Longtime Monkees fan Mark Kleiner, whose name you might recognize from the stellar liner notes that have accompanied various releases by 7a Records, has premiered a new podcast entitled Nesmith Tork Goffin & King. If you are curious about the origins of the podcast's name, check out a recent interview with Mark on Canadian morning television:
You can listen to the debut episode of the podcast below, which features remarks from Peter Tork's brother, Nick Thorkelson, an interview with Dick Eastman, who along with Bobby Hart penned the 1986 Monkees reunion track "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere," the rarely heard demo of that Hart/Eastman song, along with much more:
Episode 2, "Escape from L.A.," dives deep into Peter Tork's early 1970s activities, including his affiliation with the Fairfax Street Choir. You'll also hear a live performance of "Sometime in the Morning" from the early 1986 "Sound of The Monkees" tour featuring Peter and Davy Jones:
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Monkees archivist Andrew Sandoval is the author of The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the '60s TV Pop Sensation and has overseen the group's concert tours since 2011. Today on Facebook, Andrew talked about his latest production, a live album highlighting Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith's current show, recorded in March and June 2019:
On April 3, Rhino Records will release The Mike & Micky Show Live on compact disc and vinyl just as Michael Nesmith and Micky Dolenz return to the road in Vancouver, British Columbia. Featuring live performances from the duo's concerts in 2019, the CD edition is currently available for pre-order, but only in the United Kingdom. Stay tuned to the Live Almanac for more updates coming soon! UPDATE 2/22/2020: John Hughes of Rhino Records has confirmed that the track listing seen on the Rhino page linked above is incorrect and will soon be updated. He also noted that both the CD and vinyl editions of The Mike & Micky Show Live will feature the same 25 tracks with no variants. And as of today, customers in the United States can now pre-order The Mike & Micky Show Live on Amazon.  A big thank you to Richard Flynn of All Things Music Plus+ on Facebook for sharing this rare advertisement promoting The Monkees' third single, "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You"/"The Girl I Knew Somewhere," originally published in the March 18, 1967 issue of Record World. 
In September 1986, at the height of The Monkees' blockbuster 20th Anniversary Tour and accompanying MTV-inspired resurgence, Columbia Pictures released the group's 1968 feature film, Head, on VHS, Beta, and Laser Disc. The cover of those versions is represented by the poster below to the left, while a vintage promotional advertisement for the movie appears on the right.  (Courtesy of MOVIESTORE/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK)
Missing Links Volume Two was released in January 1990. Like the first Missing Links collection in 1987, the album consists of songs that were left inside The Monkees' vault in the 1960s.
This past weekend on Facebook, Monkees archivist Andrew Sandoval recalled his work on Volume Two, which happened to be a seminal moment in his career. 
(From the November 1989 Rhino Records catalog)
Seen below is the the cover of The Monkees' fifth album, The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees, in its unused, pristine state, before it was pasted onto the cardboard jacket. According to Monkee45s.net, "The first 5 Monkees LPs were pressed in stereo and mono, however all slicks were printed exactly the same. If, for example, the vinyl was a mono pressing, the word 'STEREO' on the front cover slick would be folded over the back of the LP and covered by the rear slick."  In 1979, Micky Dolenz partnered with Chrysalis Records to release "Love Light"/"Alicia" as a single in the United Kingdom. According to The Monkees: A Manufactured Image, the first 1,000 copies were pressed with a picture sleeve, and the B-side happens to be a Dolenz original. Both songs were featured on the 7a Records CD edition of Micky Dolenz - The MGM Singles Collection, and they are now available to stream or download on most major media platforms:  (Courtesy of Monkee45s.net)  This past Saturday, Liverpool Tours and Charles Rosenay sponsored "The Peter Tork Memorial Convention" in New Haven, Connecticut to commemorate Peter's birthday month and the one year since his passing. Michael Nesmith remembered Peter in a special video that was screened at the event and published on the Videoranch YouTube channel: An official tribute video was also produced for the convention, featuring appearances by Micky Dolenz, Bobby Hart, Valerie Kairys Venet, Wayne Avers, John Billings, Sandy Gennaro, Fred Velez, Ed Reilly, Rich Dart, and many more:  The Peter Tork Memorial Convention for Monkees Fans will take place on Saturday, February 8 in North Haven, Connecticut. Check out this previous Live Almanac blog post for more details and to purchase tickets! UPDATE 2/1/2020: Thanks to convention producer Charles Rosenay for sharing the official schedule of the event with The Monkees Live Almanac:  UPDATE 2/3/2020: The Governor of Connecticut, Ned Lamont, has officially proclaimed the date of the convention, February 8, as "Peter Tork and The Monkees Day" in the State of Connecticut:  Michael Nesmith on The Monkees in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as 2020 inductees are announced1/15/2020
No! I don't think we belong in the R&R HOF. Never have --- and never will --- until the curators change their markers. Report and photos from San Francisco comedy festival with Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith1/13/2020
SF Sketchfest, a comedy festival currently underway in San Francisco, paid tribute to The Monkees yesterday afternoon as Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith participated in a Q & A session led by author Paul Myers:
 For the last couple of years, Micky Dolenz has participated in events to benefit Make-A-Wish where fans have had the opportunity to sing with Micky karaoke-style. And now, Micky brings his efforts to Broadway for two special nights at The Iridium this March! Below you'll find a description of the event courtesy of the venue as well as links to purchase tickets. "Remember when you were younger, going to concerts and the lead singer of the band pulled a fan on stage to sing? Did you ever wish you were that fan? Now you can be! Micky Dolenz of the legendary Monkees has a brand new show where YOU become the rock star! Singing along with Micky, living out your rock star fantasy. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience you will remember for the rest of your life! And if you're too shy for the spotlight, come enjoy the show as a fan with a general admission ticket. You'll still be part of the fun and excitement, as Micky breaks between songs to tell a story or raffle off prizes and memorabilia. And it all benefits a great cause, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, near and dear to Micky's heart. PLUS a very special guest appearance by songwriter and Herman’s Hermit, Vance Brescia, singing 'That Was Then, This is Now' with Micky, the Monkees' #1 chart topping song written by Vance!"  After a flurry of albums with the First and Second National Bands in the early 1970s, Michael Nesmith began to broaden his artistic scope. In 1972, Nez formed Countryside Records, a subsidiary of Elektra Records, to produce and promote country and western artists including Red Rhodes, Tom Holbrook, Steve Fromholz, and Garland Frady. One of Michael's most noteworthy projects from this era included his collaboration with British musician and singer-songwriter Ian Matthews on the album Valley Hi. Matthews had previously been a member of the folk rock band Fairport Convention, and Nez acted as producer for his 1973 LP on Elektra. Valley Hi is noteworthy for Matthews' version of "Seven Bridges Road," a song later made famous by The Eagles on their 1980 album Eagles Live. Rhino Records highlighted the track earlier this week in an article entitled "5 Things You May Not Have Known About Mike Nesmith" while celebrating Michael's recent birthday: He produced, sang, and played on Ian Matthews’ version of "Seven Bridges Road." Written by Steve Young and arguably made most famous by the Eagles, Nesmith recorded Matthews’ version of the song in 1973 for Matthews’ VALLEY HI album, and if you listen to that version first and then listen to the Eagles’ version, what you will notice is that the tempo and arrangements are pretty much identical. Like, to the degree that Nesmith later said of that similarity, "Son of a gun if Don or somebody in Eagles didn’t lift [our] arrangement absolutely note for note for vocal harmony. If they can’t think it up themselves [and] they’ve got to steal it from somebody else, better they should steal it...from me, I guess." Matthews also covered Nesmith's classic "Propinquity" on Valley Hi. And now, this period of Michael Nesmith's career and his work with Ian Matthews has been examined in much greater depth by Peter Mills, author of The Monkees, Head, and the '60s, in his new blog Pete Sounds. Peter relayed to the Live Almanac that he had to leave an abundance of material for his book on the cutting room floor, but now fans can enjoy his research about this often overlooked period of Nesmith history. Click the image below to visit Peter's blog!  Read about another album Michael produced during this era for Bert Jansch in the archives of The Monkees Live Almanac, along with a detailed history of Countryside Records
 (Photo of The Monkees in Los Angeles, June 1989, by Henry Diltz) 
Thanks to Brian Marchese for alerting the Live Almanac about his latest podcast, featuring a unique interview with Michael Nesmith:
​"Episode 23 of Where's That Sound Coming From? has been a long time coming, basically due to life getting a bit derailed. But I hope you'll agree that it was worth the wait. What we have here is not your average interview with Michael Nesmith. This is sort of grad-level Nez. Spirituality. Metaphysics. Creativity. Psychedelics. Turning away from the darkness of that era. Not a word about The Monkees. No MTV. No Country Rock Pioneer. No Liquid Paper. Have you noticed that most bios and interviews with Nez seem to gloss over The Prison (1974) and his life at the time? As a long time fan of Nez, The Prison for a long time was this mysterious work that I kept trying and failing to get into. Eventually I realized I wasn’t hearing the original work - I was hearing the touched up version Nez released in the 90s. A few years ago I finally heard the 1974 original, and it all came together. Plus, I sensed a psychedelic influence which turned out to be accurate. In this podcast, my long-winded intro is followed by Nez onstage in 1975 telling the plot of The Prison, and finally, the main course: my conversation, recorded in April 2019. Stuff gets very deep, very spiritual, puzzling, funny and always fascinating. Enjoy."
 Please note that additional dates are likely to be added to Micky's 2020 tour schedule. Meet and Greet packages are available for select shows. February 8: Micky Dolenz with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra / Tucson, Arizona February 9: Micky Dolenz with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra / Tucson, Arizona February 12: Katharine Hepburn Center / Old Saybrook, Connecticut February 13: The Center For Arts Natick / Natick, Massachusetts February 14: Palace Theatre / Manchester, New Hampshire February 21: My Father's Place Supper Club / Rosyln, New York (3pm show) February 21: My Father's Place Supper Club / Roslyn, New York (7pm show) February 22: Sellersville Theater / Sellersville, Pennsylvania (3pm show) February 22: Sellersville Theater / Sellersville, Pennsylvania (8pm show) March 20: Sing Along With Micky Dolenz @ The Iridium / New York, New York March 21: Sing Along With Micky Dolenz @ The Iridium / New York, New York March 27: Beatles on the Beach @ Theater at Old School Square / Delray Beach, Florida May 9: Fermilab Ramsey Auditorium / Batavia, Illinois Micky is also performing with Michael Nesmith this April in "An Evening With The Monkees Featuring Mike Nesmith & Micky Dolenz." Click the image below for dates, cities, and ticket links:  And, Micky's schedule of personal appearances is expanding for 2020!  |
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