Last Train to Clarksville "Clarkesville", which is a much more rare spelling, now used only for a town in Georgia. Hart got the idea for the lyrics when he turned on the radio and heard the end of The Beatles' "Paperback Writer". He thought Paul McCartney was singing "Take the last train", and decided to use the line when he found out McCartney was actually singing "Paperback Writer". Hart knew that "The Monkees" TV series was being pitched as a music/comedy series in the spirit of The Beatles movie "A Hard Day's Night", so he was hoping that by emulating The Beatles, this song
Midnight Train to Georgia would leave LA on the midnight plane - which brought the idea of a "superstar, but he didn't get far." Gospel/soul singer Cissy Houston recorded the song as "Midnite Train to Georgia" (spelled "Midnight ..." on the UK single) released in 1973. Her version can also be found on her albums "Midnight Train to Georgia: The Janus Years" (1995), and the reissue of her 1970 debut album, "Presenting Cissy Houston" originally released on Janus Records. Weatherly's publisher forwarded the song to Gladys Knight and the Pips, who followed Houston's lead and kept the title "Midnight Train to Georgia." The single