Rhino has set an Aug. 15 release date for expanded editions of the first two albums from TV stars turned pop idols the Monkees. Both will be issued as two-disc packages including stereo and mono mixes plus rare and previously unreleased bonus tracks.
1966’s "The Monkees," which spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart, sports previously unreleased alternate mixes of "Papa Gene’s Blues" and "The Kind of Girl I Could Love," a version of "I Don’t Think You Know Me" with Micky Dolenz on vocals, a jingle for Kellogg’s and a demo for "Propinquity (I’ve Just Begun To Care)."
The following year’s "More of the Monkees" was even more successful than its predecessor, spending 18 weeks at No. 1. Among the bonus tracks are "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)" with narration by Peter Tork, the first recorded version of "Valleri," an alternate take of "Tear Drop City" and a different mix of "I’m a Believer."
Owing to a history of inter-band acrimony, the Monkees last toured with all four original members in 1997. Minus Nesmith, Dolenz, Tork and Davy Jones subsequently hit the road on several occasions but have no plans to work together in the future.
"I would not work with those guys again if my life depended on it," Jones recently told Scripps Howard News Service. "I can’t be responsible for their attitudes and the way they treat people."
Billboard
