A new addition to the Live Almanac website will be made available shortly...a 'Monkees Instruments & Gear' page. 

Stay tuned!

The Monkees performed in Baltimore, Maryland at the Civic Center on July 21, 1967. This review originally appeared in the Baltimore Sun.

The Monkees came to town for a concert last night, and had 10,000 teeny-boppers swinging from the rafters.

For an eternal hour, what are normally only a bunch of electronic particles on a television screen became oh so real to an enthusiastic, youthful, predominately female audience which turned the Civic Center into a temporary insane asylum.

The turned-on generation turned out in force and fashion and did just what is normal for such occasions: screamed, applauded, cried, charged the stage and generally went hysterical.

From the moment the quartet appeared onstage, wearing red velvet suits and white turtleneck sweaters, the massive center echoed to screams of thousands of shrill voices, sounding much like a million amplified katydids.

The Monkees, for those who don't know, are four young men named Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith who have a zany television show on Monday nights.

Like a group of ersatz Marx Brothers, they are wild, wacky and wonderfully popular: so popular, they have all become millionaires.

Put together as a singing group by the marvels of the mass media, there have been rumors that they couldn't even sing or play musical instruments.

They put that to rest last night with a performance which, unlike some teenage rock group shows, exhibited a measure of talent. Fourty-five thousand dollars worth of sound equipment, a backdrop screen with huge color pictures of the Monkees and special lighting effects added to the show.

But the fans never really needed all that -- those four boys and their electrocuting guitars and pounding drums were more than enough.

They spent up to $7.50 a ticket to see the Monkees, but they obviously had no intention of hearing them. The pulsating synchronization of the music was lost under the multi-decibel screams, as much of the audience jumped on chairs, leaped about the arena and ran pellmell toward the stage in valiant but unsuccessful efforts to reach the heroes of the airways.

"I can't hear the --- ---- music," said a police sergeant. The patrolman next to him didn't hear -- he had a .38-caliber bullet in each ear.

Baltimore police had relatively little trouble controlling the crowd at the concert or throughout the day as thousands of teenage girls searched for the Monkees at almost every hotel.

The group was actually safely tucked away behind dozens of security guards at the Sheraton-Baltimore Inn, relaxing in the midst of a 60-day tour, after an almost secret arrival.

Kathy Lee, 14, of the 100 block Decker avenue, came to the concert with her National Monkee Club Button. Like most of the girls, she was wearing Mod clothes.

"I think the Monkees are the most wonderful things in the whole world," she said, summing up the views of many others.

Mary-Jo Liberto, 16, of the 6700 block Brookmont drive, waited four hours at the stage door to catch a glimpse of the Monkees, holding a sign which said "I love David Jones."

Inside the center, signs abounded, hanging from the rails of the balcony and held aloft like political convention posters, all vowing allegiance to the Monkees.

And whatever happened to the Beatles, one teeny bopper was asked, "Oh," was the reply, "they belong to an older generation."

This photo was taken while filming the "Cuddly Toy" video.

The Monkees appeared at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham, England on April 5, 1989 during their European Tour that year. This review comes from the Nottingham Evening Post.

This article comes from my collection and was published in 1975. I'm uncertain as to the source of it. For easier reading, click on the image to enlarge.

This picture was taken at one of Davy's book signings in Los Angeles in 1988. (Davy is holding the audio version of his book, They Made a Monkee Out Of Me.

Here's Andrew Sandoval pictured with printer's proof sheets for The Monkees Present deluxe edition package. Sandoval is producing the set, a 3-CD collection featuring the original album remastered, never before heard songs, backing tracks and alternate versions.

The shipping date has been pushed back to August 13. Pre-orders are available here.

Alan Hunter, one of the original MTV VJs, helps conduct the press conference at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City on May 28, 1986 that officially announced The Monkees' 20th Anniversary Reunion Tour:

Here is an ad from the November 1989 Rhino Records catalog advertising the release of Missing Links, Volume 2. (Volume 1 was released in 1987.)

Could we ever see a Volume 4? The last Missing Links collection was released in 1996, right after the original Monkees albums had been remastered for release on compact disc. Those 1994/1995 sets also featured bonus tracks, including alternate versions and unreleased material. 

Fast forward to the mid-2000s when Rhino decided to release deluxe editions of the first four Monkees albums. By the time The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees came around for deluxe treatment, the series was turned over to Rhino Handmade. The Handmade division has produced the well received over-sized box sets for the Birds album along with Head, Instant Replay and soon, The Monkees Present. Combined, all of these releases have opened up The Monkees tape vault more than fans could have ever imagined, and arguably more so than other groups and artists.

There is still some material, however, that has yet to see the light of day and would fit nicely on a potential Missing Links, Volume 4 collection. Granted, I'm hoping Rhino restarts the Handmade boxes from the beginning, issuing the first four Monkees albums in that format. If they don't, another Missing Links compilation, via Rhino Handmade, would make sense.

Some unique alternate TV versions of Monkees songs still have not seen official release on CD, and would make a great start for a new collection:

1. "Saturday's Child" - alternate mono mix unique to the TV show soundtrack
2. "Take a Giant Step" - alternate mono mix with a different Micky lead vocal
3. "Laugh" - alternate mono mix unique to the TV show soundtrack
4. "She Hangs Out" - alternate mono mix unique to the TV show soundtrack
5. "Love Is Only Sleeping" - alternate mono mix unique to the TV show soundtrack
6. "Star Collector" - alternate mono mix unique to the TV show soundtrack
7. "All the King's Horses" - alternate mono mix unique to the TV show soundtrack

Other questions can be asked, too. Have more tapes been discovered in the archives? Andrew Sandoval has played multiple unique mixes of Monkees songs on his Come to the Sunshine internet radio program that have yet to see official release. Have the tracking session tapes been located for the Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. album? Perhaps one day the multitracks for Changes and the 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee soundtrack will turn up. A dream find would be the recording sessions that The Monkees undertook with Snuff Garrett, the first producer chosen for the project. Then there's the ubiquitous questions surrounding the missing two songs from the Changes recording sessions, "Ride Baby Ride" and "Which Way (Do You Want It)." And finally, what material exists in private collections, whether it be backing tracks, acetates, demos, or completed songs that we have yet to hear?

Andrew Sandoval spoke about the Monkees tape library in two different interviews available on this site that can be found here and here. (And his book, the ultimate guide to the recording history of The Monkees, is available for purchase.)

If you're like me and enjoy the details of each Monkees song and seeing every mix it has been released, a must stop visit for you online would be the great Monkees Mixography website.

Be sure to watch this late 2011 interview with Andrew Sandoval where he discusses The Monkees, their tape library, and much more.

Via Andrew Sandoval...

Listen to Michael Nesmith on World Cafe

Micky Dolenz will be the featured guest on the nationally syndicated radio show Rockline this evening (Wednesday, June 26) at 8:30pm PDT/11:30pm EDT.

The show will be archived on the Rockline website for two weeks after the live broadcast.