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Last evening, The Monkees and their band returned to the road after a brief layoff, performing in Dallas, Texas at the Winspear Opera House.
LOS ANGELES, June 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- AXS TV heats up the summer with the ultimate rock n' roll experience as the network presents a new five-week series AXS TV CONCERTS HOSTED BY MARK CUBAN premiering with The Monkees on Thursday, August 11, at 9pE/8pC/6pP. The series will air every Thursday through September 8 and features live performances by five legendary bands curated by AXS TV founder Mark Cuban. Each live performance will be 90 minutes long, with a repeat at 11:30 pm ET.  Thanks a lot to SirQ for allowing the Live Almanac to share these images! The first two designs are for albums that didn't originally exist, and the last three are reimaginations of the LP covers for Head, The Monkees Present, and Changes. Enjoy, and look for more of SirQ's work here on the blog.      Today I received my copy of the Japanese CD release of Good Times! (complete with the obi strip). It includes the bonus track "Love's What I Want," written by Andy Partridge and produced by Andrew Sandoval.   The booklet inside the CD was the same as the one found in the U.S. release, but it was supplemented with a Japanese version, complete with lyrics in Japanese.  We know that the title track is in mono, but you'll see that the booklet denotes "Gotta Give It Time" as also being mono. Is that correct? The Japanese CD package also includes the sticker sheet found in the U.S. release of the album:  Check out the video on The Monkees Live Almanac's Facebook page! And if you need to catch up on the forthcoming Monkees Blu-ray release (due July 8), visit the Live Almanac's archives.  Three weeks ago, The Monkees' new album Good Times! debuted on the Billboard Top 200 at #14 (reflecting digital and physical copies sold as well as streaming activity), while dropping to #77 during its second week. The album remained on the Billboard Top 200 for its third week, ranking at #142, but today Good Times! fell off the Top 200. However, on Billboard's Album Sales chart (which reflects physical and digital copies sold only), The Monkees' new album is #92 in its fourth week on that chart. Good Times! debuted on the Album Sales chart at #6, dropped to #32 in its second week, and landed at #57 during its third week. Meanwhile, over at Amazon.com, the album currently stands at #20 (after peaking at #1).  For more information on the chart history of Good Times! check out the following links:
On April 28, Rolling Stone unveiled the first new Monkees single since 1987, "She Make Me Laugh." It was quickly followed by "You Bring the Summer" on May 2. An animated video for the song, directed by Jonathan Nesmith and Susan Holloway, premiered on Entertainment Weekly's website on June 21. The third single to date, "Me & Magdalena," was released on YouTube on May 19. What does everyone think should be the next single from the album? By the way, my web hosting service has removed the "Poll" feature from its blog options (frustratingly, I might add), and it was my intention to make this the next polling question. For now, and while I search for a new app to fix this issue, please share your thoughts by leaving a comment! UPDATE: I have found a new polling option! Take a moment to vote in the new poll asking what should be the next single from Good Times! (located in the blog sidebar to the right).
Here's another screenshot from the new video for "You Bring the Summer," and Ken Mills added the Monkees logo to it! Don't forget to check out Ken and the gang over at Zilch: A Monkees Podcast.  Here's an interesting piece from Britain's New Musical Express (courtesy of Rosemary Reedman) that was published sometime around The Monkees' London appearances in the summer of 1967. Davy talks about his musical abilities, taking The Monkees to Broadway, his chances of becoming the full-time drummer in the group, and more. Author Keith Altham also references high jinks between Davy and Michael.  (Click to enlarge) Thanks to Rosemary Reedman for submitting this article that was originally published in the April 20, 1968 issue of Britain's Disc and Music Echo.  (Click to enlarge) Thanks, Karen!  (From the collection of Dave Rogers) The Monkees are well-known for playing Gretsch instruments. Michael Nesmith used his blonde Gretsch guitar (Model 6076) on The Monkees television series, in the recording studio, and on the concert stage throughout the 1960s. Peter Tork employed a burgundy Gretsch bass guitar (Model 6073) and Micky Dolenz played a champagne sparkle Gretsch drum kit, both of which were also seen on The Monkees' TV show and onstage. Gretsch even made a one-off custom model bass guitar for Davy Jones. When The Monkees arrived in 1966, Gretsch immediately produced a Monkees model guitar that was available on the market until 1968. GretschPages.com describes the Monkees guitar: "The 6123 was fitted with two SuperTron pickups, it had real f-holes, and special features like a unique pickguard and truss rod cover sporting the Monkees logo, and a fretboard with thumbnail markers top and bottom."  Sales of the Monkees Gretsch, however, were disappointing. Despite the high quality nature of the instrument, Monkees fans didn't rush to buy it. Some Gretsch experts have even surmised that purists, perhaps caught up in the furor at the time about the group's nontraditional origins, were not interested in a customized Monkees guitar. It is speculated that relatively few (maybe a couple of hundred) Monkees model Gretsch guitars were produced. This item had to be ordered directly from Gretsch by the given guitar store. Today, the Gretsch Monkees Signature Guitar is a highly sought after collectible that has been known to sell for thousands of dollars through online retailers like eBay. Earlier this month, Monkees fan Justin Rakowski shared photographs of the Gretsch Monkees model guitar that's part of his personal collection. He told me the story about tracking one down and where he ultimately purchased it. Justin then suggested the possibility of cataloging all of the Gretsch Monkees guitars that might still exist, and I thought that was a great idea! Over the last two weeks, I've had the great pleasure of exchanging emails with Wayne Avers, longtime lead guitarist and musical director in The Monkees' touring band. Wayne owns a Monkees model Gretsch (that was refinished in black years ago). He shared photographs and a great amount of information about these unique guitars, including famous musicians who own a Monkees model Gretsch. This summer, The Monkees Live Almanac is attempting to catalog as many people as possible that possess a Monkees Gretsch guitar. Ideally, I would like each owner to provide a brief history about how and where they purchased their guitar, the amount of money they paid for it (if you care to share this information), along with a picture. Submissions will be organized together at a later date, and we'll start with Wayne Avers! Please contact me by any of the following options below: Monkees fans and guitar enthusiasts: please consider sharing this post on social media to help attract attention to this project! Further information about instruments used by The Monkees, Gretsch, and more can be found by clicking the image below:  After seeing the recent Monkees in Paris article here on the Live Almanac's blog, Renny Simno contacted me. A friend of Renny's, Mike Hanemann, was in Paris in June 1967 at the same time as The Monkees, and he recently shared with Renny previously unseen photos he took of the group. Check them out below, and thanks to both Renny and Mike!  That looks like Bob Rafelson above in the car next to The Monkees.   This is a must watch interview with Bob Rafelson that was filmed for the Criterion Collection release of Head in 2010. Rafelson starts at the beginning, talking about the audition process that led to the selection of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork, all the way through the making of the movie Head in 1968. A big thank you to Chris Keating for submitting this poster of The Monkees from the October 5, 1968 issue of the Australian publication TV Week.  A live recording of a Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart show, Concert in Japan (recorded on July 20, 1976 at Yubin Chokin Hall in Tokyo, Japan), was initially available only in Japan in 1981. The album was later distributed on compact disc in the United States in 1996. This is a poster that was included inside the Japanese album.  |
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