Best Group In 1967?

Just call me a nerd, I can handle it!

 

The Doors

 

+1

 

The Doors.

 

Simple,
rock and roll was ground zero of the then culture wars, the Monkees were seen as a fabricated group (session players, outside writers) very synced with radio, TV, and records, in a way most bands trying to make it did not get. They were essentially a teenybopper group they experienced a generational revision with Xers and Millennials (essentially those not involved in the 60s, less baggage ). The Monkees themselves went out of their way to prove their cred by hobnobbing and supporting hipper icons: Hendrix, Zappa, Beatles, Buckley, etc.,

 

"Groovin" by the (Young) Rascals was an instant classic with a sound that still sounds fresh 52 years later.

It is one of those rare records that stands apart from the music scene of it's era, and yet manages to capture the zeitgeist of it's time. That difference created a sound that turns out to be timeless.

 

*Group* presumably excludes solo artists, even those backed by a nameless group of session players (?) I would also assume the Monkees are disqualified for this reason, as the majority of their recordings feature only one (sometimes two) of the four singers, backed by uncredited session vocalists and instrumentalists from the Wrecking Crew.

On this premise, the pop/rock groups under consideration are :

Rolling Stones
Yardbirds
Beatles
Pink Floyd
Pretty Things
Canned Heat
The Hollies

From this short list, the Rolling Stones are my favourite at the moment.

 

we all know that it was a teenybooper craze... don't freak out, we know this...

but there are some great songs here written by Carole King and Neil Diamond and Boyce/Hart and played by The Wrecking Crew (and contemporaries.)

 

The Beatles.

 

Are those 1967 numbers. Those numbers match today for the Monkees, but Sgt Pepper has 11,000,000 in sales and MMT has 6,000,000.

 

Pretty much nails it for me, though I would add Jefferson Airplane and, if the Music Gods had been kinder, Moby Grape.

If I really gave it some thought, I could add a few more since... 1967 was my favorite year for music ever!

 

If there was a Poll, it'd be the Beatles....

 

All I Need-You're My Everything-Loneliness Made Me Realize It's You That I Need-I Wish It Would Rain-I Truly Truly Believe...The Temptations,1967.

 

Lotta best groups, no doubt.

 

I would argue that the Monkees were a "group," like other acts such as the Temptations, the Four Seasons, etc., consisting of more than one vocalist.

I wouldn't call the Mamas and the Papas a "band" because they don't play their instruments (although John played guitar, at least on stage). But they were a group.

The Monkees were a group, although on a good part of Headquarters they actually functioned as a band.

Once they got started and became a Frankenstein monster that turned on their creator (Don Kirshner) they exercised more control and artistic input than other vocal groups that were part of a hit-machine who have made the RnR HoF (like The Supremes).

 

The Doors. Cannot think of anybody that would surpass the debut album and Strange Days that year.

 

The Byrds in the US and The Ian Campbell Folk Group in the UK.

 

That's a fair point, one which I had in fact considered. Though vocal groups like the Mamas & Papas, Four Seasons, or the Temptations typically featured all members singing their own vocals whereas the Monkees (with the exception of Headquarters) typically featured only one member on lead vocal with session singers providing backing, except in the few cases where Mike and Mickey teamed up on harmony, or Davey and Mickey.
I suppose the case is stronger in favour of considering the Monkees, if little else, a vocal group. In lieu of specific guidance from the OP as to what is considered to define a group in the classic sense, I did not include vocal groups that relied on session players for the majority of their recordings. In light of the strong basis for your argument in favour of the Monkees, I consider them to be among the very best groups of 1967.

 

the who sell out is such a better piece of art than pepper

 

Lol! A couple of years back I got some old Mickey Spillane's from a used book store. Very entertaining, but like he says. Not caviar! Soundtrack to the Sound of Music was almost immovable from the UK #1 album spot from 1965-66 unless you were called Beatles, Stones or Dylan. It even topped out a few times in 67. You can't Argue with the Monkees' sales in '67, and I like their hits, very well crafted Pop, but, again, salted peanuts and not Caviar.

 

Jimi Hendrix Experience.

 

1. The Beatles
2. The Kinks
3. The Who
4. Pink Floyd