Monkees version of Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds?

Journalist Tom Nolan in an article entitled "Groupies-A Story of Our Time," wrote the following:

"Sherry, overdue library book in hand, is parked in her pink Mustang high in the Hollywood Hills, the city all a-twinkle below her. She watches the house she is about to enter, the house of the drummer of America's number one money-making group [Upsiditus: at the time of writing this was the Monkees]. She watches through the window of his den as he, unaware, flails away at his drums. His group is often being accused of being blatant bogus-Beatles, and so it is somewhat ironic (and Sherry, cynical-sharp, is not unaware of this) that the record he is practising to is the Beatles Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds; and even though it is a fairly slow song, he can't...quite... keep the beat...and just before going in, she smiles slightly around the corners of her mouth and mind; she keeps her sense of perspective."

I don't understand this passage. Who is Sherry? Did the Monkees ever attempt to record Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds? Did Micky Dolenz even live in a house at that time?
The fact that Tim Nolan lost out to Micky Dolenz for the role of Corky in the TV show "Circus Boy" probably is a significant factor in how this passage got written.

 

Is Tim Nolan any relation to Tom Nolan?

 

There is no Tim Nolan. Tom Nolan was the actor who didn't get the Circus Boy role, and then later became a journalist and wrote this article you quoted from. Or maybe you already know that and "Tim" is a typo?

Without reading the entire article, I can only speculate based on the paragraph you excerpted and the title of the piece. "Sherry" is apparently a groupie who has found Micky's home and intends to go knock on his door in hopes of "being" with him. There's nothing in there to suggest the Monkees ever intended to record "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds." What's being said is simply that Micky was playing along with the Beatles record at home, in an attempt to practice his drums. Is this a true story Nolan got from interviewing the real Sherry, or is it a work of fiction, or something in between (ie, a composite with mixture of fact and fiction)? I have no idea. Not having read the article, I have no idea what Nolan even claimed it to be. As you noted, it is interesting that Nolan goes out of his way to insult the drumming skills of his former rival.

 

Is it this Sherry?

 

Oops, I'm sorry, that's a typo. I did not mean to write Tim. It was supposed to be Tom.