Neil Diamond Originally Wrote This Monkees Hit for a Country Music Superstar

In 1966, The Monkees released “I’m A Believer”. Their second single, and second No. 1 hit, was written by Neil Diamond. The fact that The Monkees even got to record “I’m A Believer” is a bit surprising and not at all what Diamond originally intended. 

Diamond’s first album, The Feel Of Neil Diamond, also came out in 1966. Still relatively new to the songwriting world, Diamond actually originally wrote “I’m A Believer” with country music superstar Eddy Arnold in mind at the time. But when Diamond played the song for producer and record label executive Don Kirshner, Kirshner liked it for The Monkees, a fairly new group at the time, instead.

The chorus of “I’m A Believer” says, “Then I saw her face, now I’m a believer / Not a trace of doubt in my mind / I’m in love, I’m a believer / I couldn’t leave her if I tried.”

Surprisingly, The Monkees’ Michael Nesmith was not at all a believer in “I’m A Believer”. 

“I’m a songwriter, and that’s no hit,” he said of the song.

Fortunately, Nesmith was incorrect. Although The Monkees had plenty of hits after “I’m A Believer”, none rivaled this song’s massive success.

What Neil Diamond Says About The Monkees Recording “I’m A Believer”

Diamond didn’t get to make “I’m A Believer” a hit for himself, not that he cares. He later praised The Monkees’ version of “I’m A Believer”, becoming their signature song.

“I was thrilled, because at heart, I was still a songwriter,” Diamond explains. “And I wanted my songs on the charts. It was one of the songs that was going to be on my first album, but Donny Kirshner, who was their music maven, hears [Diamond’s first hit single] ‘Cherry, Cherry’ on the radio and said, ‘Wow, I want one like that for The Monkees!’”

It’s Diamond’s producers, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, whom Kirshner reached out to, asking for something similar for The Monkees. Not only did Kirshner like “I’m A Believer”, but he also liked a few of Diamond’s other songs for the group as well.

“They played him the things I had cut for the next album,” Diamond shares. “And he picked ‘I’m A Believer,’ ‘A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You’, and ‘Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow),’ and they had some huge hits. But the head of my record company freaked. He went through the roof because he felt that I had given No. 1 records away to another group. I couldn’t have cared less because I had to pay the rent. And The Monkees were selling records, and I wasn’t being paid for my records.”

In 1971, Diamond also released “I’m A Believer”, becoming a Top 40 single for him.

Photo by: Herb Ball/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images