Daydream Believer

In late 1967, the Monkees were riding a run of four consecutive chart-topping albums that stretched from their debut through Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. During the sessions for that LP, they cut "Daydream Believer", a song written by John Stewart shortly before he left the Kingston Trio. Stewart had offered the track to producer Chip Douglas after the two met at a party at Hoyt Axton's home in Laurel Canyon, following rejections from We Five and Spanky and Our Gang. Davy Jones took the lead vocal, with Peter Tork on piano, Michael Nesmith on lead guitar, and Micky Dolenz singing backing vocals. Tork created the piano introduction, and jazz trumpeter Shorty Rogers handled the orchestral arrangement.

The single nearly never made it out of the gate as an A-side. It was scheduled as the B-side of Nesmith's "Love Is Only Sleeping", but a week before release the European masters for that song were not ready, while the masters for "Daydream Believer" were. A last-minute switch made it the A-side, with "Goin' Down" as the flip side. RCA Records also objected to the word "funky" in one of Stewart's lines and insisted it be changed to "happy", a rewrite Stewart resisted before relenting because the label was adamant and the song looked like a hit.

The single reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in December 1967 and stayed there for four weeks, becoming the band's third and last American chart-topper. It peaked at No. 5 in the UK. Stewart later said the song's proceeds had kept him alive for years.