A piercing ‘Mommy and Daddy’ heart-to-heart chat with Monkee Micky Dolenz

Songwriting, guitars, country music, Elvis Presley, comedy, and family permeate an intimate, exclusive interview with Monkees co-frontman Micky Dolenz. In this rare still taken sometime in late 1970 in a roadside cafe Davy Jones and Dolenz are the only Monkees left sitting. Pondering the band’s uncertain future — dismal reviews and middling sales had greeted “Changes,” the ninth and final album distributed during the Monkees’ original incarnation — hopefully the duo licked their chops with a delicious meal. Photography by Henry Diltz / appears in “The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story of the ‘60s TV Pop Sensation” by Andrew Sandoval

In a mind-boggling 64 years and counting entertainment career, future Monkees drummer extraordinaire Micky Dolenz first became a viable presence at the tender age of 11 when he was tapped to headline the adventure drama Circus Boy.

Once the family-oriented show was unceremoniously yanked from ABC’s primetime lineup after its second season aired in 1958, obscurity was well within grasp but Dolenz maintained a firm desire to pursue the business of show.

Studying architecture at Los Angeles Valley College and moonlighting as the troubadour of local rockers Micky and the One-Nighters, in the nick of time an innovative musical comedy series came knocking on his door in 1965.

The brainchild of future Hollywood heavyweight producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider [e.g. Easy Rider], the Monkees was pretty much the biggest pop culture phenomenon of the late ’60s besides their primary rival, the Beatles.

Dolenz’s wacky persona helped cement the series as a strong Monday evening contender initially up against Gilligan’s Island and Dale Robertson’s The Iron Horse, exemplified by a shocking but well-deserved Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1967.

The musician almost immediately found himself being forced to relinquish…