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The Monkees completed production for their first and only motion picture, Head, with the filming of the "Circle Sky" concert scene at the Valley Music Hall in Salt Lake City, Utah on May 17, 1968. They performed the Michael Nesmith original (seen below in video, complete with graphic images from the Vietnam War) several times for the cameras and the assembled crowd of four thousand fans.  (Photo by Henry Diltz)
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Here's a rare Monkees collectible to start off your new year, one that I have never come across previously. A seemingly original 1969 promotional poster for The Monkees' seventh album, Instant Replay, recently sold for $335.99 on eBay!    (Click the photo above to watch The Monkees' 1967 performance of "Riu Chiu") Micky, Coco, Chip Douglas, and Henry Diltz gather to celebrate Davy Jones Christmas album12/18/2020 
Here's a real treat: Parade magazine conducted an interview yesterday with Micky Dolenz, Coco Dolenz, legendary photographer Henry Diltz, and Monkees producer Chip Douglas on their Facebook page in promotion of It's Christmas Time Once More, a collection of holiday classics recorded by Davy Jones.
The album, originally issued in 1991 as It's Christmas Time Again, was re-released in November 2020 after being given a contemporary treatment featuring Davy's original vocals along with brand new guest appearances by Micky, Coco, Henry, and Davy's singer/songwriter daughter Annabel Jones, all overseen by The Monkees' celebrated producer Chip Douglas (Headquarters, "Daydream Believer," and more). It's Christmas Time Once More is now available to download on iTunes and stream on Apple Music, Amazon, and Spotify. You can also purchase a compact disc edition from the official Davy Jones Shop. Enjoy the interview below:
Micky Dolenz recently stopped by The Dead Life podcast to chat with host Allison Dubois:
And, Michael Nesmith talks all about Timerider, the 1982 action film starring Fred Ward that was co-written, scored, and co-produced by Michael Nesmith (and released on VHS by Michael's former company Pacific Arts), on the Paradox Parkway podcast:
Join Micky Dolenz live on Facebook this Friday, November 27, 2020 at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT for "Home with Micky for the Holidays." Continue the Thanksgiving spirit as Jodi Ritzen sits with Micky for conversation and much more. And be sure to tell Micky you'll be there!
By the way, don't miss the video below!
UPDATE 11/27/2020: Rewatch Micky's live Facebook event below!
On April 3, 2020 Rhino Records issued The Monkees Live: The Mike & Micky Show, featuring performances from the duo's concerts recorded throughout March 2019, on compact disc, iTunes, and via streaming services. A 2-LP vinyl edition arrived later on July 10. Thanks a lot to longtime site contributor Ben Belmares for sharing the scans of the vinyl package seen below!   (The gatefold - click to enlarge)  (Click to enlarge)  (Above and below: Insert)      In 1987, The Monkees released their first album of all new material since 1970. Pool It! arrived in August of that year from Rhino Records, preceded by the LP's first single and music video, "Heart and Soul," which made its mark on select channels and Nickelodeon (but famously not MTV). The article below, "The Monkees: All New Tracks to Satisfy the Faithful," was originally published in Pulse!, a magazine that was available at Tower Records locations in the '80s. It includes comments from the album's producer, Roger Bechirian. Thanks to Keith Combs who shared the article on Facebook a while back, and I thought it would be nice to archive it in the Live Almanac's Pool It! category. Thanks, Keith!   This ad for Pool It! and "Heart and Soul" was included in the same issue of Pulse!:  While we're on the subject, here's a rare behind the scenes photo of Peter, Micky, and Davy during filming of the "Heart and Soul" video in Los Angeles in July 1987:  (Photo courtesy of R. Barham) Finally, earlier this fall Henry Diltz shared this outtake from the Pool It! album cover photo session on his Facebook page:  (Photo by Henry Diltz)  In 1991, Davy Jones released the cassette tape It's Christmas Time Again. And now, almost thirty years later, the album has been given a contemporary treatment featuring Davy's original vocals, along with guest appearances by Micky Dolenz, Coco Dolenz, Henry Diltz, and Davy's singer/songwriter daughter Annabel Jones, all overseen by celebrated Monkees producer Chip Douglas. Douglas was at the helm for The Monkees' two most acclaimed albums, Headquarters and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., as well as some of their best single sides, including "Daydream Believer," "Goin' Down," "Pleasant Valley Sunday," "Words," and "The Girl I Knew Somewhere." He recently talked about the opportunity to revisit Davy's early '90s holiday collection. "This was a rare chance to remix and enhance these recordings by adding the lovely voice of Davy's daughter Annabel whose heartwarming vocals on 'White Christmas' and 'Silent Night' were well above and beyond my expectations," Douglas told Rolling Stone. "Micky and Coco Dolenz beautifully enhanced 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' and Henry Diltz, and other friends, added just the right gusto to 'Hark The Herald Angels Sing.'" "Singing with my dad on this record was an extremely beautiful and healing experience," Annabel said in a statement. "What a gift to be able to share a moment like this!" The Monkees delivered their first-ever holiday album, Christmas Party, via Rhino Records in 2018. That album featured posthumous contributions by Davy Jones, who passed away in 2012. UPDATE 11/13/2020: It's Christmas Time Once More is now available to download on iTunes and stream on Apple Music, Amazon, and Spotify. People has just published an interview with Annabel Jones where she speaks about singing with her father and much more. Rolling Stone is also covering the release of Davy's Christmas album. UPDATE 11/23/2020: The Associated Press included Davy's Christmas album in a laundry list of reviews spotlighting current holiday releases: UPDATE 12/5/2020: It's Christmas Time Once More is now available to purchase on compact disc from the official Davy Jones Shop.  
For years, Micky Dolenz has spoken about his admiration for Michael Nesmith, including his song catalog stretching from the Monkees era all the way through Nez's varied solo output. And their well-known camaraderie was on full display during the recent "Mike & Micky Show" tours. "Way back in the day when we were in the recording studio, Nez and I fell into this wonderful harmonic vocal blend I called 'The Everly Monkees,' as exemplified by the beautiful song 'Me & Magdalena,'" Micky wrote in the liner notes of the The Monkees Live: The Mike & Micky Show. "On the set of The Monkees TV show, we would fall into some ad-lib riff and totally crack each other up. We often joked about one day having 'The Mike & Micky Show'!"
Those 2018-2019 dates were a critical and commercial success, performing to audiences in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Although Micky and Michael's most recently scheduled tour has twice been postponed due to COVID-19, Rolling Stone delivered some welcome news today that Micky Dolenz will record an album covering the works of his longtime friend and musical partner Michael Nesmith. "I've always been a huge fan of his songs,” Micky told Rolling Stone. "He's just so prolific." According to Rolling Stone, recording has not commenced for Dolenz Sings Nesmith and there's no firm track listing, but Christian Nesmith, Michael's oldest son, will be producing the project while Monkees manager and historian Andrew Sandoval will be handling A&R duties. 7a Records, the British-based label fronted by Glenn Gretlund and well-known to fans for its Monkees-related releases over the last several years, will issue the album.
UPDATE 11/23/2020: Micky is currently recording the album in Los Angeles, and 7a's Glenn Gretlund has informed the Live Almanac that a tentative release date is set for March 2021.
UPDATE 11/28/2020:
Micky with Christian Nesmith (Photo courtesy of Micky Dolenz on Twitter)
 (Courtesy of Rhino Records) Micky Dolenz speaks with Forbes.com about Frank Zappa, playing drums, missing Davy & Peter, and more8/7/2020  (Photo by Sherri Hansen)  And listen to Iain Lee and Glenn Gretlund from 7a Records as they discuss their latest project on the Zilch podcast. Click the image below to listen!   The final episode of the first season of The Monkees, "Monkees on Tour," was a documentary that chronicled the group's appearance at Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Arizona on January 21, 1967 during their earliest live performances:  Have you heard the latest episodes of Mark Kleiner's podcast Nesmith Tork Goffin & King??? Mark's series on The Monkees' 1987 album Pool It!, as highlighted in a previous post on the Live Almanac's blog, continues below, along with much more! Listen: Monkee Wash, Donkey RinseMark is in conversation with New York Times writer John Leland about The Monkees in the 1980s, and Keith Allison recalls writing and recording "Auntie's Municipal Court" and explains why he's often uncredited. This episode also features a rare Peter Tork live performance of "Lady's Baby" from 1979, as well as a live rendition of "Right Now" as performed by Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart at the Cleveland Agora on June, 10, 1976. Finally, Mark talks to Matt Harris, who provided background vocals on Pool It!  Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, and Davy Jones at Cherokee Studios, Hollywood, in 1987 (Photo by Roger Bechirian) Listen: Love in a Space: The Making of ‘Pool It!’ (Part II)In this episode, Mark continues his retrospective of Pool It! featuring exclusive interviews with producer Roger Béchirian and music supervisor Lou Maxfield, along with two integral musicians on the sessions, Mark Christian and Michael Egizi. And, Rhino Records legend Bill Inglot offers insight into the podcast's ongoing inquiry of the "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere" remix mystery. You can also hear a rare live "50s Medley" as performed by Davy Jones and Peter Tork during their 1986 Sounds of the Monkees Australian Tour.  "Pool It!" session guitarist Mark Christian with Peter Tork at Cherokee Studios, Hollywood (Photo courtesy of Mark Kleiner) Listen: Love Without Even the Little Hint of a Trace: The Making of ‘Pool It!’(Part III)Enjoy the third installment of NTGK's profile on Pool It! featuring never-before-revealed studio moments from producer Roger Béchirian, music supervisor Lou Natkin, session musicians Mark Christian and Michael Egizi, plus the world premiere of the demo for "The Weight of Love," an original Bobby Hart/Dick Eastman composition submitted for consideration for inclusion on the Pool It! album.
Listen: I Was There (And I'm Told I Had Crab Cakes)1980s Arista Records executive Roy Lott shares a behind-the-scenes perspective on the alleged second single from Then & Now ... The Best of the Monkees ("Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere") that threatens to rewrite the entire historical record, and culminates in a party at Quincy Jones' mansion for Whitney Houston.  "Then & Now ... The Best of The Monkees" cassette (Courtesy of Monkee45s.net) On April 3 Rhino Records issued The Monkees Live: The Mike & Micky Show, featuring performances from the duo's concerts recorded throughout March 2019, on compact disc and via streaming services. A 2-LP vinyl edition will be available on July 10. The Live Almanac highly recommends this very worthwhile document of a unique era in Monkees history, and a big thanks to longtime site contributor Ben Belmares for sharing the scans of the CD package seen below!               "The primary purpose of the SoCal Music Hall of Fame is to honor, promote and commemorate California's musical heritage. Micky Dolenz of The Monkees is more than worthy of this coveted recognition."   The former Monkeesmixography website, which classified every Monkees track by mix/master/remaster, and more, is being converted into a book by Craig Smith and Derek Miner. Mixing Links: The Monkees on Disc doesn't have a release date, but fans can now review another excerpt that was recently revealed on their website! Featured in this update is "Goin' Down," originally issued as the B-side to "Daydream Believer" in October 1967. And don't forget to follow Mixing Links on Facebook! "Goin’ Down" started life as a jam following a take of "She Hangs Out" on June 21, 1967. Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork played electric guitar with a rhythm section of "Fast" Eddie Hoh on drums and producer Chip Douglas on bass. The original tracking was recorded to 4-track tape, though it is most likely the recording was transferred to 8-track for later overdubs. The brass parts were recorded September 15, 1967, both a 12-piece accompaniment (which may have been recorded to just one mono track!) plus saxophone and trumpet solos. It is unclear if the vocals were added before or after this instrumentation.  (Sheet music) Thanks to John at Monkee45s.net for the images seen above!
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