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).
More of the Monkees album's existence while on tour in Cleveland, Ohio, discovering it had already been released. They were dismayed by the cover image of them and offended by production overseer Don Kirshner's liner notes, which praised his team of songwriters before mentioning, almost as an afterthought, the names of the Monkees. The band, particularly Nesmith, was also furious about the songs—selected for the record from 34 that had been recorded—leading Nesmith to later tell "Melody Maker" magazine that "More of the Monkees" was "probably the worst album in the history of the world". The group began to grow concerned over their musical