It's often unfair to compare the Rolling Stones to the Beatles but in the case of the group's mono mixes, it's instructive. Until the 2009 release of the box set The Beatles in Mono, all of the Fab Four's mono mixes were out of print. That's not the case with the Rolling Stones. Most of their '60s albums -- released on Decca in the U.K., London in the U.S. -- found mono mixes sneaking onto either the finished sequencing or various singles compilations, so the 2016 box The Rolling Stones in Mono only contains 56 heretofore unavailable mono mixes among its 186 tracks. To complicate things further, the box -- which runs 15 discs in its CD version, 16 LPs in its vinyl incarnation -- sometimes contains both the British and American releases of a particular title (Out of Our Heads and Aftermath), while others are available in only one iteration (Between the Buttons is only present in the U.K. version). All this is for the sake of expedience: this is the easiest way to get all the mono mixes onto the box with a minimal amount of repetition. To that end, there's a bonus disc called Stray Cats -- with artwork that plays off the censored plain white cover art for the initial pressing of Beggars Banquet -- collecting the singles that never showed up on an official album, or at least any of the albums that made the box. Along with the odd decision to have the CD sleeves be slightly larger than a mini-LP replica (they're as big as a jewel box, so they're larger than a shrunk vinyl sleeve, a size that's rarely seen in other releases), this is the only quibble on what is otherwise an excellent set. The sound -- remastered again after the 2002 overhaul for hybrid SACDs -- is bold and colorful, with the earliest albums carrying a wallop and the latter records feeling like they're fighting to be heard in two separate channels and all the better for it. If nothing here provides a revelation -- none of the mixes are radically different, the way that some Beatles mono sides are -- this nevertheless is the best the Rolling Stones have sounded on disc (or on vinyl) and there's considerable care in this package, from the replications of the sleeves to the extensive notes from David Fricke. Plus, hearing the Stones in mono winds up being a hot wire back toward the '60s: this feels raw and vibrant, as alive as the band was in the '60s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
- Format: Vinyl
- Genre: Rock
- Remember, for our lowest prices, always order directly from our official JocoRecords website!
Track Listings
Disc: 1
1 Route 66 (Mono)
2 I Just Want To Make Love To You (Mono)
3 Honest I Do (Mono)
4 Mona (I Need You Baby) (Mono)
5 Now I've Got A Witness (Mono)
6 Little By Little (Mono)
7 I'm A King Bee (Mono)
8 Carol (Mono)
9 Tell Me (Mono)
10 Can I Get A Witness (Mono)
11 You Can Make It If You Try (Mono)
12 Walking The Dog (Mono)
Disc: 2
1 Around And Around (Mono)
2 Confessin' The Blues (Mono)
3 Empty Heart (Mono)
4 Time Is On My Side (Version1/Mono)
5 Good Times, Bad Times (Mono)
6 It's All Over Now (Mono)
7 2120 South Michigan Avenue (Mono)
8 Under The Boardwalk (Mono)
9 Congratulations (Mono)
10 Grown Up Wrong (Mono)
11 If You Need Me (Mono)
12 Susie Q (Mono)
Disc: 3
1 Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (Version 2/Mono)
2 Down Home Girl (Mono)
3 You Can't Catch Me (Mono)
4 Time Is On My Side (Version 2/Mono)
5 What A Shame (Mono)
6 Grown Up Wrong (Mono)
7 Down The Road Apiece (Mono)
8 Under The Boardwalk (Mono)
9 I Can't Be Satisfied (Mono)
10 Pain In My Heart (Mono)
11 Off The Hook (Mono)
12 Susie Q (Mono)
Disc: 4
1 Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (Version 1/Mono)
2 Down Home Girl (Mono)
3 You Can't Catch Me (Mono)
4 Heart Of Stone (Mono)
5 What A Shame (Mono)
6 Mona (I Need You Baby) (Mono)
7 Down The Road Apiece (Mono)
8 Off The Hook (Mono)
9 Pain In My Heart (Mono)
10 Oh, Baby (We Got A Good Thing Goin') (Mono)
11 Little Red Rooster (Mono)
12 Surprise, Surprise (Mono)
Disc: 5
1 Mercy Mercy (Mono)
2 Hitch Hike (Mono)
3 The Last Time (Mono)
4 That's How Strong My Love Is (Mono)
5 Good Times (Mono)
6 I'm Alright (Live/Mono)
7 (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (Mono)
8 Cry To Me (Mono)
9 The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man (Mono)
10 Play With Fire (Mono)
11 The Spider And The Fly (Mono)
12 One More Try (Mono)
Disc: 6
1 She Said Yeah (Mono)
2 Mercy Mercy (Mono)
3 Hitch Hike (Mono)
4 That's How Strong My Love Is (Mono)
5 Good Times (Mono)
6 Gotta Get Away (Mono)
7 Talkin' 'Bout You (Mono)
8 Cry To Me (Mono)
9 Oh, Baby (We Got A Good Thing Goin') (Mono)
10 Heart Of Stone (Mono)
11 The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man (Mono)
12 I'm Free (Mono)
Disc: 7
1 She Said Yeah (Mono)
2 Talkin' 'Bout You (Mono)
3 You Better Move On (Mono)
4 Look What You've Done (Mono)
5 The Singer Not The Song (Mono)
6 Route 66 (Live/Mono)
7 Get Off Of My Cloud (Mono)
8 I'm Free (Mono)
9 As Tears Go By (Mono)
10 Gotta Get Away (Mono)
11 Blue Turns To Grey (Mono)
12 I'm Moving On (Live/Mono)
Disc: 8
1 Mother's Little Helper (Mono)
2 Stupid Girl (Mono)
3 Lady Jane (Mono)
4 Under My Thumb (Mono)
5 Doncha Bother Me (Mono)
6 Going Home (Mono)
7 Flight 505 (Mono)
8 High And Dry (Mono)
9 Out Of Time (Version1/Mono)
10 It's Not Easy (Mono)
11 I Am Waiting (Mono)
12 Take It Or Leave It (Mono)
13 Think (Mono)
14 What To Do (Mono)
Disc: 9
1 Paint It, Black (Mono)
2 Stupid Girl (Mono)
3 Lady Jane (Mono)
4 Under My Thumb (Mono)
5 Doncha Bother Me (Mono)
6 Think (Mono)
7 Flight 505 (Mono)
8 High And Dry (Mono)
9 It's Not Easy (Mono)
10 I Am Waiting (Mono)
11 Going Home (Mono)
Disc: 10
1 Yesterday's Papers (Mono)
2 My Obsession (Mono)
3 Back Street Girl (Mono)
4 Connection (Mono)
5 She Smiled Sweetly (Mono)
6 Cool, Calm & Collected (Mono)
7 All Sold Out (Mono)
8 Please Go Home (Mono)
9 Who' s Been Sleeping Here? (Mono)
10 Complicated (Mono)
11 Miss Amanda Jones (Mono)
12 Something Happened To Me Yesterday (Mono)
Disc: 11
1 Ruby Tuesday (Mono)
2 Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow? (Mono)
3 Let's Spend The Night Together (Mono)
4 Lady Jane (Mono)
5 Out Of Time (Version 2/Mono)
6 My Girl (Mono)
7 Back Street Girl (Mono)
8 Please Go Home (Mono)
9 Mother's Little Helper (Mono)
10 Take It Or Leave It (Mono)
11 Ride On, Baby (Mono)
12 Sittin' On A Fence (Mono)
Disc: 12
1 Sing This All Together (Mono)
2 Citadel (Mono)
3 In Another Land (Mono)
4 2000 Man (Mono)
5 Sing This All Together (See What Happens) (Mono)
6 She's A Rainbow (Mono)
7 The Lantern (Mono)
8 Gomper (Mono)
9 2000 Light Years From Home (Mono)
10 On With The Show (Mono)
Disc: 13
1 Sympathy For The Devil (Mono)
2 No Expectations (Mono)
3 Dear Doctor (Mono)
4 Parachute Woman (Mono)
5 Jigsaw Puzzle (Mono)
6 Street Fighting Man (Mono)
7 Prodigal Son (Mono)
8 Stray Cat Blues (Mono)
9 Factory Girl (Mono)
10 Salt Of The Earth (Mono)
Disc: 14
1 Gimme Shelter (Mono)
2 Love In Vain (Mono)
3 Country Honk (Mono)
4 Live With Me (Mono)
5 Let It Bleed (Mono)
6 Midnight Rambler (Mono)
7 You Got The Silver (Mono)
8 Monkey Man (Mono)
9 You Can't Always Get What You Want (Mono)
Disc: 15
1 Come On (Mono)
2 I Want To Be Loved (Mono)
3 I Wanna Be Your Man (Mono)
4 Stoned (Mono)
5 Fortune Teller (Mono)
6 Poison Ivy (Version 1/Mono)
7 Bye Bye Johnny (Mono)
8 Money (Mono)
9 Poison Ivy (Verison 2/Mono)
10 Not Fade Away (Mono)
11 I've Been Loving You Too Long (Mono)
12 The Under Assistant West Coast Promo Man (Single Version/Mono)
13 19th Nervous Breakdown (Mono)
14 Sad Day (Mono)
15 Con Le Mie Lacrime (As Tears Go By) (Mono)
16 Long, Long While (Mono)
17 Who's Driving Your Plane? (Mono)
18 We Love You (Single Version/Mono)
19 Dandelion (Single Version/Mono)
20 Child Of The Moon (Mono)
21 Jumpin' Jack Flash (Mono)
22 Street Fighting Man (Single Version/Mono)
23 Honky Tonk Women (Mono)
24 You Can't Always Get What You Want (Single Version/Mono)
