You don’t need love to love insists Monkees heartthrob Davy Jones
“You gotta have love to love, they all say it works that way, but if it’s true, why do I love you?” “Love to Love” was penned by Neil Diamond and slotted as the penultimate track on his debut long player, the commercially underwhelming Feel of Neil Diamond, in October 1966. At the behest of music coordinator Don Kirshner, Monkees frontman Davy Jones, Brill Building producer Jeff Barry, and nine session personnel including future Double Fantasy guitarist Hugh McCracken assembled in RCA Victor’s New York City studios on January 21, 1967, to tackle the moody, guitar-driven slice of pop. Diamond was undoubtedly thrilled to have the biggest band in America endorse another of his compositions as “I’m a Believer” was in the midst of a seven-week reign at number one [the future Top Three “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You” was cut that same day, while More of the Monkees side two opener “Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)” was waxed at the October “I’m a Believer” session].
“Love to Love” would have been a shoe-in for the quintuple platinum-certified More of The Monkees if that album had been distributed a few months later. However, Jones, bassist-keyboardist Peter Tork, guitarist Michael Nesmith, and singer-drummer Micky Dolenz were asserting their independence from Kirshner so they could write, record, perform, and ultimately choose their own…
