Portland, Oregon (9/12/21)

Sacramento, California (9/14/21)

San Jose, California (9/15/21)

(Photo by Chris Willman)

Hey Hey:

I wanted to write a very long open letter to my fellow Monkee fans about my current endeavors on the road with Michael Nesmith and Micky Dolenz. Let me be clear and upfront: this is a personal letter from me and I am not speaking as a representative of the Monkees. The ideas and thoughts expressed are purely my own.
​
We are on a farewell concert tour through November 2021. As you may know, it is part of a tour that was postponed from April 2020, what you don’t know is we originally planned a farewell tour for September and October 2020 that could only be announced after we fulfilled a promise to Rhino to promote the live album I produced. As time went on, the tour got moved due to Covid and compressed into one long final run.

It is really not in my comfort zone to open up in this way and tell you every last personal thing going on, but I am literally on my knees begging for some relief. Being out on tour is actually not my first choice right now. But out of an abundance of love for Micky & Michael and our band and crew - who have each struggled with different personal aspects of Covid life that only they should share - I am here to symbolically give them strength and support. And, as a result, I am in talk therapy to deal with the intense stress that organizing and reorganizing an effort such as this takes on me personally.

There is a campaign that I am quite aware of to “Save Michael Nesmith” – I talk about it with my therapist and my loved ones. The campaign has collected a list of incidents and unflattering pictures in an effort to expose individuals as being abusers of the great man. Unfortunately, I have seen this thread take on more of a “Shame Michael Nesmith” tone in recent days as he has finally reemerged publicly. I got a call from Nez this morning, he said: “Andrew, I am in bed and in tears over the terrible things people are saying about me online. You know it is very hard for me to move around right now and now I don’t even want to get out of bed.”

I am aware that some are saying: “Why did you even bring this poor man on the road in the first place?” Well, actually you are one of the reasons. I was paying attention to your posts saying he was a prisoner and not allowed to talk with his friends or family. I reached out to Nez regularly during Covid and he called me even more often. His recurring question directly to me was: “When can I go out and play?” I kept saying, “Nez, it is just not safe.” But the vaccine came and seemed like it would resolve the safety issues and I bowed to the desire to complete the tour dates we had. Furthermore, I felt it would be Nez’s opportunity to reconnect and directly communicate to his fans.

I am not sure about you, but during Covid I aged several years and gained a lot of extra weight. If you didn’t, I admire you! However, from reading some of the intensely critical posts about the guy of late, I question your motivations just as much as I sit and question my own. I DO want to do the right thing for the Monkees and their fans and it is more complex than you might imagine. Still, I know I am not perfect – no person is.

I visited Nez after I was vaccinated and found he was not in shape to walk or exercise much or even make music, but he did talk of his dream to “be with the band” and he never failed to display his brilliant wit. I believe that one of the things that got him through Covid’s dark days was the idea that he would once again be among the people who loved him and brought him light. I thought too this might resolve the whispers that he was cut off from everyone.

I visited him several more times and we played through his songs and his voice sounded as good as it did in 2019. I remain convinced of his talents and that is the basis of the mutual decision to do this farewell tour. Not the money, not our needs for exposure but rather a collective closure. I talked with his family, I spoke to his friends and they all thought having creative purpose might encourage Nez to find further years to share with us. It is as simple and difficult as that. Michael does not need the money and he only does what he likes. He is here because of a wish he communicated to many of us again and again.

The first show in Spokane was quite good. At least I thought so. I quickly read that Nez was being used as a mascot and sent out like a circus animal out of greed or malice. That is so very untrue. It is so very mean and it is so very hurtful – to Micky, the band, our families and everyone involved. Do you honestly think we are all that soulless and selfish? That not a one among us looks after or cares for his well-being? Social media has given us all a voice and the power to hurt one another. And right now, I and others are hurting.

By my nature, I am a caretaker and speaking up for myself is the last thing I want to do after a very tough childhood. I would rather be behind the scenes. All of Nez’s guitars are out with us on the road and he has played some, but he didn’t feel immediately up to doing it the first couple of nights. Last night before the show in Portland, his son Christian showed me his phone and one of the many posts made by concerned fans. He said, “Don’t they understand that my dad is 78-years-old?” I told him I couldn’t go there with him. I was struggling with all of the criticism and felt personally responsible. Whenever we laugh backstage with the band and Nez I think to myself: “Is this okay?”

Nez uses a teleprompter. It is called a Presidential and he really likes it. For the last 8 years he had an iPad that was too small and he had all of the chords and words squeezed to a single page. He got lost sometimes. Have you ever been onstage and forgotten what you were supposed to sing or say? I have. A teleprompter is actually a very professional device that nearly every major artist uses on tour. Some are better hidden than others. I have also sat with him in recent weeks and watched him sing and play his songs from memory flawlessly. But he doesn’t really feel comfortable doing that. He would much rather have the structure of the device.

Given everyone’s safety and the timing of our rehearsals, expectations must be tempered. Even my own expectations in asking the Monkees to perform obscurities that they only sung once in the studio in 1967 are on the edge and I acknowledge that. Every tour we go through this: we all have to study up even on the obvious songs as well as the new obscure ones. Last week I went line by line with them on “Love Is Only Sleeping.” They both wanted to sing parts. We had a lengthy process where we broke up the parts so they could each sing sections of the song (which is in two different time signatures). Then people online immediately said: “Look! They barely let Nez sing." Actually, he was involved in what parts he and Micky are singing.

Micky mentioned the feedback to me too. His first reaction was to ask to drop the obscure songs. He said, “Don’t these people understand we’ve only done two shows and we haven’t been onstage in two years?” I said that people felt it was their duty to call us out as though Nez was performing against his will. We both discussed the fact that Michael Nesmith has never done anything against his will. I have seen him leave tours and close the door when he felt it was best for him. That is his nature and it is to be expected and to be accepted.

Now I know there were a group of people who had greater interaction with him in the last ten years and felt unceremoniously dumped by him online and otherwise. You may never accept that the guy who played World of Warcraft with you changed or moved to a different phase of his life or let you slip through the cracks of his world. You can try to pin all of this on another individual, but basically Nez still picks and choses who he deals with and when he communicates. He also picks and choses what he eats, what he wears, when he shaves and how he wishes to be presented. It has been that way since the first time we spoke in 1991.

However, I DO know first-hand the hurt this group of people might feel. Very honestly, Nez and I have had a number of fallings out over the past 30 years. In 2014, I was dumped after making considerable sacrifices for him. He did not want me around at all. I walked away and said not a word. But I suffered emotionally for several years. We patched things up after enduring some horrible feelings. That is just real life.

I am glad I didn’t burn the bridge personally because it resulted in some key elements of Good Times!! and the final show at the Pantages. Two-years-later he said to me, “You know, I knew we’d get back together at some point.” And if your accusation is that I personally profit off of Nez by trotting him out, I will tell you this: I set up his solo tours gratis as a matter of personal pride. I have worked tirelessly to prove something to the man: he is one of the greatest songwriters of his time. People DO love his solo music and they DO genuinely love the Monkees.

And that is why I am here to this day. It is that belief. You may doubt it, you may want proof. You may want to know why he is sitting, why he slouched once, why he mumbled, why he jumbled. He is under such scrutiny when all he wants is to share his soul and his remarkable voice. Can you imagine how hard it is to be in his sparkle shoes right now? He has taken a leap of faith to challenge himself and to be vulnerable. You can kick him while he’s down or you can try to lift him up. That is your choice.

Nez has chosen his time to say goodbye to the Monkees. If you feel safe to join us we hope you respect our safety, because we certainly care about yours (which is why I postponed and cancelled some tour dates). And if you don’t feel safe, we respect that too. We are all taking a risk in an attempt to move forward with our lives. It is hard. It hurts and it will be this way for some time. But there is a positive light ahead. Last night was their best show yet. People got up and danced. And before the show, Nez made me laugh. I am working on myself to help others and enjoy being here one last time. Maybe you will read my words and know they are sincere.

Much love to you all – each and every one of you – let this music be your music.

Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye.

(Photo by Sherri Hansen)

​"Monkees Farewell Tour" Concert Dates

Greetings Beatland Readers!

I want to say a big welcome to our latest book buyers and express my continued thanks to all of those who have supported this project right from the beginning.
If you have only just joined us, I am sending out periodic newsletters for everyone who ordered books to keep you in the loop with the status of book shipment (as well as to share some insights about the Monkees).

Today is August 16th, the 55th anniversary of the release of the very first Monkees record, “Last Train To Clarksville.” It is also the day I learned that our books had not yet arrived in the port of Long Beach as was forecasted by the shipper! The books are now scheduled to arrive next week on August 24th. They will need to clear through customs and are slated to be in our warehouse for shipping to you all on September 8th.

I’m sure this isn’t the only Covid-related delay you have experienced of late, but it is obviously no easier to relate. Any hitch in what has been a lengthy production is unpleasant, but suffice to say the delivery of your books is my top priority. I truly hope the book’s arrival will bring both you and me some peace and happiness. I know they will be worth the wait.

In the meantime, I have had to go back to writing about More Of The Monkees this week for the upcoming Run Out Groove vinyl edition of the album. In doing so, it struck me just how much I have learned in the last two years about this pivotal period for the group. As a result, my book was not simply revised but rewritten. Here are a few insights I would like to share.

Jeff Barry, Don Kirshner, and Michael Nesmith (Photo courtesy of Andrew Sandoval)

As July 1966 ended, only Don Kirshner was sure of the Monkees’ success. When his trusted record makers – Snuff Garrett, Mickie Most, Carole King & Gerry Goffin – fell away, he remarkably switched gears to pull together an exceptional album – The Monkees – in just four weeks. And should the resulting release have any kind of success, he also had twelve songs (“All The King’s Horses”; “The Kind Of Girl I Could Love”; “I Don’t Think You Know Me”; “So Goes Love”; “I Won’t Be The Same Without Her”; “You Just May Be The One”; “I Can’t Get Her Off Of My Mind”; “Mary, Mary”; “Of You”; “(I Prithee) Do Not Ask For Love”; “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone”; “Whatever’s Right”) already in progress to comprise a second album.

Nevertheless, since so many of these tracks were produced by Michael Nesmith (whom Kirshner merely tolerated), it was obvious that Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart would have to come up with another batch of material to pair with two of Nesmith’s songs. Around this time the duo had phoned Kirshner with the title of the Monkees’ next hit record: “Valleri.” Never mind the fact that they had composed the song on a car drive to see Donnie (after having shucked him with the title), “Valleri” was a top-tier Boyce & Hart rocker. Were it to have been paired with “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone,” the Monkees’ place in popular music would have been assured.

Yet Kirshner was unsure if he was on the right track with Boyce & Hart. He still longed for his east coast writers and after Tommy & Bobby floundered somewhat with a few novelty numbers (“Kicking Stones” and “Ladies Aid Society”) in September, he saw an opening to shift things back to his comfort zone.

On October 15th, Kirshner brought in producer Jeff Barry and songwriter Neil Diamond to create two new tracks for the Monkees: “I’m A Believer” and “Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow).” “The first time I met them,” Jeff Barry told me in 2006, “I had the demo, just a simple track of [‘I’m A Believer’ with] either myself or Neil singing the lead, just so the [Monkees] could hear the song.

(Photo courtesy of Andrew Sandoval)

“Everybody seemed enthusiastic, except Mike Nesmith. [He had] a big attitude right from the beginning and he said at one point, ‘I’m a producer too, and that ain’t no hit.’ So, it was like, ‘Oooo.’ To break the tension I made what I thought was an obvious joke. I said, ‘Well, Mike, it’s not finished. You’ve got to picture this with the strings and the horns.’ Which I thought there wasn’t going to be strings and horns [on it, but he would understand that] and he goes, ‘Well, maybe it could be something with strings and horns.’ Then he realized everybody laughed and the relationship goes down from there.”

Ironically, the other Monkees picked up on a country & western flavor in “I’m A Believer” (rather than Barry’s rhythm & bubblegum) and thought Nesmith the ideal candidate to sing it! “We were all up in Lester Sill’s offices and we decided who should sing it,” recalled Davy Jones in a May 1967 court deposition. “We all thought that Mike should sing ‘I’m A Believer,’ it being a country type song and Mike singing country music, and Donnie went along with that.”

According to Nesmith, “Peter…said that he didn’t like the song that much…I said, ‘I think that’s a great song, Donnie. I’d like to produce that: I’d like to produce a track on that. And I really think I could do a good job by it.’ [Donnie’s response was] a little uneasiness, kind of a sweaty palms in the eye syndrome. I could see in Donnie’s eyes that he was uneasy that I suggested that I produce that record.”

(Photo courtesy of Andrew Sandoval)

It is unknown if allowing Nesmith to sing at all was a bit of psychological theater staged by Kirshner and Barry to get what they ultimately wanted (Micky on lead vocals). Either way, Donnie would later learn he was playing with fire if his intention was indeed to play Nesmith. “We got in the studio,” recalled Davy in May 1967, “and Mike didn’t sing it the way Donnie wanted him to sing it and Donnie asked Mike to sing it a certain way and Mike didn’t sing it that way. And during a break Mike just split; he just left…He wasn’t taken off lead. He chose to be taken off himself by leaving.”

“Don had allowed me to record…the song in order to pacify me,” says Nesmith. “And he never had any intention of putting my voice on as lead and had, in fact, intended to put Micky’s voice on in lead…Lester [Sill] told me over dinner that he had never seen an artist treated that way and that he was very sorry and that there really wasn’t anything he could say or do but he wanted to offer an apology.”

And so the Monkees’ biggest hit was born, as was the feud that would unsettle their relationship with Kirshner. What I found fascinating in my research was that Kirshner never attended a Monkees concert, though doing so would have granted the opportunity to commend the band musically in a sincere fashion. Instead he sat out their initial tour and plotted further work-arounds. As his relationship soured with show creators Bob Rafelson & Bert Schneider, he found himself in a far less satisfactory position than he might have assumed from all of the accumulated success.

The Monkees at RCA Studios in Hollywood, October 1966 (Photo courtesy of Andrew Sandoval)

I firmly believe the Monkees would not have meant as much historically or musically without Kirshner’s initial involvement. Furthermore, I also feel we would not be discussing them at length today if they had not taken up their instruments and become a self-contained group. I am truly happy my book can shed light on both sides of this story and I look forward to hearing what you think when you get to read all about it in September.

Very best,

Andrew Sandoval
Beatland Books

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