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The Monkees at 60 – “The A’s, The B’s & The Monkees” Set Celebrates The Monkees 60th with a Stellar Collection of All Their Singles from 1966-1970

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Happy New Year’s Eve!

This upcoming year of 2026 not only celebrates my own 60th birthday, two weeks from today in fact, but for Monkees fans it’s also the 60th anniversary of the “The Monkees” both as a TV show as well as a rock group.

Hard to believe, pardon the pun for those who know, that sixty years have passed since the wacky foursome of Mickey Dolenz, Davy Jones, Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith first romped around television screens and blared through radios all over the world.

My own personal introduction to the group came first with the music as my older brother, nine years older than me, had purchased the first four Monkees albums which I proceeded to make into frisbees by playing them over and over as a toddler (see photo below of me in 1968 listening to “More of the Monkees” on a vintage Magnavox stereo my parents owned).

I’m sure I watched the TV show in it’s first run along with my brother but I don’t remember it as well as I remember vividly listening to the first three Monkees albums on the floor as a toddler dancing and singling along to an old portable record player.

I do remember the show more from the Saturday morning reruns as well as collecting Monkees records from the back of cereal boxes circa 1969/1970 or so but by this time I was truly a Monkees maniac and had all of their albums (there is old 8mm silent film of me at my forth birthday party in 1970 opening both “Instant Replay” and “The Monkees Greatest Hits” Colgems albums) if you can believe it.

Okay, that leads us to today.

I just received the 2 CD set called “The A’s, The B’s & The Monkees” (love the “Birds and Bees” reference) which I ordered from the Monkees.com Website. It wasn’t supposed to be out until the end of January so I was quite pleased to see it so early and since I am off today I sat down and gave both CDs a listen and took a look through the groovy booklet.

I was really curious to hear this set as it was advertised online as needle drops of all The Monkees 1966-1970 singles featuring the original 45 mono and stereo mixes of both the A and B sides (thus the title). Of course that seemed really odd yet intriguing to me. I’m all for an authentic sounding collection of their singles and though it may be redundant I think it’s a cool idea.

Well after listening to the set I’m pleasantly surprised. Both CDs do seem to contain all of the original mono and stereo 45 mixes (The “Tear Drop City” mix is the original stereo 45 version not the promo version) and to my surprise they sound excellent!

They also sound like there are from the original master tapes as they are wonderful sounding – rich, warm and not fatiguing to listen to at all.

If any of these mixes is a mono album mix and not the true mono 45 mix I didn’t notice on first listen. While that would be unfortunate I must say everything sounds so good I could live with it. The second disc is especially a good listen and fun to hear all the b-sides together; a very strong disc with some of The Monkees best songs.

The booklet says this set was mastered by Bernie Grundman with digital mastering by Dave Schultz with Bill Inglot and I must say it’s probably my favorite sounding hits collection of Monkees material in my collection – it’s that good.

(Note: a 2 Lp vinyl version of this set comes out in January and will be available to buy at independent record stores)

I know a lot of Monkees fans online are ho hum about this set as they have all the material already but if you want this stuff with the original 45 mixes sounding better than ever then you might want to give this set a listen.

Of course being a physical media guy I love a new physical Monkees release and I hope Rhino Records does some other interesting releases for the 60th anniversary throughout 2026 – we shall see.

Both CDs are mono from tracks 1-8 and then stereo for tracks 9-12 and I believe all the correct mono 45 versions – I could be wrong but I think they are all correct. And if some of these came from need drops I would truly be amazed as they sound so damn good.

Anyway, there you go. I have included photos of the 2 CD set above and below. 

I hope you have a wonderful New Year’s Day tomorrow and truly wonderful 2026 as well.

See you soon here at this blog and hopefully they’ll be more Monkees releases to celebrate soon.

Tonight at 7:30 on NBC-TV: “Monkees in the Shrink” and “Mismatched Monkees” Brought to You By Kellogg’s

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I’m back and not as long a wait as last time!

Today I thought I’d take a look at some fun Monkee finds that I’ve happened to find in the last five months or so throughout my antique travels. It’s been a fruitful time for Monkees scores for me so I hope that the rest of 2025 keeps up the pace.

But before I go full tilt into today’s post I just have to give some background on my lifelong search for Monkees records.

As I’ve said before, back in the dark ages – from 1972 to say oh 1985 – it was a hard task finding used Monkees records at least in my neck of the woods. In that long ago era The Monkees were seen as so uncool and disposable that there just wasn’t much of a demand for their used records I guess.

At least I rarely found them and if I did it was at garage sales and you usually found the first three albums and they almost always looked as if they’d been used as frisbees – barely playable that’s for sure.

Fast forward a few decades or so and I have to say that I am so surprised to find plenty of used Monkees albums and many of them still in the shrink – and often fairly cheap!

Case in point – this blog post.

Of course I’ve also found some really offbeat mismatched records too and those have been fun as well.

So let’s get started.

I named this blog as if they were two lost Monkees episodes from the 1960s – “Monkees in the Shrink” and “Mismatched Monkees” – just for a bit of fun.

“Monkees in the Shrink”:

This first section is in honor of all the groovy Colgems Monkees albums I’ve found lately still with their shrink wrap intact. Some still have price tags (I love it when they still have the price!) and two of them looked as if they had never been played at all and if they were it was very light as there are no spindle marks on their labels at all.

So what did I find? Here’s the list:

“The Monkees” in both mono and stereo both RE pressings, “More of the Monkees” stereo RE pressing with the later Colgems label on the rear panel, “Headquarters” stereo first pressing, “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd.” stereo first pressing and a first stereo pressing of The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees”.

The crazy thing is I paid under $10 for all of them except for “More of the Monkees” which was $20, a fair price considering it’s about as near mint as you can get.

The other thing that amazed me was just how good most of these records sound. Two of them – “More of the Monkees” and “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd.” – are the two best sounding stereo pressings of these albums I own and I own quite a few.

Both of them are in pristine shape but neither of them had any sibilance issues that plague many Colgems pressings and the copy of “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd.” in particular is what I would call a hot pressing as it just jumps out the speakers with a force and clarity that my other issues of this album lack.

If there are any Monkeefiles out there check the matrix numbers on any used copies of this album you find and if you see these (Side 1 – UZRS-9729 6S, Side 2 – UZRS-9730 6S) grab it because it’s one majorly dynamic pressing.

That’s not to say the other pressings don’t sound great, they do (well, okay this copy of The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees is a little worn and has some sibilance issues) it’s just those two I just mentioned sounded so outstanding it really surprised me.

“Mismatched Monkees”

Now here is the section of some odd finds. To top the list I found the cover for the 1969 album “Present” but inside it had both discs for the 1971 Colgems compilation Barrel Full of Monkees.

Luckily both discs were in VG shape and played amazingly well. This pressing is one of the early 70s flexi type thin vinyl issues but I was surprised at just how good they sounded. It was a little dirty but after a good cleaning it played just fine and with much more bass and detail then I was expecting.

And the best part it was in the dollar bin so that made it too hard to resist so I bought it.

In that same store I also found a somewhat dirty copy of the 1968 single “D. W. Washburn/It’s Nice to Be with You” with the “D. W. Washburn” label on both sides. Very cool oddity and again after a good cleaning this 45 sounds amazing. I am impressed that Colgems 45s in most cases play great even if they look terrible.

Another cheap find at that same store was a stereo copy of “The Monkees” stuck inside a really lovely mono cover. It was only $2 so I thought I’d get it just for the cover as the record looked a bit loved but again after cleaning the album it sounded so good that I decided to keep it.

(Btw, this stereo copy of “The Monkees” has a matrix that ends in 10S for Side 1 and 5S for Side 2 – for any Monkee nerds out there)

Of course I may need some therapy as I own several copies of this album but what the hey, right?

Well, that’s my latest Monkees finds for today. As usual you can see plenty of photos of these gems above and below and I also listed the matrix numbers below in case anyone was curious.

Until next time be healthy and well and happy spring and happy record hunting if you’re so inclined!

Matrix guide for the albums above:

Barrel Full of Monkees:
Side 1 – ZZRS-6425 3S
Side 4 – ZZRS-6426 3S
Side 2 – ZZRS-6427 4S
Side 3 – ZZRS-6428 3S

Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd (Stereo):
Side 1 – UZRS-9729 6S
Side 2 – UZRS-9730 6S

The Monkees (Mono RE):
Side 1 – TZRM-4687 9S
Side 2 – TZRM-4688 15S

The Monkees (Stereo RE):
Side 1 – TZRS-4689 2S
Side 2 – TZRS-4690 5S

More of the Monkees (Stereo RE):
Side 1 – TZRS-8693 20S
Side 2 – TZRS-8694 12S

Headquarters (Stereo):
Side 1 – UZRS-8397 12S
Side 2 – UZRS-8398 12S

The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees (Stereo):
Side 1 – WZRS-3519 5S
Side 2 – WZRS-3520 5S

A Pile of Partridge 2025 – Come on, Get Happy!

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Well I’m back after a long absence of a couple months or so. Since it was winter and dreary I really wasn’t in the mood to do much so I took a bit of an extended break.

Luckily in the last three weeks or so I’ve had a chance to search antique and record stores far and wide and have found three particularly wonderful finds.

It just so happens that they all are fairly rare Partridge Family finds, two of which I never found in the wild, and all three in lovely minty condition!

Here’s what I found:

* “The World of The Partridge Family” – this is probably the rarest of The Partridge Family albums. It’s a two record set released in 1974 at the end of the television series. Not only did it look unplayed but was in the shrink wrap with a hype sticker!

* “The Partridge Family At Home with Their Greatest Hits” – this particular pressing I didn’t even know existed. I searched online after I found it and was surprised to learn that Arista records must have released this in the ’80s sometime. Another stone mint record that actually sounds better than the Bell Records pressing from 1972.

* “The Partridge Family Album” – this is a pressing of their first album from the UK. I have another copy of this UK pressing but it’s fairly beat up so I was glad to find that this one doesn’t look like it’s ever been played, truly near mint condition.

How do they sound you ask?

Well I have to say I was pleasantly surprised that all three of these albums sound superb. The biggest surprise of all of them was “The World of The Partridge Family” which is probably the best sounding Partridge Family vinyl I own.

Not only was the two-disc set mint but this pressing is truly wonderful with super quiet vinyl (a rarity for Bell Records from the 1970s I assure you) and very dynamic with a lot of bass and a clarity that isn’t present on most Partridge Family Bell Records pressings.

Original Partridge Family albums are notoriously hit or miss sound wise but this set just shines and may be my favorite sounding Partridge Family album – truly superb from start to finish and a nice song selection to boot.

The Arista pressing of “The Partridge Family At Home with Their Greatest Hits” was also surprising as it bests the original 1972 pressing though it’s not quite as dynamic sounding as “The World of The Partridge Family”. Lovely to have and another great listen. Odd to see the Arista label on a Partridge Family vinyl release but nice.

I guess the biggest surprise was how great the UK pressing of “The Partridge Family Album” sounds! UK pressings of Partridge Family albums were most likely made from a tape a generation away from the ones that made their first US pressings but this particular first UK pressing is dynamic sounding with a lot of nice bass and a truly wonderful quality pressing that was silent and very warm sounding. 

I have to say of all the pressings I own of this album this may be my favorite. I have other UK pressings of Partridge Family albums that don’t sound nearly this good.

The other wonderful thing about these albums is that all three of them were each under $5. Yes, you heard right, $15 for the three of them!!! I found them at an obscure antique mall that weirdly enough had a lot of foreign pressings and oddities.

I’m guessing that most people don’t think that Partridge Family albums have much value but “The World of The Partridge Family”  is especially tough to locate and on top of that near impossible to find still with the shrink wrap with a hype sticker and in near mint condition. This album didn’t particularly sell well at the time so they aren’t as plentiful as their regular albums which are fairly easy to locate.

And again I never even knew the Arista pressing of “The Partridge Family At Home with Their Greatest Hits” even existed so I was ecstatic to find it. I’m guessing this was reissued sometime in the 1980s but I don’t know the exact date or how long it was available. I have never seen one before but online I do see that it is out there but I’m guessing it’s fairly rare.

I can honestly say that all three of these albums are probably my favorite Partridge Family find ever while antiquing. Cheap, rare and wonderful – which is the best way to find them.

A great way to start 2025, collecting wise at least.

Well that’s all for now. I have a few other finds I’m going to be posting shortly so I just wanted to add this to the list of truly wonderful record discoveries found in some out of the way and obscure places.

Until next time I hope everything is well in your world and hopefully we’ll all be able to survive 2025 intact LOL.

See you soon!

 

Be Here Now – “Living in the Material World” by George Harrison Gets New Life with Remixed 50th Anniversary Editions

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Well here we are, yet another 50th anniversary of a beloved record from my past.

(Note: It’s technically the 51st anniversary but I won’t quibble)

Yesterday, several brand new 50th Anniversary editions of George Harrison’s 1973 “Living in the Material World” album were issued on both vinyl and CD formats and of course I have a couple of them to share with you: the 2 CD set which features a nice poster, booklet as well as a second disc of outtakes and the orange vinyl version of the single album that is a Barnes & Noble exclusive.

(Note 2: There’s also a deluxe set that includes CDs, vinyl, Blu-Ray and a hardback book as well another vinyl version available separately that includes a double vinyl version of the album with the outtakes on a second vinyl disc.)

My history of this album dates back to 1977 when I purchased the album on vinyl at a local record store called Karma Records. I remember it well as the guy at the register looked at the album as I brought it up to pay for it and said that this album wasn’t as good as Harrison’s first album and then he proceeded to take me to a copy of the “All Thing Must Pass” 3 Lp set.

Of course the eleven year-old me only had enough money to pay for the single album of “Living in the Material World” and besides I was so attracted to the front cover which I thought looked like some sort of pirate hand outstretched from the great beyond that my mind was set on (sorry for the pun) getting this particular record.

My oldest brother who was buying “The Stranger” album by Billy Joel came up behind me and said to the clerk that I wanted the album that I brought to the counter so off I went with my first copy of “Living in the Material World”.

I have always enjoyed this record and even way back in 1977 I thought the musical textures of the songs on the album were very rich and I was then, and still am, a huge fan of the album especially the songs “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)”, “Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long”, “Try Some, Buy Some”, the title track “Living in the Material World” and most especially “Be Here Now” which is my favorite song on the album.

Since that time of course I have purchased multiple copies of this album, mainly various CD issues, and each time I have enjoyed it more and more and as time goes by it stands up as one of my all-time favorite solo albums by George Harrison.

I will say the thing about many of the most recent CD and vinyl reissues of the album, and the original vinyl album as well, is that the sound of the album is a bit murky in spots.

That may be a hallmark of Harrison working with Phil Spector but nevertheless while I enjoy the songs on the album I have always wanted a bit more clarity in the mix to help make the album sound a little less congested.

With this new 2024 remix I think Dhani Harrison, George Harrison’s son, along with Paul Hicks who are responsible for this new remix have done an admirable job of making the album sound less congested and they’ve also boosted Harrison’s vocals up more in the mix this time out.

I’ve read online that some people don’t like Harrison’s vocals this much up front as they think it exposes his weaknesses as a singer but for me I think it works fairly well. While not being known as quite the vocalist that Lennon or McCartney were George Harrison still has a way with his vocals in that the emotion always filters its way to the top even if he isn’t quite as smooth at times as he fellow Beatles in his delivery.

My only real criticism of this new 2024 remix is that it’s mixed a tad bit too loud for my tastes but it’s not horrible. In fact I think the vinyl version as usual sounds a bit more dynamic than the CD but at lower volumes the CD sounds good as well. If you play the CD loud though the bass tends to overwhelm the mix making it somewhat congested sounding as the original mix which is a shame.

The outtakes on the second disc of the 2 CD set however have really nice dynamics and aren’t as punched up sounding as the regular album. I would have preferred that the main album remix was mastered this way but overall I think it’s a nice mix and one I will return to when I’m in the mood for this album.

I also have to say my pressing of the orange vinyl was perfect, no distortion, no ticks and played perfectly all the way through and didn’t really need a major cleaning.

The loudness of most current remixes these days of older albums makes the vinyl versions well worth seeking out if they’re available as most of the time they sound more dynamic allowing you to enjoy the remix more than the CD counterpart.

(Note 3: Why oh why don’t they save the loudness for streaming and let the CD and vinyl issues have the best dynamics. I’m sure it’s mostly an older crowd buying these formats so why not make them sound as good as possible – rant over.)

And I must say I really enjoyed the alternate takes of the songs on this album from the 2 CD set as they are more stripped down then the original 1973 versions which really benefits some songs on the album such as “Sue Me, Sue You Blues”, “The Lord Loves the One (That Loves the Lord)” and “Try Some Buy Some” for instance.

The only other nitpicky thing which I think is kind of crazy is that on the deluxe set with the vinyl, CDs and Blu-ray there’s a bonus track on CD 2 as well as a 7-in single – “Sunshine Life for Me (Sail Away Raymond)” . That bonus track could easily have fit on CD 2 of the regular issue. You can stream it and download it but I think that’s really short-sighted not to include that track on all versions. Just my opinion.

As for the groovy orange vinyl Barnes & Noble version that I bought if you’re interested in it it seems like they didn’t press a lot of them. In fact at the Barnes & Noble store I bought it from they only had one copy sent to them and it wasn’t even unpacked when I went to the store to inquire about it.

If you’re a diehard fan of The Beatles or George Harrison this new remix is well worth it in my opinion. Of course to me these remixes aren’t better then the originals just a different way of listening to a particular album. If you don’t want a physical copy check it out online and give it a sample.

I can see the resistance to remixing older recordings but with the lovely outtakes and the nice liner notes it really does give a new way of appreciating older recordings like “Living in the Material World” album and if you can afford it and are a fan of physical media then you should seek a copy out.

As usual you can take a gander at the two different versions of the new “Living in the Material World” that I bought above and below.

Well that’s all for now.

Until next time be healthy and well and see you soon!

“Cuartel General” and “Piscis, Acuario, Capricornio Y Jones, S.A.”- Surprising Monkees Import Finds To Usher in Fall

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This week has been interesting. I’ve been on vacation so I’ve had some time to explore some of my favorite record/antique store locations and I must say I’ve found some true gems.

As I’ve said many times before you just never know what you’re going to find especially at some of the most unlikely hole in the wall places and this week that has never been more true.

Much to my surprise the first finds of the week popped up in a small town in the Midwest about an hour from where I live, someplace I would have never guessed I’d find two obscure imported mono Monkees records from 1967!

As luck would have it I found a mono copy of The Monkees “Headquarters” from Argentina (“Cuartel General”) and a mono copy of “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd.” (“Piscis, Acuario, Capricornio Y Jones, S.A.”) from Mexico.

Trust me when I say that original imported copies of Monkees albums are a rare find in the Midwest, at least in my experience. I have on occasion come across a beat up UK copy of “More of the Monkees” but I have never, until now that is,  come across some really interesting albums especially with different cover art.

As it would happen I was rummaging through a huge stack of albums in the “M” section of a off the beat store that had stacks of records everywhere and having no luck at all. Now this store is one of those cool off the beat hole in the wall places where nothing is really alphabetized (one of my pet peeves) and to find anything takes a lot of persistence.

After about twenty minutes of scrounging through beat up copies of “The Monkees”, seriously there was about ten copies and all of them looked like they were used as coasters, I was about to give up and move on.

As luck would have it I spotted an huge bin toward the front of new arrivals with another huge stash of randomly shelved vinyl. I almost decided to walk away as most of the vinyl albums in the store so far were very common and not in the best of shape but since I was on vacation I thought why not take a look.

Midway through the first bin I spotted a decent stereo copy of “More of the Monkees” so I thought oh that’s at least in nice condition so I decided it was worth plowing through the other three bins of new arrivals.

Much to my surprise and shock I was frantically flipping through the last bin when my eye caught the deep red color of the word “Monkees” and I instantly recognized it as the “Headquarters” cover even though I had only seen the upper left corner of the front cover.

(Note: I’ve grown used to flipping fast through stacks of vinyl and can spot a Monkees album from ten paces lol)

Need less to say my head almost exploded when I pulled it up and not only was the cover glossy and made of very firm cardboard (not the feel of the standard US Colgems album) when up popped the title “Cuartel General” and I was speechless.

Not only was this a mono copy from Argentina but it was marked $3.99 and was in really good condition. The vinyl in fact was a very solid VG++ and the cover was solid as well.

After perusing the cover for a few moments I hurriedly decided to finish the row and take my prize to the counter.

It’s a good thing I decided to look at all of the bin as near the very back I spotted a weirdly cartoonish yet colorful album cover that had a drawing of the Monkees on it.

I pulled the cover up and knew that this was the Mexican cover of the Monkees fourth album and turned it around to find the title “Piscis, Acuario, Capricornio Y Jones, S.A.”

The album cover was taped on the bottom and top with some old masking tape that was falling off (and luckily peeled off just fine) but the vinyl inside was again in VG++ condition and the price was definitely right at $4.99. Why this one was a dollar more and seemed more beat up than the other one is beyond me but I wasn’t going to argue.

Again I was truly amazed. Never in my life have I found such lovely imported Monkees albums and never with such lovely condition vinyl.

That was all I needed, I ran to the counter and paid for the albums and bopped home with a huge smile on my face.

I cleaned up both albums and played them that evening. Both of them sounded terrific and both contained the true mono mixes. I found the Mexican “Pisces” album was a bit bass shy but played very quietly and was well pressed.

The true highlight was the pressing of “Headquarters” from Argentina which sounded amazing! Nice bass and crisp treble and nice vocals – one of the best and quieter copies I own of this album, truly superb sounding.

I have no idea how these gems made their way into my corner of the world but I tell you what I’m keeping that store on my list for sure.

That’s all for now. Just a quick story of the first of some truly amazing finds this week.

I have to say that while I read people finding a lot of high priced used vinyl I have found some really rare records lately for amazing prices. I tend to go to more out of the way antique places then record stores so maybe that’s why but great nonetheless.

As usual you can glimpse photos of these albums above.

There are more finds from this week to follow.

Until next time be healthy and well and see you soon!