Features / Interviews

Since its publication in 2005, author Andrew Sandoval’s The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story has been an indispensable reference tool for fans of Davy, Micky, Peter, and Michael – not to mention one helluva read.  But as the years passed, the guide to all things Monkees went out of print, with secondhand copies fetching in the three-figure range.  Happily, Sandoval has returned to the book for a completely new edition due this June.  We were thrilled to have the chance to speak with the author about the upcoming 2021 presentation.

“It’s been 15 years since the original book and I’ve had the rights back for more than a decade,” Andrew explains.  “I watched the price of the original soar while I’ve been meticulously collecting information in notebooks. Just before COVID hit, I landed on a major discovery and instead of simply updating it, I decided I needed to rewrite my book from the ground up. The pandemic certainly gave me the focus to make serious research my one goal. The book is also completely redesigned with hundreds of rare images. Information-wise, I feel it rewrites The Monkees’ history. It certainly is the story I never knew.”

The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story is an in-depth chronicle of the bandmates’ activities between the years 1942 (the birth year for Nesmith and Tork) and 1970 (when The Monkees broke up).  In his capacities over the decades as producer and author, Sandoval has exhaustively researched their lives and careers, bringing to the work his firsthand knowledge of their recording sessions, internal memos and documents, and contracts.  “I think there are a lot of surprises in store,” he confirms, “but specifically the story of the Monkees’ desire to be a self-sufficient group and their relationship with Don Kirshner is finally examined with total accuracy. I also included many previously unpublished interviews that I did with the group over the past 30 years.”

Indeed, the book is chockablock with fascinating details and hundreds of images (many of which are also previously unpublished).  It documents recording sessions and the shooting dates for The Monkees’ Screen Gems television comedy as well as for the motion picture Head (with reproductions of previously unpublished stills and original call sheets) and also sheds light on every concert performed by The Monkees in addition to radio and television appearances.  “I’ve been so surprised with this version of the book especially since I felt I had done such a thorough job 15 years ago,” Sandoval observes.  “However, even after all that I had collected to insert, I suddenly had access to thousands of pages of documents that I’d never seen before. And then I felt it was a good time to look for missing session sheets and tapes; I found some of both.”

This comprehensive and beautifully designed guide will be released exclusively through Beatland Books in a variety of editions which will be made to order.  It will not be issued as a digital download/e-book, nor are any future printings planned.  The website is currently accepting reservations through 12pm (PST) on Monday, March 15, only for a copy.  Reservations are available now for the following formats:

Super Deluxe Edition

• lowest numbered hardback book
• individually hand signed by the author
• boxed in an exclusive, cloth-covered clamshell case
• clothbound cover with red & yellow decorative bookmarks
• separate paper dust jacket
• includes an extra collectible item not sold separately

Deluxe Edition

• hand numbered and signed by author
• hardback edition in an exclusive slipcover
• clothbound cover with red & yellow decorative bookmarks
• separate paper dust jacket

Open Edition

• flexibound with soft paper cover
• contains entire text of deluxe book without extras
• not limited, signed or numbered

All three editions will be printed in full-color on 157gsm matte paper stock.  Happily, shipping is available everywhere throughout the world.  Beatland acknowledges that “there is no plan to keep the book in print perpetually,” so fans interested in this one-of-a-kind volume should place a reservation at Beatland’s website now.

“I am most proud of the fact that I got this done as a promise to myself and was able to stay healthy and focused,” Andrew reflects.  “I sacrificed and down-sized just so I could complete the book. And I haven’t had to make the compromises I’ve made with every other Monkees project I’ve done. Since this book is completely self-financed, I am able as a fan to present the most extensive work ever published on the band: 732 pages, fully illustrated in color. Even the 1970 recording sessions for Michael Nesmith’s First National Band albums are explored in tremendous detail.”  (For more on Nesmith’s seminal RCA recordings, see the upcoming Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music release due April 30, Different Drum: The Lost RCA Victor Recordings.)

Anyone familiar with the first edition of Sandoval’s Day-by-Day Monkees diary or indeed with his work as producer and/or liner notes author for releases by The Monkees, The Kinks, Van Morrison, The Zombies, The Everly Brothers, and others knows the attention to detail as well as passion and knowledge that goes into his work.  The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story will be no exception.  “Very honestly, The Monkees’ music and story is so much better than it should be,” he offers.  “It was meant to be a throwaway or cash-in; something ephemeral. But the four Monkees, their producers, their engineers, their songwriters and their fans created something far greater than its sum of parts. For me it is one of the most interesting stories in all of popular music.”

Reserve your copies of this authoritative reference work now at Beatland Books through noon (PST) on March 15!