While promoting the band’s 2020 live album, The Monkees vocalist and drummer Micky Dolenz described what jamming with bandmate Mike Nesmith, AKA “Nez,” was like. According to Dolenz, the two had a “blend,” prompting him to create a nickname for the duo inspired by the Everly Brothers.
Micky Dolenz referred to Mike Nesmith and himself as ‘The Everly Monkees’
Dolenz and Nesmith recorded The Monkees Live: The Mike and Micky Show while on tour in 2019. The performances marked the first from the band since Peter Tork’s death in February 2019. Unfortunately, the live album also marked Nesmith’s last. He died in December 2021 at age 78.
Before his death, Nesmith joined Dolenz in Live Q&A With Micky and Mike!, where they talked about the new album and answered questions from fans. During the interview, Dolenz described the duo’s instant ability to harmonize and how their country-western influences may have led them there.
“From the early, early days, we just had this blend, which I call ‘The Everly Monkees.’ I don’t know how it happened or where it came from … I sense that it maybe had to do with the fact that my mom was from Austin, Texas, [and] Nez near Dallas. So we would have been exposed to early country-western [like] Sons of the Pioneers [and The] Everly Brothers.”
Micky Dolenz claimed The Monkees sang only Mike Nesmith’s songs in the beginning
Nesmith’s musical background was crucial to The Monkees’ success. Initially, the band had only the songs Nesmith wrote, which is when the two discovered their ability to “blend,” Dolenz recalled.
“Our original songs we … sang together were Nez’s songs because he was the only one who ever wrote a song … So we started singing ‘Sunny Girlfriend’ or ‘Papa Genes Blues’ … and he and I just locked into these harmonies … from day one.”
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Years later, not much changed. Nesmith wrote 12 of the 25 songs on the pair’s live record.
The duo joked about ‘The Mike and Micky Show’ while filming ‘The Monkees’ TV series
Coming from an acting background, Dolenz said his experience reading scripts didn’t help him while filming The Monkees TV series. He struggled with improvising on the show, but Nesmith’s ease on camera inspired him.
“Nez was always an inspiration to me in his ability to improvise,” Dolenz said. “I was terrible originally at improvising. I didn’t like it … I found it uncomfortable.”
Eventually, they released their inner “Everly Monkees” and learned to riff on camera, creating some of the show’s classic moments. They grew so comfortable riffing back and forth that they’d often joke about hosting The Mike and Micky Show one day, which is what they named their live album.
Micky Dolenz’s new book will offer more insight into his career
It looks like Dolenz prepared for this moment his whole life. The 78-year-old held onto everything during his time with The Monkees. That includes unpublished photos, telegrams, handwritten lyrics, and scripts.
The result is a 500-page book — I’m Told I Had a Good Time: The Micky Dolenz Archives, Volume One — hitting shelves on Nov. 7, 2023. It will include details about his childhood through 1977, when he moved to the United Kingdom, according to Beatland Books.
