Cognitive Dissonance @carlita-mccready - Tumblr Blog

The last full song to be recorded for HEAD was "As We Go Along", a roaming, mellow accoustic number penned by Carole King and sometimes Rafelson paramour, Toni Stern. "As We Go Along" was recorded on May 30th, 1968 and features an incredible combination of the best session players and producers. None of the Monkees were involved, other than Micky's vocals, instead, "AWGO" features Neil Young (!!!!!), Ry Cooder (!!!!), Ken Bloom (from Lewis and Clarke Expedition), Carole King (!!!), and Danny Kortchmar on guitar. No wonder it's a kickass song. Neil freakin Young plays on it. Legendary arranger Jack Nitzche also participated. Yet even with these heavy names, "As We Go Along" never charted. It was released as the B-side to "Porpoise Song" and ended up bubbling under at #106 on the Billboard Charts. Yet even today, the song remains a favorite to many Monkees fans, and to the Monkees themselves. Peter remarks; "Carole King is an astounding creature. The 'Porpoise Song' is a great song, and I think 'As We Go Along' is even better. Carole King could write with anybody. She could write with Mike Nesmith, after all!" Micky agrees; "That was a bitch to sing. It was in 5/4 time or some bizarre signature. I had a lot of trouble picking it up. Typically, we didn't have a lot of time to rehearse this stuff. We were filming. I'd go in, and they'd play the song a few times. I remember that was a tough song to sing, but I loved it. I still love it. It's actually one of my favorites."