DESCRIPTION:
From '' Vendredi M'Obsède / J'Ai Cru À Mon Rêve / Il A Suffi D'Un Jour / Je Devine La Vérité ''
Label: Barclay ‎-- 71 115 M
Format: Vinyl, 7", EP, 45 RPM
Country: France
Released: 1967

Tracklist
A1 Vendredi M'Obsède (Friday On My Mind)
Written-By -- George Young
A2 J'Ai Cru À Mon Rêve (I'm A Believer)
B1 Il A Suffi D'Un Jour
Written-By -- E. Saint-Laurent
B2 Je Devine La Vérité (I Got The Feelin')

Arranged By -- Jean-Louis Desumeur, Reg Guest
Directed By -- Reg Guest
Recorded By -- Charles Rochko, John Timperley
Written-By -- Georges Aber (tracks: A1, A2), Neil Diamond (tracks: A2, B2), Pierre Saka (tracks: B1, B2)

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"I'm a Believer" is a song composed by Neil Diamond and recorded by The Monkees in 1966 with the lead vocals by Micky Dolenz.
The single, produced by Jeff Barry, hit the number one spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending December 31, 1966 and remained there for seven weeks, becoming the last No. 1 hit of 1966 and the biggest-selling record for all of 1967.
Because of 1,051,280 advance orders, it went gold within two days of release.
It is one of the fewer than forty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) physical copies worldwide.

The song was No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart for four weeks in January and February 1967.

History

Neil Diamond had already recorded this song before it was covered by The Monkees, and it still sometimes appears in his live concerts.
A revised recording by Neil Diamond, featuring additional lyrics, appears on the album September Morn, while his original recording appeared on the 1967 album Just for You.
Neil Diamond also suggested it to The Fifth Estate who recorded it as a 1967 album cut to follow up their hit "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead".
The Monkees' recording kept the novelty hit "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron", by The Royal Guardsmen, at number two for four weeks, from reaching the Hot 100's summit.

Other versions

A cover by British singer-songwriter Robert Wyatt was a hit in the UK in 1974, with a version featuring Fred Frith on violin, Andy Summers (later of The Police) on guitar, and drums by Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, who also produced the recording. It was Wyatt's first recording after the accident which left him a paraplegic.

In 1995, British comedians Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer teamed up with the band EMF for a version which reached No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart.

This song was also covered by Smash Mouth and Eddie Murphy in 2001, as part of the soundtrack to the movie Shrek (the band also released the song on its self-titled album).

A different cover, by Weezer, appears in Shrek Forever After.

In 2005 former The Saddle Club stars Sophie Bennett and Kia Luby covered "I'm a Believer" for their CDs "Raw Beauty" and "Raw Beauty Acoustic Sessions".

The song is performed in Shrek: The Musical from October 2009 to now.

Selected list of recorded versions

1966: "The Monkees" single, also on the 1967 album More of The Monkees
1967: The Fifth Estate on the album Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead
1967: The Four Tops on the album Reach Out
1967: The Ventures on the album Guitar Freakout
1967: Neil Diamond on the album Just for You, reissued on the 1983 album Classics: The Early Years
1967: Caterina Caselli single, sung in Italian with the title "Sono bugiarda" ('I am a liar')
1974: Robert Wyatt single, also on the album His Greatest Misses (2004)
1979: Bram Tchaikovsky on the album Strange Man, Changed Man
1979: Neil Diamond on the album September Morn (with new lyrics)
1979: Tin Huey on the album Contents Dislodged During Shipment
1985: Barbara Mandrell on the album Get to the Heart
1990: Lulu Santos (in Portuguese) on the album Honululu
1992: The Frank and Walters on the charity album Ruby Trax
1992: Popinjays on 12" Vinyl, 7" single, CD, cassette
1995: Reeves & Mortimer with EMF, non-album track (No. 3 UK Singles Chart)
1996: Bobo the Bear and Micky Dolenz on an episode of Muppets Tonight
1996: Neil Diamond on the album In My Lifetime
2001: Smash Mouth on the Shrek soundtrack and on their self-titled album Smash Mouth (low pitched in the Shrek movie)
2001: Eddie Murphy on the Shrek soundtrack
2001: Cadet on the album Cadet
2002: The Kidz Bop Kids on the album Kidz Bop 2, and on the compilation More Kidz Bop Gold (2006)
2005: Sophie and Kia on their final CDs "Raw Beauty" and "Raw Beauty Acoustic Sessions"
2005: Daniel O'Donnell on his Rock n' Roll Tour
2008: Brooke White during the Top 5 Neil Diamond week in season 7 of American Idol
2008: Broadway cast of Shrek the Musical on the soundtrack
2010: Weezer on the Shrek Forever After soundtrack
2010: Neil Diamond on the album Dreams
2012: Madsen on the single Love Is A Killer