Daydream Believer- Monkees

Looking through some of my CD's this morning and came across my copy of Then & Now and I noticed Production Credits are listed on the back
inlay of the disc as well as the opposite side of the front inlay/liner notes. Chip Douglas is given sole production credit for "Daydream Believer".
Michael Lloyd is only given credit for the three new songs on the disc, which I guess gives more credit to the assumption that the 1986 Remix of
"Daydream Believer" never made it to any copies of the Then & Now CD.

It was mentioned that the remix was on later pressings of the Vinyl LP and Cassette. I'll venture a guess that CD's still weren't outselling LP's and
Tapes in 1986, which may explain why Arista Records didn't seem too concerned with making sure the remix was on CD pressings of the album.

BIIIIG hit from 1967.

Mono 45 (and mono LP?) version (printed 2:57, actual 2:56)

All the versions released in 1967 had the spoken intro.

I think the 45 and the mono LP of The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees may have used the same mix, but I can't confirm.

This first appeared on CD on Flashback's cheapie 10-song Monkees collection Daydream Believer And Other Hits (1998). Flashback's collections are associated with Rhino, so no matter how cheap the packaging looks, the sound will be good.

It later appeared on Compass Productions/Rhino Custom Products' various artists compilation Summer Of Love The Sound Of 1967 (2007).

Even later, it appeared on Rhino Handmade's The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees (2010), which is currently selling for about $200 on Discogs. Ouch. Good luck with that.

I only have one file of these, and therefore can't do any comparisons among these releases.

Stereo LP version (actual 2:56)

After the spoken intro, during the opening of the song, the bass is panned fully to the left, and the keyboard and drums are panned fully to the right.

This first appeared on CD on Priority's Best Of 60s Mellow (1987), where it sounds pretty terrible. Narrowed soundstage, among other issues. Let's just pretend this CD version of the song doesn't exist.

As best as I can tell, the first (proper) CD release of the stereo LP version was on Rhino's reissue of The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees (1994). The same analog transfer is used on:

• Rhino's Monkees Greatest Hits (1995)
• Varese Sarabande's Sunshine Days Pop Classics Of The '60s Vol. 2 (1997)
• Rhino's Monkees Anthology (1998)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Flower Power Groovin' (2007) - deletes spoken intro
• Time-Life's 2-CD AM Gold Good Lovin' (2021) - deletes spoken intro

There's another analog transfer on Rhino's The Monkees 50 (Box Set) (2007), which sounds very close to the batch above.

Non-hit 1986 stereo remix by Michael Lloyd (printed 2:58, actual 2:58)

This version was released as the follow-up single to 1986's "That Was Then, This Is Now". It's a deliberately-1986 remix, intended to sound like 1986, with big drums and everything. It's not subtle. And it wasn't a hit.

The Monkees community is not proud of this one. As far as I know, it's available on CD only on Rhino's 10-CD Monkees Classic Album Collection (2016), as the last track on the "Bonus Disc".

Non-hit 1986 stereo remix by Bill Inglot (actual 3:05)

In very stark contrast with the Michael Lloyd remix, Bill Inglot remixed the song quite tastefully, in the style of the 1967 original. It runs about 9 seconds longer than the 1967 mixes.

After the spoken intro, during the opening of the song, the bass is panned fully to the left, the keyboard is roughly centered (not panned hard right, like the 1967 mix), and the drums are panned fully to the right.

The remix turned up first on Arista's Monkees collection Then & Now...The Best Of (1986). The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 5 1967 (1988) - spoken intro removed, left/right channels swapped, tail of fade is 2 beats shorter
• Heartland/Warner Special Products' 2-CD Hooked On A Feeling (1995) - spoken intro removed, left/right channels swapped, tail of fade is 2 beats shorter

There's a different analog transfer on Rhino's Billboard Top R&R Hits 1967 (1989; the 1989 original release only; the 1993 reissue replaces this song with "Soul Man"). The sound quality is very close to Then & Now. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life's Superhits Vol. 5 1967 (1991) - spoken intro removed, left and right channels are correct (not swapped), tail of fade is 8 beats shorter
• Time-Life's AM Gold Vol. 8 1967 (1994) - spoken intro removed, left and right channels are correct (not swapped), tail of fade is 8 beats shorter

Non-hit 1991 stereo remix by Bill Inglot (actual 3:08)

Compared to the 1986 Bill Inglot remix, this 1991 remix has harder panning on the spoken intro (the "7A" is entirely in the right channel, compared with slightly right on the 1986 mix). After the spoken intro, during the opening of the song, the bass is panned fully to the left, the keyboard is panned hard right (like the 1967 mix), and the drums are panned fully to the right.

Plus, the tail of the fade is about 10 beats longer than the 1986 remix, making this the longest mix of all of them.

It's found only on Rhino's multi-CD Monkees set Listen To The Band (1991).

My recommendations

For the mono 45 (and possibly mono LP?) version, I got a file from Rhino Handmade's The Birds The Bees And The Monkees deluxe edition (2010). I realize that this isn't practical advice, since this set is so hard to come by. Just grab one of the other two.

For the stereo LP version, go with Rhino's Monkees Greatest Hits (1995). It's a well-chosen package with nice sound.

If you must own the non-hit 1986 stereo remix by Michael Lloyd, go with Rhino's 10-CD Monkees Classic Album Collection (2016).

For the non-hit 1986 stereo remix by Bill Inglot, go with Arista's Monkees collection Then & Now...The Best Of (1986) if you're a Monkees fan, or Rhino's Billboard Top R&R Hits 1967 (1989 original release only) if you'd prefer a compilation. Both sound great.

For the non-hit 1991 stereo remix by Bill Inglot, you'll need Rhino's multi-CD Monkees set Listen To The Band (1991).

Lots of reported bad blood from Davy over the three new tracks that Peter and Micky cut without his involvement. He stopped the label from
crediting those tracks to 'THE MONKEES' despite all the existing legitimately credited Monkees tracks featuring only one of the four members with session
musicians.

Edited by LunarLaugh