song, Written by Smokey Robinson, Launched a Young Band’s Career
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