 Adam Schlesinger, who produced The Monkees' 2016 album Good Times! and Christmas Party (2018), passed away on April 1, 2020 at age 52 from complications of COVID-19. Adam was a songwriter, musician, and record producer who was a member of the bands Fountains of Wayne and Ivy, along with the supergroup Tinted Windows, whose song "This Is The Day" was featured in There's Something About Mary. His notable achievements also included TV and film songwriting, which stretched from That Thing You Do to Music and Lyrics to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Fountains of Wayne was perhaps best known for the early 2000s hit single "Stacy's Mom," which was nominated for a Grammy. Adam will be celebrated by a virtual concert show that will stream live at 8 p.m. ET on May 5, 2021 with all ticket proceeds benefitting MusiCares and The Bowery Electric, the Manhattan venue that recently reopened and where portions of the concert were filmed. Micky Dolenz is one of many special guest performers, which also include Peter Buck (R.E.M.), Sean Ono Lennon, Courtney Love (Hole), Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze), Matthew Caws (Nada Surf), James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins), Drew Carey, Scott McCaughey (The Minus 5), and Adam's Fountains of Wayne bandmate Jody Porter, who spearheaded this tribute concert. You can purchase your ticket to the virtual show now and read more about this special event below: Rolling Stone: Courtney Love, Sean Ono Lennon, Micky Dolenz to Play Adam Schlesinger Tribute Brooklyn Vegan: Adam Schlesinger virtual tribute ft. Courtney Love, Peter Buck, Sean Lennon & more announced AP: Tribute planned for Adam Schlesinger, who died of COVID-19 
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 (Ad from the November 11, 1967 issue of Billboard / Courtesy of Monkee45s.net) Micky Dolenz will make his first large-scale public appearance since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 when he appears at Steel City Con outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this June. For more details and to purchase tickets, click the link below:   7a Records has revealed that a digital single, "Different Drum" / "Propinquity", will be issued on April 23 as a preview of Micky's forthcoming album, Dolenz Sings Nesmith, a collection of songs featuring Micky paying tribute to the songbook of Michael Nesmith. The single can now be pre-ordered from Amazon and iTunes in the US (and in the UK, too), with an official release date set for April 23. Check out the YouTube video below for extended snippets of the songs and more! In an intriguing conversation with Andy Greene from Rolling Stone published today on the magazine's website, Andrew Sandoval discusses his upcoming book, The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story, how is understanding of the group, particularly their struggles with Don Kirshner, changed after extensive new research, the likelihood that Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith's fall tour could act as a "farewell," and more:  Cover art and track listing revealed for "Dolenz Sings Nesmith" coming this May from 7a Records3/10/2021  (Artwork by Tim Johnson from Silver Parrot Creative Services) 7a Records is pleased to announce the release of Dolenz Sings Nesmith – Micky Dolenz's first new solo studio album in nine years. The album is comprised of songs Michael Nesmith wrote throughout his career, all beautifully reimagined. Produced by Nesmith's son, Christian Nesmith, this is the album Monkees fans have waited years to hear. The Album Dolenz got the idea for the album a long time ago. As Micky says "I think I first mentioned it to Nez years ago, I don’t know where the idea came from, maybe from my friend Harry Nilsson and his Nilsson Sings Newman album. I thought to myself, 'Wow, Dolenz Sings Nesmith.'" The new album, which was recorded between September 2020 and February 2021, features songs written throughout Nesmith’s long career, including many from the critically acclaimed Michael Nesmith & The First National Band albums, as well as a few Monkees deep cuts. And who better to produce the album than Nesmith's son, Christian Nesmith, who has done an incredible job in coming up with fresh and completely new arrangements for all of the songs. The global release date for Dolenz Sings Nesmith is May 21, 2021. (Courtesy of 7a Records) The Track Listing
Pre-Order Now!
 (Courtesy of 7a Records) 
Monkees author Andrew Sandoval will be Jodi Ritzen's guest this evening live on Facebook as Andrew discusses his upcoming book, The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story. Jodi has also announced that none other than Micky Dolenz will be stopping by for this special event.
The Live Almanac will be providing a live feed below once everything gets underway, so stay tuned!
UPDATE:
Watch Andrew's interview with Jodi below, which includes a guest appearance by Micky Dolenz, as well as the official reveal of the extra collectible item (not sold separately) that will come with your purchase of the Super Deluxe Edition of Andrew's Day-By-Day book:
And, don't forget to listen to Andrew on the Zilch podcast with host Ken Mills by clicking the image below:
The Monkees, along with most other entertainment acts, continue to be impacted by the unfortunate and tragic circumstances surrounding COVID-19. Today it was announced by The Monkees Tour Facebook page that most of the originally scheduled March and April 2021 concert dates for Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith's current show, "An Evening With The Monkees," have been postponed until September and October 2021 due to the pandemic. However, the Vancouver, British Columbia stop has been canceled and the show scheduled for Austin, Texas is being moved to a new venue.
Below are the original 2021 dates, venues, and cities with updated information. Stay tuned to The Monkees Live Almanac and stay safe!
CANCELED - March 18: Commodore Ballroom / Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
CANCELED BUT MOVING TO NEW VENUE WITH DETAILS TO FOLLOW - April 2: Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater / Austin, Texas
March 21 to September 10, 2021: Moore Theatre / Seattle, Washington
March 23 to September 14, 2021: The Crest Theatre / Sacramento, California March 24 to September 15, 2021: San Jose Civic / San Jose, California March 26 to September 17, 2021: Fox Performing Arts Center / Riverside, California March 27 to September 18, 2021: The Magnolia / El Cajon, California March 28 to September 19, 2021: Celebrity Theatre / Phoenix, Arizona April 1 to September 25, 2021: Tobin Center For The Performing Arts / San Antonio, Texas April 3 to September 24, 2021: Majestic Theatre / Dallas, Texas April 12 to TBD: Schermerhorn Symphony Center / Nashville, Tennessee April 16 to October 6, 2021: Iron City / Birmingham, Alabama April 23 to October 15, 2021: IP Casino Resort / Biloxi, Mississippi
Here is the post from The Monkees Tour Facebook page referenced above:
Monkees fans, here he comes! Andrew Sandoval, Monkees historian, author, producer, and manager, has officially announced the brand new edition of his classic book, The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story, set for publication in June 2021. Long considered the ultimate resource for the most complete examination of The Monkees' television, recording, theatrical, live concert, and public appearance career, Day-By-Day has not been simply updated, it has been thoroughly rewritten, redesigned, and expanded!  FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO RESERVE YOUR COPY BY MARCH 22, 2021: The book flaps (click to enlarge)  Micky Dolenz, likely during recording sessions for The Monkees' fourth album, "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd." (1967)  Peter Tork at RCA Hollywood, July 1968  The Monkees gather at RCA Hollywood for the "Ditty Diego" recording session, July 1968  Davy Jones in the studio for The Monkees' third album, "Headquarters" (1967)  Michael Nesmith in the studio playing his custom Gibson SG guitar (1968) 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) 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 or watch it here.
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.  |
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