Mood:  surprised

MORE MONKEES DELUXE

Limited-Edition, Two-Disc Reissues of Headquarters and
Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. Feature Stereo and Mono Mixes, Plus Rare and Unreleased Bonus Tracks

Available July 10 from Rhino Records

LOS ANGELES -- The Monkees' tale is legendary. Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork were plucked by fate from a mass casting call in 1966. Asked to portray a zany rock band in the spirit of The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night, the quartet went on to out-sell The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined; more than 16 million albums between 1966 and 1968. After Peter Tork's recent outcry against The Monkees' exclusion from the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame despite their importance as a pop culture phenomenon, Los Angeles' KRTH-FM started a grass roots campaign to get the group inducted. Brian Wilson and other artists have already signed a petition to get the group acknowledged for introducing the world to everything from video rock to Jack Nicholson and Jimi Hendrix. The petition already has over 1,000 signatures and is growing quickly.

Rhino celebrated the band's 40th anniversary last year by launching a campaign to reissue all of The Monkees' studio albums. Now Rhino celebrates the 40th anniversary of the release of two watershed Monkees albums with deluxe versions of HEADQUARTERS and PISCES, AQUARIUS, CAPRICORN & JONES LTD. Each record is presented as a two-disc set that contains the stereo and mono mixes of the original album along with rare and unreleased bonus tracks from the album's sessions. Both will be available July 10 at regular physical and digital retail outlets at www.rhino.com and www.monkees.com for a suggested retail price of $24.98.

Customers who order both titles from Rhino.com or Monkees.com will receive a limited edition 7" single featuring two previously unreleased tracks from 1967: "I Didn't Know You Had It In You, Sally, You're a Real Ball of Fire" (featuring a Mikey Dolenz lead vocal) and the Monkees' final #1 song, "Daydream Believer (Alternate Mix)," in a stripped down, longer version without the song's well-known brass arrangement.

The Monkees' third album, HEADQUARTERS, was also the group's third #1 record. Released in 1967 just as the Summer of Love was flowering, the album represents a watershed moment for the quartet. Throughout that period, the album was second only to The Beatles' legendary "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" for eleven straight weeks on the Billboard charts. After a bitter fight for more creative control, the band members were finally allowed to pick the songs they sang and play on the songs they recorded. Working with producer Chip Douglas, the band tracked 13 songs for the album including the Nesmith-penned single "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" (which was not originally included on the album), "Shades Of Gray," "You Just May Be The One," "Randy Scouse Git" and "For Pete's Sake," a track later used as the closing theme to the band's Emmy-winning television show. Among the set's 21 bonus songs are several unreleased stereo remixes including "You Can't Tie A Mustang Down," "If I Learn To Play The Violin" and "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You," the #2 hit single written by Neil Diamond, plus demo versions of "Nine Times Blue," "Midnight Train" and "Pillow Time."

Seemingly everything The Monkees did in 1967 was right on the money. They outsold The Beatles and The Stones, broke box office records with a colossal summer tour and dominated the small screen with their television series. Just before Thanksgiving, The Monkees returned with its fourth consecutive #1 album, PISCES, AQUARIUS, CAPRICORN & JONES LTD. Generally considered as one of the band's finest, the album's 13 tracks include the hit songs "Pleasant Valley Sunday" written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and "Words," by the songwriting team of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart who wrote many of the band's biggest hits. As one of the first major acts to cover a Harry Nilsson song, The Monkees helped expose the talented songwriter to a much wider audience with their version of "Cuddly Toy." The set's 14 bonus tracks feature unreleased alternate mixes of "Star Collector," "Salesman," "Cuddly Toy" and "Daily Nightly" a song Nesmith wrote about the '66 riots on the Sunset Strip. The bonus tracks also include the soulful "Goin' Down," a track that came together during a jam session and was based on the chord progression of Mose Allison's "Parchment Farm."

Both reissues include unpublished photos and interviews with The Monkees along with in-depth liner notes penned by Andrew Sandoval, the author of The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story Of The '60s TV Pop Sensation.


HEADQUARTERS
Track Listing
Disc 1 -- Stereo Mix
1. "You Told Me"
2. "I'll Spend My Life With You"
3. "Forget That Girl"
4. "Band 6"
5. "You Just May Be The One"
6. "Shades Of Gray"
7. "I Can't Get Her Off My Mind"
8. "For Pete's Sake"
9. "Mr. Webster"
10. "Sunny Girlfriend"
11. "Zilch"
12. "No Time"
13. "Early Morning Blues And Greens"
14. "Randy Scouse Git"
Bonus Material
15. "All Of Your Toys" * Stereo Remix *
16. "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" * First Recorded Version/Stereo Remix *
17. "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" * Stereo Remix *
18. "She Hangs Out" * Stereo Remix *
19. "Love To Love" * Stereo Remix *
20. "You Can't Tie A Mustang Down" * Stereo Remix *
21. "If I Learn To Play The Violin" * Stereo Remix *
22. "99 Pounds" * Stereo Remix *
23. "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" * Single Version/Stereo Remix *
24. "Randy Scouse Git" * Alternate Version
25. "Jericho"

Disc 2 -- Mono Mix
1. "You Told Me"
2. "I'll Spend My Life With You"
3. "Forget That Girl"
4. "Band 6"
5. "You Just May Be The One"
6. "Shades Of Gray"
7. "I Can't Get Her Off My Mind"
8. "For Pete's Sake"
9. "Mr. Webster"
10. "Sunny Girlfriend"
11. "Zilch"
12. "No Time"
13. "Early Morning Blues And Greens"
14. "Randy Scouse Git"
Bonus Material
15. "All Of Your Toys" * Mono Mix
16. "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" * First Recorded Version/Alternate Mono Mix
*
17. "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" * Mono Single Mix
18. "She Hangs Out" * Mono Single Mix
19. "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" * Mono Single Mix
20. "Nine Times Blue" * Demo Version
21. "She'll Be There"
22. "Midnight Train" * Demo Version
23. "Peter Gunn's Gun"
24. "Pillow Time" * Demo Version


PISCES, AQUARIUS, CAPRICORN & JONES LTD.
Track Listing
Disc 1 -- Stereo Mix
1. "Salesman"
2. "She Hangs Out"
3. "The Door Into Summer"
4. "Love Is Only Sleeping"
5. "Cuddly Toy"
6. "Words"
7. "Hard To Believe"
8. "What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round?"
9. "Peter Percival Patterson's Pet Pig Porky"
10. "Pleasant Valley Sunday"
11. "Daily Nightly"
12. "Don't Call On Me"
13. "Star Collector"
Bonus Material
14. "Goin' Down" * Stereo Mix
15. "Salesman" * Alternate Stereo Mix *
16. "She Hangs Out" * Alternate Stereo Mix *
17. "Love Is Only Sleeping" * Alternate Mix
18. "What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round?" * Alternate Mix *
19. "Star Collector" * Alternate Stereo Mix *
20. "Riu Chiu"

Disc 2 -- Mono Mix
1. "Salesman"
2. "She Hangs Out"
3. "The Door Into Summer"
4. "Love Is Only Sleeping"
5. "Cuddly Toy"
6. "Words"
7. "Hard To Believe"
8. "What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round?"
9. "Peter Percival Patterson's Pet Pig Porky"
10. "Pleasant Valley Sunday"
11. "Daily Nightly"
12. "Don't Call On Me"
14. "Star Collector" "Special Announcement"
15. "Salesman" * Alternate Mono Mix
16. "Cuddly Toy" * Alternate Mix *
17. "Goin' Down" * Mono Single Version
18. "The Door Into Summer" * Alternate Mix
19. "Daily Nightly" * Alternate Mix *
20. "Star Collector" * Alternate Mix *

* Previously unreleased

So save up them nickels, Monkeephiles! I know I sure will!

Monkeemania!

Posted by Aaron Handy III at 7:23 PM CDT

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