The Rolling Stones are going back to mono.
On January 20, 2023, ABKCO will revisit 2016's The Rolling Stones in Mono box set - originally released on 15 CDs or 16 black vinyl LPs - in a limited, new color vinyl version featuring 16 LPs, pressed on 180-gram vinyl in 14 different colors to match the original cover artwork of the albums contained within.
Like the original box, the new Rolling Stones in Mono presents the original mono albums released on both sides of the Atlantic between 1964 and 1969. The set offers the Stones' self-titled U.K. debut from 1964 (retitled and slightly tweaked for U.S. release as England's Newest Hit Makers); their second American album, 12 X 5, from the same year; and their second and third LPs from England (No. 2) and America (The Rolling Stones, Now!) in 1965. From there, the box features both U.K. and U.S. versions of Out of Our Heads (1965) and Aftermath (1966), the 1966 U.S. album December's Children (and Everybody's); British (Between the Buttons) and American (Flowers) albums from 1967; and finally, their first three internationally uniform albums, Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967), Beggars Banquet (1968) and Let It Bleed (1969), the mono versions of which had long been out-of-print.
Exclusive to the 2016 and 2023 boxes is Stray Cats, a double-LP collection of two dozen mono single-only material and odds and ends, including "Con Le Mie Lacrime," an Italian-language version of "As Tears Go By," and "Stoned," the non-LP B-side of "I Wanna Be Your Man." The cheeky sleeve design to Stray Cats recalls the art to Beggars Banquet, which will be presented with its original "bathroom wall" cover now present on most CD reissues.
David Fricke's 5,000-word essay is featured in the 48-page book which accompanies the new pressing of The Rolling Stones in Mono (Limited Color Edition). All audio has been mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering utilizing Direct Stream Digital (DSD) transfers from the original master recordings, with a sampling rate of 2,822,400. Lacquer cutting for vinyl was handled at Abbey Road Studios by Sean Magee. The Rolling Stones in Mono (Limited Color Edition) has been supervised by Teri Landi, ABKCO's Chief Audio Engineer.
If you missed out the first time, or are looking forward to those colored-vinyl discs, The Rolling Stones in Mono (Limited Color Edition) will be available on January 20. You can find the pre-order links below.
The Rolling Stones, The Rolling Stones in Mono (Limited Color Edition) (ABKCO, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Link TBD / Amazon Canada)
LP 1: The Rolling Stones (Decca LK 4065, 1964)
LP 2: 12 X 5 (London Records LL 3402 (U.S.), 1964)
LP 3: No. 2 (Decca LK 4661, 1965)
LP 4: The Rolling Stones, Now! (London Records LL 3420 (U.S.), 1965)
LP 5: Out of Our Heads (Decca LK 4733, 1965)
LP 6: Out of Our Heads (London Records LL 3429 (U.S.), 1965)
LP 7: December's Children (and Everybody's) (London Records LL 3451 (U.S.), 1966)
LP 8: Aftermath (Decca LK 4786, 1966)
LP 9: Aftermath (London Records LL 3476 (U.S.), 1966)
LP 10: Between the Buttons (Decca LK 4852, 1967)
LP 11: Flowers (London Records LL 3509 (U.S.), 1967)
LP 12: Their Satanic Majesties Request (Decca TXL-103 (U.K.)/London Records NP-2 (U.S.), 1967)
LP 13: Beggars Banquet (Decca LK 4955, 1968)
LP 14: Let It Bleed (Decca LK 5025, 1969)
LPs 15-16: Stray Cats
- Come On (single A-side - Decca F.11675, 1963)
- I Want to Be Loved (single B-side - Decca F.11675, 1963)
- I Wanna Be Your Man (single A-side - Decca F.11674, 1963)
- Stoned (single B-side - Decca F.11674, 1963)
- Fortune Teller (from Saturday Club - Decca LK 4583, 1964)
- Poison Ivy (from Saturday Club - Decca LK 4583, 1964)
- Bye Bye Johnny (from The Rolling Stones EP - Decca DFE 8560, 1964)
- Money (from The Rolling Stones EP - Decca DFE 8560, 1964)
- Poison Ivy (Version 2) (from The Rolling Stones EP - Decca DFE 8560, 1964)
- Not Fade Away (single A-side - Decca F.11845, 1964)
- I've Been Loving You Too Long (from Got Live If You Want It! - London Records LL 3493 (U.S.), 1966)
- The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man (Single Version) (single B-side - Decca F.12220, 1965)
- 19th Nervous Breakdown (single A-side - London Records 45LON 9823 (U.S.), 1966)
- Sad Day (single B-side - London Records 45LON 9823 (U.S.), 1966)
- Con Le Mie Lacrime (single A-side - Decca F.22270 (IT), 1965)
- Long, Long While (single B-side - Decca F.12395, 1966)
- Who's Driving Your Plane? (single B-side - Decca F.12497, 1966)
- We Love You (Single Version) (single A-side - Decca F.12654, 1967)
- Dandelion (single B-side - Decca F.12654, 1967)
- Child of the Moon (single B-side - Decca F.12782, 1968)
- Jumpin' Jack Flash (single A-side - Decca F.12782, 1968)
- Street Fighting Man (Single Version) (single A-side - London Records 45LON 909 (U.S.), 1968)
- Honky Tonk Women (single A-side - Decca F.12952, 1969)
- You Can't Always Get What You Want (Single Version) (single B-side - Decca F.12952, 1969)
Jim says
My heart says yes, my wallet says “NO!” 😂
Bill says
Exactly.
Bill says
Allen Klein hard at work, after all these years.
zally says
allen died july 4 2009. his son jodi now heads the company.
Bill says
He might as well be alive considering the way the albums are released in such a haphazard manner.
zally says
first off bad idea for color vinyl. the labels should be the old style london/decca, there are NO new stones fans. what needs to be is a five cd 63 to 69 consisting of all the much and non bootleg trax. another USELESS release from abkco,
Kregg says
I'll pass. Alan Klein returns from the grave.
Steven Johnson says
I'm very happy with this new box set. I missed out the first go round. It sounds fantastic.
Bill says
As of this writing it is currently on Amazon Canada for the amazing low price of $520.00. That's a joke.