RhinoIn 2016, The Monkees celebrated the 50th anniversary of the hit TV show that introduced them to the world by releasing a new studio album called Good Times! and mounting a major tour.
Good Times! features new contributions from surviving Monkees members Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith, as well as an archival performance by the late Davy Jones. The album boasts tunes written especially for the project by a variety of modern-rock artists, including ex-Jam frontman Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher of Oasis, Weezer‘s Rivers Cuomo, XTC‘s Andy Partridge, Death Cab for Cutie‘s Ben Gibbard and Fountains of Wayne‘s Adam Schlesinger, the latter of whom co-produced the record.
The album also features newly-finished versions of tracks that The Monkees began working on during the 1960s, including tunes penned by Harry Nilsson, Neil Diamond, Carole King & Gerry Goffin and Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart.
Good Times! received wide critical praise upon its release in May and debuted at #14 on the Billboard 200 chart, making it The Monkees’ highest-charting album 1968’s The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees reached #3.
The Monkees’ 50th anniversary trek got underway in May and wound down in December. It featured more than 60 shows in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The touring band was led by Dolenz and Tork, while Nesmith only took part in a few of the stateside gigs.
Nesmith’s last appearance with the band was a September 15 concert at Pantages Theater in Los Angeles, and the singer/guitarist suggested in a Facebook message that it would be his final show ever with the group.
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