The Monkees’ Debut Gets a 60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
Rhino will celebrate the 60th anniversary of The Monkees on October 30 with a new deluxe edition pairing the group’s 1966 debut album with a sizable collection of alternate takes, television mixes, backing tracks and other archival material.
Produced by longtime Monkees historian Andrew Sandoval, The Monkees (60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) arrives six decades after the album helped turn Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork into one of the defining pop-cultural phenomena of the 1960s.
The new collection presents the original album’s stereo mix on vinyl, while three CDs expand the story considerably with the mono version of the album, alternate performances, backing tracks and mixes prepared specifically for the group’s Emmy-winning television series.
Among the rarities are a TV mix of “Take A Giant Step,” an alternate take of Michael Nesmith’s “Papa Gene’s Blues,” a rehearsal of “I Wanna Be Free” and backing tracks for songs including “(Theme From) The Monkees.” Vintage promotional recordings and the group’s Kellogg’s jingle are also included.
Released in October 1966, The Monkees arrived alongside the television series and quickly became much more than its soundtrack. Powered by the No. 1 single “Last Train to Clarksville,” the album spent 13 consecutive weeks atop the Billboard album chart and was eventually certified quintuple platinum.
The record also provides a snapshot of the formidable songwriting machinery operating around the group at the time. Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart contributed much of the material, while Gerry Goffin and Carole King supplied “Take A Giant Step.” Nesmith’s songs, meanwhile, offered an early indication that The Monkees would not remain quite as easily contained by the television concept as their creators may have initially imagined.
That tension between manufactured pop group and increasingly autonomous band has become a central part of The Monkees’ story. Sixty years later, however, it is also increasingly difficult to separate the mythology surrounding their creation from the simple durability of the records themselves.
Dolenz reflects on that distinction in the new set’s liner notes:
“For all the madness of that time, there was joy in it. We were part of something that none of us could fully understand while it was happening. The show was unlike anything else on television, and the music was reaching people in a way that was immediate and powerful.”
He adds that listeners were less concerned with what was happening behind the curtain than with the songs themselves: “They were listening. They were singing along. They were making the songs part of their lives.”
Dolenz is also marking the anniversary on the road this fall with his 60 Years of The Monkees tour.
The Monkees (60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) will be released October 30 through Rhino and is available for pre-order now and will be available from The Sharp Notes soon!
The Monkees (60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)
LP/3CD Track Listing
LP
Side One
“(Theme From) The Monkees”
“Saturday’s Child”
“I Wanna Be Free”
“Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day”
“Papa Gene’s Blues”
“Take A Giant Step”
Side Two
“Last Train To Clarksville”
“This Just Doesn’t Seem To Be My Day”
“Let’s Dance On”
“I’ll Be True To You”
“Sweet Young Thing”
“Gonna Buy Me A Dog”
CD One: Original Mono Mix
“(Theme From) The Monkees”
“Saturday’s Child”
“I Wanna Be Free”
“Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day”
“Papa Gene’s Blues”
“Take A Giant Step”
“Last Train To Clarksville”
“This Just Doesn’t Seem To Be My Day”
“Let’s Dance On”
“I’ll Be True To You”
“Sweet Young Thing”
“Gonna Buy Me A Dog”
Bonus Material: Rehearsals & Demos
“I Wanna Be Free” (Rehearsal)
“I Wanna Be Free” (Demo – Take 2)
“I Wanna Be Free” (Overdub Demo – Take 2)
“Propinquity (I’ve Just Begun To Care)” (Demo)
CD Two: TV Versions, Alternate Takes & Radio Spots
Monkees NBC Promo Spot
“(Theme From) The Monkees” (TV Version)
“You Just May Be The One” (Mono TV Version)
“This Just Doesn’t Seem To Be My Day” (Mono TV Version)
“Take A Giant Step” (Mono TV Version)
“All The King’s Horses” (Mono TV Version)
“I Wanna Be Free” (Fast Version – Mono TV Mix)
“The Kind Of Girl I Could Love” (Alternate Mono Mix)
“Saturday’s Child” (Mono TV Version)
“(Theme From) The Monkees” (Second Version)
“All The King’s Horses” (Alternate Vocal Take)
“The Kind Of Girl I Could Love” (Alternate Vocal Take)
“I Don’t Think You Know Me” (Stereo Remix – Micky’s Vocal)
“So Goes Love” (Take 1)
“So Goes Love” (Alternate Vocal Take)
“Papa Gene’s Blues” (Alternate Vocal Take)
Kellogg’s Jingle
Monkees Radio Spot
CD Three: Backing Tracks
“(Theme From) The Monkees” (Version 1)
“Let’s Dance On”
“This Just Doesn’t Seem To Be My Day”
“Gonna Buy Me A Dog” (Version 1 – Take 5)
“Papa Gene’s Blues” (Take 1)
“I Won’t Be The Same Without Her” (Take 6)
“Sweet Young Thing” (Take 1)
“I Wanna Be Free” (Version 2 – Take 6)
“I Wanna Be Free” (Version 3 – Take 3)
“Jokes”
“Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day”
“Gonna Buy Me A Dog” (Version 2 – Take 2)
“Mary, Mary” (Take 1)
“Of You” (Take 1)
“You Just May Be The One” (Rehearsal – Take 19)
