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TL;DR:

  • The Monkees’ Peter Tork was upset about the track listing of one of the band’s albums.
  • He said the album was “fine” otherwise.
  • He thought the album was failing commercially until someone explained this wasn’t the case.
The Monkees' Peter Tork in front of a curtain
The Monkees’ Peter Tork | Michael Ochs Archives / Stringer

Peter Tork said one of The Monkees‘ albums wasn’t his album. He felt it belonged to the label Rhino Records. Subsequently, Tork revealed he was upset about the album’s sales. Then, someone explained to him why the album’s sales were actually impressive.

Peter Tork was upset 1 song didn’t appear on 1 of The Monkees’ albums

During a 2016 interview with The Baltimore Sun, Tork discussed The Monkees’ album Good Times! (2016). “I had a song in mind that I wanted to see go on the album, and it was not allowed on, and I’m bitterly disappointed about it,” he said. “But, you know, it’s a fine album otherwise. I think this would have been a great song on the album, but that was just my personal opinion, and it wasn’t my album.” The song in question “Better World” ultimately appeared as a bonus track on some editions of Good Times!

Tork revealed who was in charge of Good Times! “It was Rhino’s album, really,” he said. “And it’s a very good album, and I’m very glad to have been part of it. I would just be thrilled to death if this actually made a splash.”

Why Peter Tork falsely believed ‘Good Times!’ was not performing well commercially

During an interview with Las Vegas Weekly from later in 2016, Tork revealed how Good Times! was selling. “We’re selling hard copies of this thing, apparently at the equivalent of a million-selling copies,” he said.

“I mean, somebody told me how many we’re selling, and I went, ‘Well, what’s this? That’s not a big number,'” he added. “And they said, ‘No, it’s the equivalent of a million-seller, back when people really bought records. The fact that you’re actually selling hard copies is a great, great thing.'”

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The way The Monkees’ ‘Good Times!’ performed on the pop charts in the United States and the United Kingdom

Good Times! became a modest hit in the United States. The album reached No. 14 on the Billboard 200. It remained on the chart for a total of four weeks. It became the Prefab Four’s last album to hit the Billboard 200. Their final album, 2018’s Christmas Party, did not chart.

According to The Official Charts Company, Good Times! reached No. 29 in the United Kingdom. It spent a single week on the chart. Similarly, it became the final Prefab Four album to chart in the U.K. as Christmas Party wasn’t a hit there.

Good Times! sold well even if Tork was not satisfied with the album’s final track listing.

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