I'm Gonna Buy Me a Dog

"I'm Gonna Buy Me a Dog"
Song by The Astronauts
from the album Rarities
Released1991
RecordedJune 7, 1965[1]
StudioRCA Studio B, Hollywood
LabelBear Family
SongwritersTommy Boyce, Bobby Hart
ProducerAl Schmitt

"I'm Gonna Buy Me a Dog"[2][3] is a novelty song[4] written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. It was first recorded by The Astronauts in 1965, though their version was not released at the time. Bear Family Records included the track on the 1991 Astronauts Rarities CD compilation.[5] Boyce contributed percussion and vocals to the track, while Hart played piano.[1] The song was later recorded by The Monkees as "Gonna Buy Me a Dog" in 1966.

Background

The lyrics to "Gonna Buy Me a Dog" were described by Andrew Sandoval as "intentionally banal". Hart said "The song itself could hardly be construed as ever being straight."[6]

Gamma Goochee Himself's version

"I'm Gonna Buy Me a Dog"
Song by Gamma Goochee Himself
A-side"(You Got) The Gamma Goochee"
ReleasedOctober 1965
Length2:25
LabelColpix
SongwritersTommy Boyce, Bobby Hart
ProducersBoyce & Hart for Screen Gems

The first released version of "I'm Gonna Buy Me a Dog" was recorded by dental technician John Mangiagli using the stage name Gamma Goochee Himself.[7] Gamma Goochee's version was released as the B-side of "(You Got) The Gamma Goochee" on Colpix Records in 1965.[8] In a 2001 interview, Mangiagli recalled the backing track had already been prepared when he recorded the song.[9]

The Monkees' version

"Gonna Buy Me a Dog"
Song by The Monkees
from the album The Monkees
ReleasedOctober 1966
RecordedJuly 23–24, 1966
StudioRCA Studio A, Hollywood
Genre
Length2:41
LabelColgems
SongwritersTommy Boyce, Bobby Hart
ProducersTommy Boyce, Bobby Hart

On July 7, 1966, Michael Nesmith produced the first version of The Monkees' "Gonna Buy Me a Dog" at Western Recorders. During the session, ten takes of the backing track were recorded, which went unreleased at the time. Sandoval described the Nesmith-produced version of the track as having a "rocking, bluesy arrangement" and added, "[T]oday's results sound rather like another 'dog' hit from a few years back: Rufus Thomas's 'Walking The Dog.'"[10] Peter Tork was one of five guitarists who played guitar during the session, which also produced "So Goes Love" and an early version of "Papa Gene's Blues".[a]

A few weeks later, Boyce and Hart produced their own version of "Gonna Buy Me a Dog" for The Monkees. The backing track was recorded on July 23 at RCA Studio A. Don Kirshner visited the session and said to Hart, "Bobby, you see the thing is, it's a funny tune. I mean, if we're going to get funny, we might as well be funny and different."[4] The next day, Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones added their vocals to the song at Western Recorders near the end of an eight-hour vocal overdub session.[6] Prior to becoming a member of The Monkees, Jones had performed "Gonna Buy Me a Dog" on an episode of The Farmer's Daughter.[11] Dolenz and Jones contributed several adlibs, which included a brief conversation during the guitar solo. Jones references Napoleon XIV's "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" during the fade out. Hart said of the vocal session, "They didn't understand the song; they thought it was real stupid. They were just basically making fun of it. [...] We thought it was great and we kept the jokes in. They had some input on it. They didn't just walk in and do what they were told. There was some creativity involved."[6]

Release and critical reception

The Boyce and Hart-produced version of "Gonna Buy Me a Dog" appeared as the last track on the Monkees' self-titled debut album in October.[12] Regarding the song's inclusion on the album, Hart stated, "We were trying to follow the whole Beatles formula all the way. [...] We wanted to have one novelty number in there like Ringo's obligatory novelty piece on every Beatles record."[4]

Mary O'Leary of the Arlington Heights Herald praised the song, calling it "a hilarious bit of cutting up between Micky and Davey [sic]".[13] In a retrospective review of The Monkees album, Tim Sendra of AllMusic described the song as a "throwaway", but also called it "charming".[14] Matthew Greenwald of AllMusic called the song "a funny end to an album and group that certainly wasn't supposed to be taken seriously, at least yet."[15]

The Monkees' version of "Gonna Buy Me a Dog" reached #3 on Billboard's Hits of the World chart for Mexico in November 1967.[16]

Personnel

Per Andrew Sandoval.[17]

The Monkees

Other musicians

Davy Jones performed "Gonna Buy Me a Dog" in the sixteenth episode of the third season of The Farmer's Daughter, "Moe Hill and the Mountains",[11] which aired on January 7, 1966.[18]

The Monkees' version of "Gonna Buy Me a Dog" later appeared in the twelfth episode of the first season of The Monkees, "I've Got a Little Song Here", which aired on November 28, 1966.[19] An instrumental version of the song appeared in the second-to-last episode of the series, "Monkees Blow Their Minds".[20]

Notes

  1. ↑ Sandoval mistakenly credits Davy Jones as providing a vocal for the first version of "I'm Gonna Buy Me a Dog". The body text of the July 7, 1966 entry states that Jones entered the session during the recording of "So Goes Love".

References

  1. 1 2 Miller, Billy (1991). Rarities (Booklet). The Astronauts. Bear Family Records. JUNE 7, 1965, (14:00-17:00), RCA Studio B, Hollywood, California; Producer: Al Schmitt. BCD 15556 AH.
  2. ↑ "ACE Repertory". ASCAP. Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  3. ↑ Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third Series: Volume 19, Part 5, Number 2: Music July-December 1965. Copyright Office - The Library of Congress. 1967. p. 1706.
  4. 1 2 3 Sandoval 2005, p. 44.
  5. ↑ Eder, Bruce. "Rarities - The Astronauts | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 Sandoval 2005, p. 46.
  7. ↑ Milstein, Phil (2003). Austen, Jake; Edmonds, Ben (eds.). "Gamma Goochee". Roctober. No. 36. p. 20.
  8. ↑ "Spotlight Singles". Billboard. Vol. 77, no. 43. The Billboard Publishing Company. October 23, 1965. p. 16.
  9. ↑ Milstein, Phil (2003). Austen, Jake; Edmonds, Ben (eds.). "Gamma Goochee". Roctober. No. 36. pp. 23–24.
  10. ↑ Sandoval 2005, pp. 40–41.
  11. 1 2 Sandoval 2005, p. 29.
  12. ↑ Sandoval 2005, p. 60.
  13. ↑ O'Leary, Mary (November 3, 1966). "'Lemme Clue Ya'". Arlington Heights Herald. Paddock Publications. p. U-3.
  14. ↑ Sendra, Tim. "The Monkees - The Monkees | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  15. ↑ Greenwald, Matthew. "Gonna Buy Me a Dog - The Monkees | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Hits of the World". Billboard. Vol. 79, no. 46. Billboard Publications, Inc. November 18, 1967. p. 59.
  17. ↑ Sandoval 2005, p. 290.
  18. ↑ Sandoval 2005, p. 34.
  19. ↑ Sandoval 2005, p. 72.
  20. ↑ Sandoval 2005, p. 179.

Sources

This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.