Monkees fans didn't have a lot to complain about in 2010; Rhino Handmade released acclaimed box sets dedicated to the band's albums The Birds, The Bees and the Monkees and Head, while Micky Dolenz paid tribute to Carole King with his solo King for a Day. The news got even better as 2011 began, with Dolenz, Davy Jones and Peter Tork confirming the rumored plans that they would reunite for a 45th anniversary Monkees tour. (Michael Nesmith, as expected, chose to sit the May/June/July tour out.) Yet the Monkees catalogue, once sparklingly remastered and generously expanded by Rhino, was in a state of disarray, with many titles no longer available. Rhino itself reissued The Monkees, More of The Monkees, Headquarters and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. in bare-bones, low-priced editions last month, dropping even the liner notes from the last Rhino expanded single-disc reissues. Friday Music will soon be coming to the rescue of some latter-day Monkees classics, however.
Full information isn't in yet, but Friday (known for both CD reissues and an impressive line of 180-gram vinyl reissues) has dropped tantalizing news on its Facebook page as to some Monkeemania to come. What do we know? The Monkees Present (1969) and Changes (1970) are coming on May 24, both freshly remastered by Friday's Joe Reagoso and with new liner notes. It appears that the track listings may be identical to the 1994 Rhino reissues produced by Bill Inglot and Andrew Sandoval, annotated by Sandoval and remastered by Inglot and Ken Perry.
This should be a perfect opportunity for fans who missed out on the exemplary Rhino discs, now out-of-print and fetching high prices. Even more exciting, though, is the not-too-subtle hint about a first-ever CD debut for Davy Jones' Colpix solo LP from 1965 (CP-493) with bonus tracks!
We'll let Friday take over from here via the label's Facebook page, and we'll be back to fill in the details and complete track listings as soon as they're officially released!
MONKEES REUNION PRE-RELEASE NEWS!!!! EXCLUSIVE MONKEES CD REISSUE: The Monkees Present will be available on May 24th! This 1969 pop masterpiece includes the great "Listen to the Band" as well as eleven more great Monkees tunes, plus 5 bonus tracks, original artwork elements and new liners and great mastering from the original Colgems Records tapes!
EVEN MORE MONKEES REUNION PRE-RELEASE NEWS!!!! EXCLUSIVE MONKEES CD REISSUE: Changes will be available on May 24th! This 1970 pop classic includes the great "Oh My My" as well as eleven more great Monkees hits, plus 3 bonus tracks including the super rare Bell Records 45 of "Do It in the Name Of Love." Original artwork elements, new liners and new impeccable mastering by Joe Reagoso from the original Colgems Records tapes make this a incredible revisit to MONKEEMANIA!
MORE MONKEEMANIA: [David Jones (yes, Davy Jones) and his first Colpix Records single "What Are We Going To Do"] was the first of several singles from his first album simply called DAVID JONES........hmmm....sounds interesting.....hmmm...it's never been on a CD before.....hmmmmmm......stay tuned!
[ David Jones.....now Davy Jones..."The Girl From Chelsea" written by David Gates of Bread] has never been officially released on any CD or LP....Released in 1966.......It would be a nice bonus track if someone ever decides to release his first album from Colpix......Hmmmmm......
Stay tuned to The Second Disc for updates, same Monkee-time, same Monkee-channel!
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I wish that Rhino had continued with the 2-disc expanded issues. I am intrigued by the last two titles (Birds, Bees, Monkees & Head) but can't justify the prices plus shipping to Canada.
Will Instant Replay be a part of the equation with Friday Music?
I'm wondering about "Instant Replay" as well, but more importantly, I'm wondering if this somehow marks the end of the Rhino/Monkees partnership--frankly, I was holding on to the admittedly dim possibility of Rhino Handmade expanded versions of the final three Monkees albums.
What I did not know before reading this article, however, was that the Rhino mid-90’s reissues of these three albums were such sought-after discs—a quick online survey indicated that used copies seem to start at about $20 and new copies are apparently almost impossible to find. I hate to keep beating this dead horse, but this is yet another reason why I find it hard to accept that more people (and Rhino Handmade refuses to say exactly how many more people) wanted to see a Stooges Handmade reissue than a Monkees Handmade reissue.
As "Instant Replay" hasn't been mentioned, it's possible that a Rhino Handmade treatment may be in the pipeline.
That said, the Handmade releases are aimed at a collectors' audience that most likely already owns the original, tough-to-find single discs of "Changes" and "The Monkees Present," so I'm glad to see Friday restoring them to print. (And the Davy Jones solo reissue would warrant a "WOW!" from me!) All of this interest in the Monkees can only help the cause of getting the Rhino Handmade series to continue, so I wish Friday well and don't *necessarily* believe that these Friday reissues will impact the likelihood of more Handmade boxes. The existing boxes have clearly been a success for Rhino, and that's the bottom line for the small Handmade imprint. (The larger Rhino team seems to be dedicated more and more to digital releases.)
P.S. Hank, I voted for the "HQ Sessions," too!
I'm not at home right now, but IIRC, the booklet with the Rhino "Changes" CD mentions how the original was an expennsive, hard-to-find collectable up until a mid-80's Rhino reissue. It thus tickles me to see Ebay sellers charging $30-$50 for this same Rhino CD.
I'm trying to keep some faith in Rhino here. I'd long given up hope of ever seeing deluxe 2-disc editions of "BB&TM" and "Head", only to be blessed with 3-disc boxed sets. And a "Headquarters Sessions" reissue only seems logical (I'm still kicking myself for not picking one up). I guess this is why I'm slightly saddened to see Monkees music on a non-Rhino label--I can't think of another label who has done as wonderful a job of both handling a band's catalog AND pleasing the fans with their product.
So I'm with you, Joe--here's hoping that there's an "Instant Replay" box in the works!
I think Rhino knows that the Monkees plus homemade equals BIG BUCKS and more gabardine socks for Andrew, but sitting by, without speaking out about the previous "Head" Deluxe was NOT worth the money! I fear it will not be a collectible like "The Birds< The Bees & The Monkees" will be. Just for it's vast track listing and groovy 3D cover! Evn though SOME of the quote "unreleased" versions were simply redone versions by andrew and made "alternate" by dropping the background vocal tracks and keeping the count off in. Not all of us haven't seen what can be done at a multi-track desk. Then, the gall to put the same exact song and version on both box sets of "Long Title" and change the musicians involved. There are some long time Monkees' fans like myself that knows how to mess with a mastering desk. After getting "HEAD" on DVD from Criterion (released last year) and hearing how crisp Porpoise Song sounds (and all the other tunes) compared to ANY Rhino release of that song. All the "Movie versions" of the 6 songs on the soundtrack sound ten times better on the DVD release...and why is that? Maybe Bill Inglot was better at the remixing/remastering desk than Mr. Sandovol who I know is sitting on a bunch of Monkees unreleased tracks, video, concerts for his own collection. I have suspected this from day one. The majority of The "HEAD" deluxe 3cd rip-off box is crap I would never put my name under as having anything to do with the mastering. from the lousy "movie mixes" taken straight from the Rhino sub-par DVD. Criterion should get an award for the meticulous job on the BBS Box set paying most of the attention on "HEAD". The movie looks incredible..the entire movie is 5.1 and the Plus Strings by Ken Thorne IS in stereo! Where as, not on the audio box set..hmm. He even puts an alternate mix and claims that the "plus strings" is the rare stereo and it's as mono as COM-101! Monkee collectors will get that joke. I do admit that for the most part, the first four 2 CD issues were great. especially Headquarters with the Davy/Jeff Barry sessions sounding wonderful. Finally all together as they were recorded.
"INSTANT REPLAY" could be a RHINO- The Monkees apology for the Deluxe HEAD! Tons of tracks from 1969 exist! many have never been released. When Missing Links 3 came out, it blew my mind how many great songs from 68/69 era were on it. I love the '69 sound! The horns, the great original producing is superb. In example, Crank up "You & I" or You're So Good" from missing links 3. They kick-ass! Instant Replay, even though I think only 5 songs were actually recorded in 1969, The album has a warmness to it. A GREAT cover that would be unreal in 3-D! One of my favorites from I.R. is "A Man Without A Dream". and I read there were many alternate takes. Since there was no mono, this could be a plethora of great music with a 3 cd box! Disc 1 of "BBM" had 14 bonus songs. The I.R Fantasy Box could have 2 cd's Loaded and another 14 tracks on cd1! I say, go for it! Make the fans get faith back in RHINO and keep the 60 buck martini shaker!