The Monkees (album) scheduled around the work done by Boyce, Hart, and Keller. Famously, the Monkees were not permitted by their management to function as a working band for this album, with the group's contributions limited almost entirely to vocal tracks. Eight of the original LP's twelve tracks feature one lone Monkee singing lead vocal over instrumentation and backing vocals recorded entirely by a group of session musicians which varies from song to song. Other tracks feature multiple Monkees singing over session players; only on the two tracks produced by Michael Nesmith does a Monkee (Peter Tork) get to play an instrument (guitar).
The Monkees the trio, available as a premium for Kool-Aid labels), with Nesmith leaving the group to continue recording songs with his own country-rock group called Michael Nesmith & The First National Band, which he had started recording with on February 10, 1970. His first album with his own band was called "Magnetic South", and at the time he left the Monkees in April, he was recording songs for his second album with The First National Band, called "Loose Salute". This left Dolenz and Jones to record the bubblegum pop album "Changes" as the ninth and final album by the Monkees released