During my commute home I caught the end of "Joanne" on radio. I don't recall which channel I had on, but it was a deep cut, slightly out of place. It gave me pause...upon returning home, I got the news. He was my favorite Monkee. The "Smart" (or smarter or - maybe - smart-ass) Monkee, he was one of two playing musicians and the only real songwriter in the band. Even early on, before the "band" was given some creative control, their albums featured some of his songs. In late '67 Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys scored a top 20 hit with his "Different Drum". This playlist includes most - if not all - of the songs he wrote, co-wrote, or sang lead on for the band. "Different Drum", while not a Monkees tune, features the Poneys backed by crack El-Lay sessioneers... kind of like when Mickey sang "Mary Mary" . Several of the songs, especially the more straightforward, country ones, remained unreleased until the 1990's ...

There was a time when I would've scoffed at Carol King's induction...hard to take seriously.  Sure, she wrote "Don't Bring Me Down" for the Animals, and "Pleasant Valley Sunday". The Beatles covered one of her songs on their debut. The Byrds  put a couple of songs on Notorious Byrd Brothers - their best album. There were two songs on Head - two songs that one would take seriously if one didn't know they were by the Monkees. Even the Trashmen - or their handlers - got the word. Nevertheless, I'd always filed her under either Brill building pop or singer/songwriter, until I saw her on Letterman, backed by the band and Slash.