Still honoring songwriter Bobby Hart, who passed away last week, today’s classic song of the day is one of his most popular tunes, “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees. Released as a single in August of 1966, this track went all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100
“Last Train to Clarksville” was written by Bobby Hart and his partner Tommy Boyce. Hart was inspired by the Beatles’ “Paperback Writer,” after he misheard the title line (sung by Paul McCartney) as “take the last train.” The Boyce/Hart tune was a subtle anti-war tune, with the protagonist telling his lover to meet at a train station before he has to leave. The anti-war bit is hidden in the line, “And I don’t know if I’m ever coming home.” Subtle.
As to the town referenced in the song, some thought it referred to Clarksville, Tennessee, which is near Fort Campbell, home of the 101st Airborne Division. Hart denied this, saying it was all about getting the words to sound right in the song:
“We were just looking for a name that sounded good. There’s a little town in northern Arizona I used to go through in the summer on the way to Oak Creek Canyon called Clarkdale. We were throwing out names, and when we got to Clarkdale, we thought Clarksville sounded even better. We didn’t know it at the time, [but] there is an Army base near the town of Clarksville, Tennessee—which would have fit the bill fine for the storyline. We couldn’t be too direct with the Monkees. We couldn’t really make a protest song out of it—we kind of snuck it in.”
The song was recorded on July 25, 1966, at RCA Victor Studios in Hollywood. Studio musicians on the track (the Monkees didn’t play on their own records, at least not at the start) included Louis Shelton, Gerry McGee, and Wayne Erwin on guitars; Larry Taylor on bass; and Billy Lewis on drums. Louis Shelton played that nifty little opening guitar lick, which was also inspired by “Paperback Writer”—in this case, that song’s opening guitar riff. Mickey Dolenz sang lead and was the only Monkee appearing on the track.
“Last Train to Clarksville” was the Monkees’ first single, and their first number-one. They’d go on to have a total of twelve top forty hits, including two more number-ones: “I’m a Believer” and “Daydream Believer.”
It was “Last Train to Clarksville,” however, that set the whole Monkee mania machine into motion, and helped to define the group’s sound. So here’s your daily bonus video of the day, the original appearance of “Last Train to Clarksville” from The Monkees television show. This is where music videos came from, kiddies.
