MONKEES: 'MORE OF THE MONKEES' 1967 RED VINYL TAIWAN PRESSING

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MONKEES: 'MORE OF THE MONKEES' 1967 RED VINYL TAIWAN PRESSING ~ 
I've been going thru my massive vinyl record collection this summer and pulling out some LPs that I thought that someone else would want for their collection. I've been collecting records for over 40 years and it's time to pass some of them on to the next generation of collectors.
This week on EBay I am offering up my great, odd, red vinyl, Asian pressing of the Monkees great 2nd release 'More of the Monkees' from 1967.
THE MONKEES "MORE OF THE MONKEES" RELEASED: SUMMER 1967 LABEL:  中聲 – CSJ-505 – 中聲唱片廠 PRODUCER: JEFF BARRY ~ DON KISHNER MATRIX:  TZRS   8693/4  1-1S/ 2 S PRESSING:  中聲唱片廠 GRADING: VINYL VG+  JACKET: VG+
This is an odd Taiwanese pressing of the Monkees' second album "More of the Monkees" released in Taiwan in the Summer of 1967 and clearly designed for sale to the American servicemen who were in Viet Nam and stationed throughout Southeast Asia at the time.
It is pressed on transparent dark red vinyl and housed in a thin, plastic coated sleeve. The sleeve is printed sparsely and just gives the basics. The back of the jacket lists similar issues available at the time. More marketing hype than informative.
I've seen this LP pressed on red, yellow, blue and green vinyl over the many years I've been collecting records. The golden yellow seems to be the most common. This one is blood red.
I've kept this particular copy as it seems closest to the colors of the original 1967 US release.
The record labels give much more information than the jacket does. Very cool looking labels, in my humble opinion, and a terrific blood-red semi-transparent vinyl.
It says that it's a Stereo version, but the rest of the info, other than the song titles, is a little beyond my abilities to comprehend. I do know it's Rare, it's red, it's cool and it's the Monkees.
It would be a great record to have in your collection, a great conversation piece or a great album to display. A great example of vintage 60s pop and a great example of how far-reaching the Monkees influence was felt.
This is my original copy that I've taken great care of for many years. The Cover is in a strong VG+ condition and the Vinyl is also a strong VG+, maybe better. See full description of the jacket and vinyl condition below.
~~~~~~~~~~ This is a rare import copy of the Monkees great 2nd Album, "MORE OF THE MONKEES", released in the States in January 1967. This is exactly what the title says, more of the Monkey's music, released shortly after their very popular debut album. I think this album is a clear improvement over that first LP.
The Monkees' TV show blasted onto the screen in the fall of 1966. At first, the music for the series was just meant to be background for the story plot, but the unexpected popularity of the #1 single "Last Train to Clarksville" and the popular Monkees Theme Song showed that they were much more than TV actors. By the end of the year, the group had scored a second No. 1 hit with "I'm a Believer." 
Though critics and skeptics scoffed, the four guys who played the Monkees on TV were fast becoming a genuine rock 'n' roll band, taking everyone by surprise. 
Don Kirshner and the 'suits' behind the Monkees were desperate to release another album as quickly as possible to capitalize on the success of the series and the success of The Monkees’ first album. Normally, such rushed albums are just full of 'product' rather than quality music, but luckily this album has some great songs, in addition to some obvious 'product'.
The Monkees first record was a huge success, mostly due to the songwriting and production skills of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. For this 2nd album, music supervisor Don Kirshner phased out Boyce & Hart and instead hired some well known songwriters including some of the best writers the Brill Building had to offer at the time.
Even though the Monkees themselves had little to do with the selection of songs on this album, they did manage to pull off some great performances and vocals. The results were some of the Monkees' most popular songs. This album actually has some great music and it has grown in popularity with collectors over time.
'More of The Monkees' contains some of the best pop/rock heard in the '60s. The tracks stand up to the work of any other pop band operating at the time. Many of the songs on this album are great, no matter who wrote, performed or produced them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This album was built around the popular double A-side single, "I'm a Believer" b/w “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone” guaranteeing that it would sell well.
In addition to the other writers, Michael Nesmith was starting to show that he had real songwriting talent and Kirshner allowed 2 of his songs to appear on this album.
The best of his tracks is the rocker, “Mary Mary”, which is many collector's favorite Monkees song. Upbeat, a great lyric, and a great melody. Kirschner pulled together some of the best studio musicians of the time to record this. It features James Burton, Glen Campbell, Hal Blaine, Jim Gordon and Larry Knechtel. The song really rocks out and showcases Nesmith's songwriting talents. 
The other Michael Nesmith song on the record is “The Kind of Girl I Could Love” which starts to show Nesmith's vibrant Country-rock side, which he would dive into after the Monkees broke up.
Another great, often overlooked song on this album is “Sometime in the Morning”, which has a ringing, chiming Byrds-like sweet folk-rock sound and a great melody. Written by Carol King, it has heartfelt playing and singing by Mickey Dolenz. Dreamy, bright and catchy.
Peter Tork even gets his moment on the odd “Your Auntie Grizelda.” An offbeat fuzz blast of weirdness. It's so odd that it's difficult to dislike it. 
Monkees fans seem to either love or hate the album opener "She", an interesting, catchy, 'break-up' song.
“Hold On Girl” is an OK song. sort of Latin influenced, and contains some odd harpsichord.
Neil Diamond wrote several songs on this album including the classic hit, "I'm A Believer", sung by Micky.
Neil Diamond also wrote the decent “Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)” about a guy in love with 2 girls at once and dreading having to choose between them. Appropriately, heart-throb Davy Jones sings this one.
Whether it's your kind of music or not, you've got to admit that Davy Jones delivers some swooning vocals on this LP. Even hard core Monkees fans agree that Davy Jones' sappy almost spoken-word song “The Day We Fall in Love”, is pop garbage. It was aimed at all the young teen girls who purchased this album, millions did, and they loved Davy's songs. I much prefer Mickey's vocals.
~~~~~~~~~~ This album contains some of the Monkees' best songs, many of which continue to show up on their endless Greatest Hits compilations. There are the 2 great timeless hits, Four great songs and two pretty good songs on it. Not bad for a 'fake' band and studio musicians. Say what you will about the Monkees, but they made some great music in their time.
With this album, there's no doubt that the group was already a "real" band beginning to find their true voice.
This album was very popular at the time and still holds up well today. It spent an amazing 70 weeks on the Billboard charts (18 weeks at #1) and ultimately became the biggest-selling album of 1967, and one of the biggest selling albums of all time. 
~~~~~~~~~~ This album is worth owning just for the cool, unusual, "import" cover and the great looking red vinyl and labels. Very Cool, hip, pop, retro, 60s, fun, and 'different'; everything you'd want in a collectible record.
~~~~~~ CONDITION: 
The Jacket is in great condition, considering it's been bouncing around in my collection for nearly 40 years. It is printed on thin paper stock, like some older UK pressings. No 'spine' to speak of. No signs of any ringwear. Corners are crisp and sharp. No writing, marks or stains. 
The entire paper jacket, inside and out, is wrapped and sealed in plastic; sort of like a built in sleeve. The plastic wrap has kept it very nice all these years.
The Record label, 中聲 is on the top right, the catalog number, CSJ-505, on the top left, 'stereo' in big letters. The album sides and songs are printed in green at the top. Oddly, side 2 is listed before side 1.
The back cover shows 9 other similar records you could buy. Odd choices, clearly aimed at American Servicemen; Soul, Country and Rock. Strange that of the 9 choices, 3 are Chuck Berry albums. Nice to see one of my faves, Wanda Jackson represented. There's a bunch of Taiwanese text at the bottom of the back cover, but I have no idea what it says.
~~~~~~ The labels look great. Crisp and clean. No markings or damage. Bright yellow with brown and black printing. The same record company logo at the top. The song titles are in English and Taiwanese. Again, some text around the rim of the label, but no idea what it says. The spindle holes show minimal wear, an indicator of minimal playing, or at least proper handling, over the years.
~~~~~~ The vinyl looks quite good for being 50+ years old. It's a great blood red color. translucent. You can see thru the dead wax area. The record itself is hard to examine and grade due to it's dense color but after examining it in bright light, it looks much better than I remembered. There are no obvious scratches, dings or scuffs. Only one very small 'pit' in the surface which is rare for dubious vinyl, especially colored vinyl, from the time. Overall it looks fantastic! A few fingerprints, but I'll take care of that before sending it. I'll resleeve it in a new proper paper sleeve as well.
I did not play test this record for this listing. Not sure I trust 50 year old Asian colored wax with my expensive cartridge. That said, it really does look terrific on close visual inspection.
The Dead Wax area is packed with numbers and symbols. One of the 'busiest' dead wax areas I've seen in a while. Appears to be stamped 'TZRS 8693 1 1 S', if such things matter to you on these type of records. The catalog number is etched and there are all sorts of Asian characters, mostly etched. It would be fascinating to dig into the pressing history of this one, but I'll leave that up to the winning bidder. The '1 1 S' makes it seem this is an early Stereo stamper.
Overall a very nice Taiwanese Import copy of this classic Monkees album from 1967. I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the cover, labels and vinyl in my pictures.
Add this classic Monkees album to your collection today. It would make a great, fun, unique addition to any vinyl record collection. 
~~~~~~~ I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 45 years of vinyl record collecting. Check out the many other fantastic 45s and 33s coming soon to my page!
All records have been carefully evaluated and graded by me. I visually inspect all records under bright light, personally gently clean them with a soft cloth and then, if unsure, play them on a modern high-end turntable to get a true picture of condition. Please look at all the high-resolution pictures I added. They are all my own and are of the actual record being sold. The pictures are part of the description and can show small details, label variations, and condition better than I can put into words. 
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THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far.  -- JOHN