American rock 'n' roll in the early 1960s was dominated by American performers. Then came the Beatles in 1964, launching a British Invasion that at times threatened to overwhelm the industry. Home-grown groups such as the Beach Boys earned a respectable number of hits, to be sure, but no one was as popular as the boys from Liverpool. Screen Gems, realizing that imitation is the sincerest form of avarice, created their own American response to the Fab Four. The Monkees — Davy Jones, Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Mickey Dolenz — were banded together for a prime-time series on ABC-TV in 1966 featuring music similar to that of the Beatles and using techniques related to those from the Beatles' films A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help! (1965). Despite the fact that the four were selected by Screen Gems for their talent as actors, with...