Out on bookshelves now is “I’m Told I Had a Good Time,” a new coffee table photo book by the Monkees’ Micky Dolenz. The 490-page book features images from Dolenz’s childhood into the 1970s and his initial work after the Monkees disbanded. Many of the photos were taken by Dolenz himself, and one sequence includes shots from the Monkees’ 1967 tour that featured the Jimi Hendrix Experience as its short-lived opening act. There are also scores of photos from behind-the-scenes on “The Monkees” TV show and the group’s 1968 movie “Head.”
Dolenz tells us that while he was heavily involved in photo selection and writing text for the book, he credits archivist Andrew Sandoval with putting the project together while he was starting work on a new documentary:
“While he was going through my boxes and my films and my photographs he said, “I’ve found just boxes and boxes of stuff vaguely labeled Memorabilia.” And sure enough he started going through it and he said, “I found astounding stuff, and you should do a book.” I said at the time, “This is a few years ago,” ‘Yes, after we’ve done all the photos and videos and film stuff we should talk about that. And we did and I gave him the green light.” SOUNDCUE :32
Dolenz adds that he may consider putting together a second book featuring photos from the years after “I’m Told I Had a Good Time” stopped.
Dolenz is the sole surviving member of the Monkees.
Dolenz is preparing for a solo concert on April 5th at the famed Troubadour in West Hollywood, Calif. Davy Jones passed away during 2012, Peter Tork in 2019 and Michael Nesmith in 2021.