Davy Jones Felt The Monkees Might Overshadow The Beatles
The Monkees‘ Davy Jones thought “A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You” might have prevented one of The Beatles’ songs from hitting No. 1. In addition, he thought the Prefab Four might outlast the Fab Four. Notably, the other members of The Monkees had a different reaction to The Beatles.
Davy Jones felt The Monkees strayed too far from their formula with 1 album
Andrew Sandoval is the author of The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation. During a 2021 interview with Rolling Stone, he revealed Jones didn’t like the idea of the Prefab Four changing up their formula, such as when the band took a more active role in the creation of the album Headquarters. “Even after Headquarters was completed, they go to Canada and he calls the album their ‘ego music,'” he said.
Sandoval compared Jones’ reaction to Headquarters to Mike Love’s reaction to one of The Beach Boys’ albums. “It’s like Mike Love and Pet Sounds in a way,” he said. “I’m not putting it on the same level, but it’s a similar thing.”
Davy Jones didn’t agree with the rest of The Monkees about The Beatles
Subsequently, Sandoval said Jones thought The Monkees could overshadow The Beatles. “He also said that if they got out their third single, ‘A Little Bit You, a Little Bit Me’ sooner, they might have beaten The Beatles up the charts with ‘Penny Lane,'” Sandoval said. “He thought maybe The Beatles would fade and The Monkees would take over.”
Among the Prefab Four, Jones was alone in his thinking. “Obviously, his bandmates felt differently,” Sandoval said. “They were in England and Michael Nesmith spent the weekend with John Lennon at his home. Micky Dolenz was at Paul McCartney’s home.”
How ‘A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You’ and ‘Penny Lane’ performed on the pop charts in the United States
“A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You” reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for a total of 10 weeks. The song was initially a non-album single, but appeared on the compilation album Then & Now… The Best of The Monkees. The album reached No. 21 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 34 weeks.
Meanwhile, “Penny Lane” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for one of its 10 weeks on the chart. Like “A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You,” the song was a non-album single. It appeared on some editions of the album Magical Mystery Tour, which topped the Billboard 200 for eight weeks. It lasted on the chart for 93 weeks altogether.
The Beatles and The Monkees were both popular, but “Penny Lane” outperformed “A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You.”
