![\"Who](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Who-wrote-the-classic-hit-Daydream-Believer-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Album Cover)<\/p>\n
Tue 20 January 2026 2:00, UK <\/p>\n
In 1967, The Monkees<\/a> were seemingly on top of the world, with their self-titled television series, which was soundtracked by their discography, making them one of the most commercially successful pop groups in the United States. <\/p>\n Their album Headquarters, released in May 1967 heard for the first time the band playing most of the instruments and contributing their original compositions. Prior, it had been revealed that they did not play the instruments on their first two albums. After the album reached number one on the US charts, only to be succeeded by The Beatles\u2019 Sgt Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Monkees<\/a> veered into the sonic influences of psychedelia, evident in some of their earlier records, including the songs \u2018Words\u2019 (which was to be re-recorded for their impending album) and \u2018Take a Giant Step\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n The resulting album, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd, released in January 1968 in the UK, is a collection of psych-pop that, while reviewed favourably and notable for its experimental flair, marked the beginning of a flux period for The Monkees. <\/p>\n In 1968, the group experienced a shift: their television series was cancelled and their feature film, Head<\/a>, debuted to poor response. Beginning with the two albums they released in 1967, The Monkees had gained creative control over their music that they hadn\u2019t had before, but their dynamic in the studio was beginning to falter in its collaborative approach. <\/p>\n As a result, each Monkee recorded independently, each with their own producers, musicians and studios, and this contrast was evident: Davy Jones\u2019 songs were Broadway pop, Michael Nesmith blended country rock with psychedelic elements and Micky Dolenz utilised soul and rock influences. Peter Tork\u2019s compositions, while submitted, were not included in the final release, but, his contributions were heard on one song, and that\u2019s \u2018Daydream Believer\u2019.<\/p>\n \u2018Daydream Believer\u2019 had initially been recorded during the sessions for their previous album, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd, but would be released only as a single, performed on their show The Monkees on October 9th, 1967, eventually finding home on their 1968\u2019s The Birds, The Bees & the Monkees, with Tork\u2019s piano, Dolenz\u2019s backing vocals, Jones\u2019 lead vocals and Nesmith\u2019s guitar. Known as one of the 1960s\u2019 most joyful tunes, \u2018Daydream Believer\u2019 was given a spirited new life by outfit, after it was initially written by folk singer John Stewart about suburbia.<\/p>\n Stewart penned a \u2018suburbia trilogy\u2019 of songs, with \u2018Daydream Believer\u2019 written as the final story, and the day Stewart wrote it, as he recalled to American Songwriter<\/a>, \u201cI remember going to bed thinking, \u2018What a wasted day, all I\u2019ve done is daydream\u201d, and from there I wrote the whole song\u201d.<\/p>\n The musician had been a member of The Kingston Trio from 1961 to \u201967, and wrote \u2018Daydream Believer\u2019 just after leaving the band and teaming up with John Denver. The song was offered to the bands We Five and Spanky and Our Gang, but was turned down by both, only to find The Monkees in a fateful moment of Stewart, attending a party at musician Hoyt Axton\u2019s home in Laurel Canyon, meeting their producer Chip Douglas.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/The-Monkees-1960s-Far-Out-Magazine-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>The Monkees in the 1960s. (Credits: Far Out \/ The Monkees)<\/p>\n