In 1994, James Lee Stanley's Beachwood Records released Peter Tork's first ever solo album, Stranger Things Have Happened, featuring several notable guest musicians and friends including Stanley, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Laurence Juber (Paul McCartney & Wings), Mackenzie Phillips, and Timothy B. Schmit (The Eagles).
And now, in 2020, 7a Records has announced its first-ever Tork-related project as it will reissue Stranger Things Have Happened on compact disc and vinyl this December. The CD version includes a whopping 9 bonus tracks and a 32-page color booklet with sleeve notes by Mark Kleiner, who hosts the Nesmith, Tork, Goffin & King podcast and has written numerous superlative liners for previous 7a releases. The vinyl, limited to just 600 copies, features 6 bonus tracks and will be pressed on 180 gram Neon Magenta Splatter vinyl. The album cover has also been updated from its original pressing. Dolenz and Nesmith provided backing vocals on "Milkshake," and Nez can also be heard on "MGB-GT," which was initially performed by Micky, Peter, and Davy Jones during The Monkees' 20th Anniversary Reunion Tour. Davy was present at the recording session for "Milkshake" with his fellow Monkees, but never got around to putting his vocal on tape. James Lee Stanley recalled the comedic circumstances that caused Davy to leave the session during this interview (at 27:30). Bonus tracks on 7a's compact disc reissue of Stranger Things Have Happened include Peter's 1981 single with his band The New Monks, "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone"/"Higher and Higher." 7a Records is also currently producing another highly anticipated release, Dolenz Sings Nesmith, featuring Micky Dolenz covering the songbook of Michael Nesmith, produced by Christian Nesmith with Monkees archivist Andrew Sandoval handling A&R duties. Stranger Things Have Happened arrives December 4 in the United Kingdom and December 11 in the United States. UK fans can pre-order from Amazon while those in the US can pre-order the compact disc or vinyl from Deep Discount. Stay tuned to The Monkees Live Almanac for further updates, and in the meantime, read another preview of this latest 7a release courtesy of The Second Disc.
UPDATE 11/24/2020: Listen to the latest Zilch podcast that covers the re-release of Stranger Things Have Happened, featuring an interview with 7a's Glenn Gretlund as well as Mark Kleiner.
COMPACT DISC PACKAGE
SPLATTER VINYL PACKAGE
31 Comments
Michael blease
10/10/2020 20:59:43
I certainly hope we are notified when pre-orders are available for the US. I certainly hope the color vinyl album is not limited to 600 worldwide - we will never have a chance to purchase it with pre- sales already taking place in the UK
Scott Erickson
10/10/2020 22:17:06
It's available for pre-order in the USA NOW on Deep Discount
Jan
10/10/2020 21:22:26
Finally! Peter on 7a Records! My question is this: what are the source tapes for the New Monks single?
Scott Erickson
10/10/2020 22:14:28
Hopefully I'm not speaking out of turn here.
scott catton
10/13/2020 12:38:42
Great! Thanks a lot Scott!
Ken
10/10/2020 21:57:30
It is about time this album got some love. There's some great Peter songs here but I always wondered why he didn't include "Vagabond John". Great song that he used to perform with the Peter Tork Project and for years after. But I'm curious to know if this thing has been remixed.
Scott Erickson
10/10/2020 22:15:22
No, it hasn't been remixed. But it has been completely remastered.
Auntie Grizelda
10/11/2020 00:41:52
Scott, how does this new issue sound? the original was a bit muddy.
Scott Erickson
10/11/2020 10:31:56
I haven't heard the remastering of the album yet. I can only speak to the sound quality of the New Monks tracks, and those sound amazing.
Lenny Scolletta
10/20/2020 06:40:16
Are the tracks with James Lee Stanley the acoustic tracks from the "2 Man Band" releases or something different?
Langdon Auger
10/11/2020 09:59:05
Congratulations to 7a Records for using a cover photo that accurately reflects the era in which the recordings were made -- something they declined to do on the recent Dolenz and Jones live releases.
Bon Silverstein
10/11/2020 20:19:34
Langdon Auger - there was a clear reason for that, as I believe they have explained in several Facebook posts, as well as on the Zilch podcast. They wanted the sleeves to look like the other Japanese releases that have came out in the 1980s. These guys are not stupid, they are fans and obviously know what the Monkees looked like during the different Decades.
Langdon Auger
10/13/2020 23:01:25
...got it: They aren't being dishonest, they are just perpetuating pre-existing dishonest packaging. It's like the time I murdered a murder -- I'm no criminal!
B. Sherman
10/12/2020 19:28:45
I wonder why they created a new cover for it at all. I think the original cover looks better, though everyone has their own preference of course.
B. Sherman
10/18/2020 11:29:39
I seem to remember that 7A commented that they couldn't find a decent quality '70s era photo to use for the Dolenz MGM Singles cover, so that's why they went with the 1967 photo. As for the Davy Live in Japan cover, they could have used the original Live In Japan or Hello Davy cover, which featured photos from those concerts.
B. Sherman
10/18/2020 11:21:23
It finally occurred to me that the photo on the new cover is likely from the 1997 Monkees TV special photo session for the ending credits. So, it is from that era, just a few years after the album came out originally, haha.
Langdon Auger
10/20/2020 20:23:01
...so maybe I was giving 7a too much credit for this...
Peter Cunningham
10/12/2020 04:08:03
I,m surprised they did not use i remeber christmas from the beachwood christmass album peter had some great tracks on it with James lee has this look like a xmass release im ordering mine from amazon
Cora allen
10/13/2020 00:04:02
Where can I buy the album?
Scott Erickson
10/13/2020 00:05:42
In the UK from Amazon.
Craig Murphy
10/13/2020 01:15:11
Hopefully we will get more Peter output on 7a. I’d love to see a Peter does the Monkees album. You could get a good 10 tracks from the monkees songs he’s recorded across most of his work.
Scott Erickson
10/13/2020 01:23:35
Any of the solo recordings Peter has done that weren't released on Beachwood, or were self-released (like the Shoe Suede Blues albums) are the property of Peter's estate. I doubt there will be anything to come of those recordings until the estate is settled, and who knows how long that will take. 10/16/2020 17:45:08
I want to give a sincere thanks to Scott Erickson and 7a and I can't wait for this. For what it's worth, I told Peter at the 2nd Monkees convention in 2013 that I had bootlegged this specific album on CD-R apologetically, only for him to tell me he was completely fine with "sharing music" so I always think about that!
Scott Erickson
10/16/2020 17:50:57
ALL credit is due to 7a Records. They are the folks responsible for this re-issue happening at all.
Me. zero
10/18/2020 19:35:14
ANOTHER stellar release from 7A! Honestly. This has turned out to be one of the nicer aspects of collecting Monkees music - and it sooo addictive and fun!!
John
10/21/2020 09:41:45
Dear 7a: You guys rock! You are much appreciated in what you have done. Quality and class in every release. Thanks.
B. Sherman
10/21/2020 22:37:44
My recollection probably from a Monkee Business Fanzine article is that Micky, Mike, and Davy separately joined Peter in the recording studio. As has been mentioned, Davy never actually recorded any vocals at his session. I really wonder what Mike's session was like. After Peter died, Nez commented that he and Peter didn't get along, which generally seemed to be the case, but they were able to work together a fair amount.
Paul
10/28/2020 17:34:19
Yes. Over the years, Peter (and Davy) have occasionally made comments about Michael that made Michael's recent comments about Peter not overly surprising. However, Michael makes plenty of somewhat contradicting comments about many ever changing emotions and I take it a bit with a grain of salt. I have no doubt there was strain in their relationship, as they are quite different people, with different beliefs. But they also have come together in similar visions at times in their lives and did some nice work together. It's likely the session was pleasant. - I have musician friends that I've worked with that I don't always get along with, but I still call them friends or at least brothers in music. This is just my personal opinion, but I bet it was more of a love/hate relationship than outright consistent dislike. - And thank you 7A for this release
Votrax
10/23/2020 23:34:18
Off topic - (with full support and kudos for this Peter Tork STHH release - nice work 7aR!) - but how about 7aR taking on a remaster/remix (with extra goodies if they exist) of the long overlooked and underrated Dolenz Jones Boyce & Hart 1976 album?
Terry
11/9/2020 16:58:05
Would love to see some of the Peter Tork Project songs (Vagabond John, Maybe Tonight) get a proper release as well as some of the songs from the New Monks. There are some rough audio tracks on YouTube and these songs deserve an official release.
Scott Erickson
11/9/2020 17:18:33
Releasing all of that stuff first requires licensing the rights from Peter's estate. Then the next step would be locating the original master tapes, or at the very least, the closest generational copy from those master tapes. Leave a Reply. |
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