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A recent eBay listing featured a sealed copy of the rare 8-track edition of The Monkees' final original studio album, 1970's Changes. Check out what was the starting bid, and for more about Monkees 8-tracks, visit John McCutcheon's wonderful Monkee45s website. And thanks to David Cox for sharing the eBay listing with The Monkees Live Almanac!   
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 By Justin RakowskiSalt Lake City – December 6, 1969. As The Monkees walked off stage, nothing would ever be the same. At least in terms of their original run as a quartet, that was unceremoniously reduced to a trio earlier in the year. Apart from a few contractual obligations, Michael Nesmith was no longer a Monkee. This left Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones to continue on in some capacity. In addition to making a few promotional appearances under the guise of The Monkees throughout 1970, Micky and Davy undertook what would be the final Monkees album of the original Colgems era. Released in June of 1970, Changes unfortunately did nothing to bolster their fading popularity. While the single "Oh My My" barely cracked the Billboard Hot 100, Changes failed to grab the attention of what remaining fans they had and did not chart in its initial production run. As decades passed and different waves of Monkees reunions cropped up, leading to more positive reevaluations of their career and musical output, Changes still held a somewhat “black sheep” quality when compared to The Monkees' other Colgems records. Growing up in the 1990s, I was too young to remember the massive resurgence in popularity the group experienced during their 20th Anniversary in 1986. Luckily, I discovered the "Pre-Fab Four" through Nick at Nite reruns during the mid-90s, leading me to hunt down every album released through the Rhino Records reissues on CD. Even as a young Monkees fan, Changes carried a stigma like no other Monkees LP had and initially I barely gave it a listen. Over the course of the ensuing years, my appreciation of the album grew slightly, but it still never reached the level of importance as their other albums.  In 2012, I met the woman who I would fall in love with and ultimately marry a few short years later. On one of our first dates, I discovered that she was quite familiar with a good number of Monkees songs, albeit the ones that were featured on the show, as she too watched the Nick at Nite reruns. Naturally, I gave her copies of all their albums, excited to see which one she would hold dear to her heart. After making her way through everything, I was shocked to find that she adored Changes and had memorized the lyrics to every song featured on the album in only a few short days. Her love for the album was contagious and I now started to listen with a different set of ears and appreciate it for what it was – a solidly written and performed set of catchy bubblegum songs that acted as a perfect bookend to a period that started with an album (The Monkees) that was essentially a solidly written and performed set of catchy bubblegum songs.  (From the June 13, 1970 issue of Billboard) Through all of this, as many Monkees fans know, the multitrack recordings for all of the Jeff Barry-produced songs from the 1970 sessions are missing. Unfortunately this also includes two tracks, "Which Way Do You Want It" and "Ride Baby Ride," that were recorded but ultimately left off the final pressing of Changes. Given all these facts, we’ve been told time and time again that a Super Deluxe set of the album would be impossible given the lack of content. Once a Super Deluxe set of Headquarters and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. is released in the coming years, the journey that Monkees archivist Andrew Sandoval started nearly a decade ago will have ended. As a fan of both The Monkees and Andrew, I am incredibly grateful for the amount of dedication from them to bring us such wonderful sets and can’t wait to have a shelf with all the Super Deluxe sets next to each other, providing us with perhaps the most complete auditory history of a band’s output. But, the set will feel quite lonely if Changes isn’t there in some capacity to bookend everything as it did almost 50 years ago when it was first issued. With all of that in mind, I propose a solution. When the time comes to make a decision on the merits of a Super Deluxe set of Changes and the missing tracks that still have not been found, here is a track listing that could fill three CDs and properly tell the story of The Monkees' Colgems-era output, including Davy’s final contractual obligation for Colgems that resulted in his self-titled album released on Bell Records in 1971. With that being said, I present you with… CHANGES (SUPER DELUXE EDITION)
RARITIES 23. Oh My My (Mono Promo Film Mix) 24. 99 Pounds (Stereo Remix) 25. Midnight Train (Demo) 26. I Never Thought It Peculiar (No Strings and Backing Vocals) 27. I Never Thought It Peculiar (Mono Mix without Overdubs) 28. I Never Thought It Peculiar (Mono Mix with Overdubs) 29. I Never Thought It Peculiar (Stereo Remix) OUTTAKES 30. Time And Time Again (Take 1) 31. Time And Time Again (Mono Mix) 32. Time And Time Again (Stereo Mix) COMMERCIALS 33. Post Cereals "Monkees Cereal Box Records" Commercial 34. Kool-Aid "Nerf Ball" Commercial 35. Kool-Aid "Buzzer" & "Snake In A Can" Commercial LIVE 36. Together (Davy Jones With Sam & The Goodtimers - Live on Music Scene - December 22, 1969) 37. Interview With Davy Jones on Music Scene (December 22, 1969) 38. Oh My My (Live At The Palace Theater - Cleveland, Ohio - July 27, 1997) 39. Midnight Train (Live At The Mayo Performing Arts Center - Morristown, New Jersey - Aug. 27, 2015) NON-ALBUM SINGLES
BONUS VINYL 45 "Acapulco Sun" EP by The Monkees RCA #MKE-1310 1970 (Mexico) Oh My My Do You Feel It Too? Acapulco Sun Midnight Train  (Courtesy of Monkee45s.net)  Thank you very much to Justin Rakowski for submitting his essay to The Monkees Live Almanac! I would also like to acknowledge John McCutcheon's wonderful website Monkee45s for some of the scans seen above. While prepping this piece for the Live Almanac's blog, I contacted longtime Monkees fan, collector, and author Ed Reilly to see if he could share some unique Changes-era pieces from his collection to complement Justin's work. The items below come from Ed's collection - thanks, Ed!  Cashbox magazine - June 1970  "Oh My My" picture sleeve - Turkey (Click for label)  Japanese issue of "Changes" on RCA Records (Click for Side 1 label)  Colgems cassette and 8-track  "Oh My My" picture sleeve - Australia (Click for label) Bell Records released the original Monkees albums in Japan throughout 1973 and 1974:
 "Oh My My" picture sleeve - Germany (Click for label)  "Oh My My" picture sleeve - France (Click for label) Micky, Mike, and Davy filmed a Kool-Aid commercial in February 1970 at a San Diego amusement park. Photos of Micky and Davy driving bumper cars will later appear on the back cover of Changes.  (Photo by Henry Diltz)  The Monkees' last original single on Colgems, "Oh My My," was released in April 1970. The group's fanbase had shrunk considerably by this time, and the song received limited airplay and suffered even worse sales figures. Debuting on the Billboard chart on June 6, 1970 at #99, it peaked at #98 the following week. 
Tiger Beat reviews final original Monkees album and Michael's debut with the First National Band10/13/2017  (From the September 1970 issue of Tiger Beat)
Here's "Oh My My," "The Girl I Knew Somewhere," and "Good Clean Fun," courtesy of The Monkees Tour Facebook page:
This afternoon, The Monkees polished off 1970's "Oh My My" during soundcheck in Englewood, New Jersey, site of the final US stop on the 50th Anniversary Tour. The song, which was the last original Monkees single, has not been performed live in concert since the group's 1997 US summer tour.
A big thanks to Derek Miner who shared his awesome reimagination of The Monkees' last original album Changes, based on the premise that Michael Nesmith was still a member of the group at the time of its release in June 1970. Before you check out the images below, there is some backstory about the photo used for the cover of Changes, and the fact that Michael was cropped out of it: Here's Derek's take on the front cover:  The back cover, complete with Derek's own track listing for a Nesmith-infused Changes:  (Click to enlarge) Derek's artwork without the title treatment:  And finally, the actual cover art for Changes as released on Colgems Records in 1970. "There is the theory that the color background image was done with Mike originally and he was just cropped off," Derek said, adding that "the evidence being a small purple spot on the left that could have been Mike's guitar headstock."  This is the sixth in a series of guest articles that have been submitted to The Monkees Live Almanac in celebration of the group's 50th Anniversary.  Banner designed by Al Bigley In Part 1 of this series, I constructed a new version of The Monkees Present, the second LP released after the departure of Peter Tork. In doing so, I created a track listing that combined songs which appeared on the album in its original form in 1969, but then substituted some of what I considered to be weaker tracks with those that were available at the time, but remained unreleased. When the Missing Links albums appeared in the late 1980s and 1990s, showcasing songs The Monkees recorded during their original incarnation but were never issued, it baffled me how many great tracks were left in the Monkee vaults in the 1960s. And although we've now heard all of those songs thanks to subsequent archival releases through the years, I was still inspired to take another look at the 1969-1971 era of The Monkees' recorded history and put my own spin on it. Having been pleased with Instant Replay, (the first post-Tork Monkees album), and with a revamped Present LP now complete, next up is Changes, released by Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones in 1970. The sessions for Changes also marked the return of Jeff Barry, the producer of "I'm a Believer" and most of More of the Monkees.  "Changes" album cover When reimagining Changes today, let's say Michael Nesmith decided to soldier on as a Monkees instead of leaving the group as he did in early 1970. Let's also allow the songwriting partnership between Davy Jones and Bill Chadwick to play out, too. (Their songs "If I Knew" and "French Song" appeared on The Monkees Present, and "You and I" on Instant Replay.) Unlike my version of The Monkees Present, the newly retooled Changes is meant to be more rollicking and less serious. Perhaps this mock cover of Changes with Nez included (created by Michelle_66 in her series of Alternate Reality Monkees albums) will help you get ready for a fresh look at an old album.  (Used with permission of Michelle_66 - click to enlarge) Side 1: Changes (Reimagined)1. Oh My My (Written by Jeff Barry & Andy Kim / Produced by Jeff Barry) 2. You're So Good To Me (Written by Jeff Barry & Bobby Bloom / Produced by Jeff Barry) 3. Little Red Rider (Written & Produced by Michael Nesmith) 4. If You Have the Time (Written & Produced by Davy Jones and Bill Chadwick) 5. Down the Highway (Written by Carole King & Toni Stern / Produced by Michael Nesmith) ("Down the Highway" was mislabeled upon its release on Missing Links Volume 2 in 1990 as "Michigan Blackhawk.") 6. Tell Me Love (Written & Produced by Jeff Barry) In the same vein of my fantasy track listings, Michelle_66 created her very own picture sleeve for "Oh My My" (the first and only single from Changes), with Nez still a part of the group at that time:  (Used with permission of Michelle_66) Side 2: Changes (Reimagined)7. I Love You Better (Written by Jeff Barry & Andy Kim / Produced by Jeff Barry) 8. Do You Feel It Too? (Written by Jeff Barry & Andy Kim / Produced by Jeff Barry) 9. Good Clean Fun (Written & Produced by Michael Nesmith) 10. Midnight Train (Written & Produced by Micky Dolenz) 11. Oklahoma Backroom Dancer (Written by Michael Martin Murphey / Produced by Michael Nesmith) 12. Time and Time Again (Written & Produced by Davy Jones and Bill Chadwick) Stay tuned for Part 3 which imagines an album that never existed: a final Jeff Barry-produced Monkees LP featuring Dolenz & Jones that was released in 1971.
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Recap: Monkees Farewell Tour
Dolenz sings Nesmith
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