Last Train to Clarksville
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Last Train to Clarksville
| cover = The_Monkees_single_01_Last_Train_to_Clarksville.jpg
| alt =
| caption = US picture sleeve
| type = single
| artist = the Monkees
| album = The Monkees
| B-side = Take a Giant Step
| released = August 16, 1966{{cite web | url=https://www.rhino.com/article/august-1966-the-monkees-debut-with-last-train-to-clarksville | title=August 1966: The Monkees Debut with LAST TRAIN TO CLARKSVILLE | Rhino }}
| recorded = July 25, 1966
| studio = RCA Victor (Hollywood, California)
| venue =
| genre =
- Country rock
- folk rock{{cite book|first= Bob |last= Stanley |year= 2014 |title= Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé|chapter= Bubblegum Is the Naked Truth: The Monkees|publisher= W. W. Norton & Company|location= New York|page= 205}}
- jangle pop
- pop rock{{cite book|first1= Carl|last1= Cafarelli|first2= Gary|last2= Pig Gold|editor1-first= Kim |editor1-last= Cooper|editor2-first= David|editor2-last= Smay|year= 2001|title= Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth|chapter= Good Clean Fun|publisher= Feral House|location= Los Angeles|pages= 75–79}}
| length = 2:46
| label = Colgems 1001
| writer = {{flatlist|
}}
| producer = {{flatlist|
- Tommy Boyce
- Bobby Hart
}}
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = I'm a Believer
| next_year = 1966
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|CDBFev_XfYA|"Last Train To Clarksville" (Official Live Video)}}}}
}}
"Last Train to Clarksville" is a song by American rock band the Monkees. It was released as the band's debut single on August 16, 1966, and was later included on the group's self-titled album, which was released on October 10, 1966.The Monkees Greatest Hits Rhino Entertainment R2 75785 Liner notes The song, written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, was recorded at RCA Victor Studio B in Hollywood on July 25, 1966, and was already on the Boss Radio "Hit Bounds" playlist on August 17, 1966.{{cite web|url=http://www.users.qwest.net/~oldiesloon/khj081066.htm|title=KHJ's 'Boss 30' Records In Southern California! Issue No. 59 - Previewed August 17, 1966|date=August 17, 1966|access-date=May 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100624034104/http://www.users.qwest.net/~oldiesloon/khj081066.htm|archive-date=June 24, 2010|url-status=dead}} The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending November 5, 1966.{{cite encyclopedia
| editor-first = Ashley
| editor-last = Brown
| title = Marshall Cavendish Illustrated History of Popular Music
| edition = Reference
| year = 1990
| publisher = Marshall Cavendish
| volume = Six
| isbn = 1-85435-021-8
}} Lead vocals were performed by the Monkees' drummer, Micky Dolenz.{{cite web|url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2840|title=Last Train To Clarksville by The Monkees Songfacts}} "Last Train to Clarksville" was featured in seven episodes of the band's television series, the most for any Monkees song.
Composition
The song was written by the songwriting duo of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart.{{cite web|url=http://www.forgottenhits.com/the_music_of_tommy_boyce_and_bobby_hart|title=The Music of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart|last=Kotal|first=Kent|work=Forgotten hits|access-date=February 5, 2015}} Boyce has said that the song's opening guitar part (played by Louis Shelton) was an attempt to emulate the type of memorable and clearly identifiable riff that the Beatles had used in songs such as "I Feel Fine," "Day Tripper" and "Paperback Writer". The latter Beatles' song had reached number one on the U.S. charts three months earlier, around the time that "Last Train to Clarksville" was written and recorded. The lyrics, too, were inspired by "Paperback Writer": Hart misheard the end of that song on the radio and thought Paul McCartney was singing "take the last train"; Hart then decided to use the line himself, after he found out that McCartney was actually singing "paperback writer."{{cite book| last= Brown| first= Craig| author-link= Craig Brown (satirist)| title= One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time| chapter= Chapter 91| date= April 2, 2020| page= 363 | isbn= 978-0-00-834000-1 | publisher= 4th Estate| edition= hardback }}
Hart knew that the Monkees' TV series was being pitched as a music/comedy series in the spirit of the Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night, and he was hoping that by emulating the Beatles the song might become a successful single.
The lyrics tell of a man phoning the woman whom he loves, urging her to meet him at a train station in Clarksville before he must leave, possibly forever. There is no explicit reference to war in the song, but its last line, "And I don't know if I'm ever coming home," was an indirect reference to a soldier leaving for the Vietnam War.{{cite web|url=https://www.theleafchronicle.com/story/news/local/clarksville/2019/02/21/last-train-clarksville-tennessee-monkees-peter-tork/2939468002/|title=Is 'Last Train to Clarksville' about Clarksville, Tennessee?|first=Chris|last=Smith|work=The Leaf-Chronicle|date=February 21, 2019|accessdate=July 30, 2021}} Hart has denied any connection by the song to the city of Clarksville, Tennessee, near Fort Campbell, the home of the 101st Airborne Division that was then serving in Vietnam. According to Hart, "We were just looking for a name that sounded good. There's a little town in northern Arizona I used to go through in the summer on the way to Oak Creek Canyon called Clarkdale. We were throwing out names, and when we got to Clarkdale, we thought Clarksville sounded even better. We didn't know it at the time, [but] there is an Army base near the town of Clarksville, Tennessee — which would have fit the bill fine for the storyline.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} We couldn't be too direct with the Monkees. We couldn't really make a protest song out of it—we kind of snuck it in."{{cite web |url=https://societyofrock.com/after-50-years-the-monkees-reveal-the-surprising-truth-behind-last-train-to-clarksville/ |title=After 50 Years, The Monkees Reveal The Surprising Truth Behind "Last Train To Clarksville" |author= |date=n.d. |publisher=Society of Rock |access-date= |quote=Songwriter Bobby Hart admits to sneaking in the controversial subject matter under the radar,}}
Recording
Boyce and Hart's band, Candy Store Prophets, performed the instrumental session work on the recording.{{cite book |title=The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 1960s TV Pop Sensation |first=Andrew |last=Sandoval |publisher=Thunder Bay Press |year=2005 |page=46}}
B-side
The single's B-side, "Take a Giant Step," later appeared as the closing track on Side 1 of the Monkees' debut album.{{cite web|title=Take a Giant Step|author=Planer, L.|url=http://www.allmusic.com/song/take-a-giant-step-mt0000451415|publisher=Allmusic|access-date=2012-08-02}} Micky Dolenz performed lead vocals.
The song is presented as a plea to a heartbroken girl to move on from her past romantic disappointments and to "learn to live again at last" by "taking a giant step outside your mind." Critic Eric Lefcowitz describes the song as "proto-psychedelic."{{cite book|title=Monkee Business|author=Lefcowitz, E.|pages=43, 52|year=2011|publisher=Retrofuture|isbn=9780943249018}}
Reception
Of "Last Train to Clarksville," Billboard remarked that "all the excitement generated by the promotion campaign for the new group ... is justified by this debut disk loaded with exciting teen dance beat sounds."{{cite news|newspaper=Billboard|access-date=2021-03-03|date=August 27, 1966|page=16|title=Spotlight Singles|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/60s/1966/Billboard%201966-08-27.pdf}} Cash Box said that it is "a hard-driving, pulsating romantic wailer with catchy repeating riff."{{cite magazine |title=CashBox Record Reviews |date=August 27, 1966 |page=42 |access-date=2022-01-12 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1966/CB-1966-08-27.pdf |magazine=Cash Box}}
Personnel
The following musicians played on the session for "Last Train to Clarksville".{{cite AV media notes |title=The Monkees |last=Sandoval |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Sandoval |others=The Monkees |publisher=Rhino Records |type=LP liner notes |date=2021 |id=ROGV-126}}
- Micky Dolenz – lead vocals
- Wayne Erwin – guitar
- Gerry McGee – guitar
- Louis Shelton – guitar
- Larry Taylor – bass
- Billy Lewis – drums
- Gene Estes – tambourine
- Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart – producers
- unknown – backing vocals
Chart performance
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable"
!Chart (1966) !Peak |
| Canada RPM Top Singles
|align="center"|1 |
| class="wikitable"
!Chart (1967) !Peak |
| UK Singles Chart
|align="center"|23 |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable" |
| align="left"|Chart (1966)
! style="text-align:center;"|Rank |
|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100{{cite web|url=http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1966.htm|title=Top 100 Hits of 1966/Top 100 Songs of 1966}}
| style="text-align:center;"|6 |
{{col-end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{YouTube|o4FIu4Xj16I|The Monkees - Last Train to Clarksville}} (US)
- {{YouTube|ASPlsai7a6c|The Monkees - Last Train to Clarksville}} (UK)
{{The Monkees}}
{{Ed Bruce}}
{{Riblja Čorba}}
{{authority control}}
Category:American country music songs
Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Category:Cashbox number-one singles
Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles
Category:Song recordings produced by Bobby Hart
Category:Song recordings produced by Tommy Boyce
Category:Songs about telephone calls
Category:Songs of the Vietnam War