The Rolling Stones in MONO boxed set!

This new boxed set is coming in September, and I've been waiting for it for years.  Like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones' 1960s output is best experienced in mono.  Unlike the Beatles, the Stones' stereo mixes were often very sloppy and annoying, and that's what most people my age have grown up with.  In 1986, ABKCO (which owns the rights to the Stones' 1960s output) released the first CD versions (and accompanying LPs) sourced from terrible-sounding digitized, sometimes-fake-stereo tapes.  Numerous songs were missing from this campaign, which was rectified with the excellent 2002 SACD reissues of the Stones' catalog.  However, the SACDs included the US and UK versions of many of the albums, since they generally contained (slightly) different track listings.  After doing all sorts of cross-referencing, I found that the way to go with SACDs was to buy the following:

-The Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hitmakers) -- US version

-12x5

-The Rolling Stones Now!

-Out of Our Heads -- US version

-December's Children (And Everybody's)

-Aftermath -- UK version

-Between the Buttons -- UK version

-Flowers

Beyond that, the US/UK versions line up, although you'll still need the later compilations London Singles Collection and More Hot Rocks (Big Hits and Fazed Cookies) for completeness.

The new Mono set mostly sticks to this, but will be adding a compilation -- "Stray Cats" -- with some of the songs that aren't on the original albums.  Based on my calculations, the Mono box does still have some serious overlap issues...

-The mono box uses the UK version of the band's debut LP, instead of the US (resulting in an errant track, "Not Fade Away")

-Rolling Stones No. 2 (UK) overlaps with the rest of the set, except for two songs.

-All of Out Of Our Heads (UK) overlaps with the rest of the set

-All but one track ("Paint It, Black") of Aftermath (US) overlaps with the rest of the set

They could have saved three LP's worth of resources (and money)!  Oh well.

A release about the set is here, and below is a detailed description of the track listings.

-The Rolling Stones (UK, 1964): the US version of this album replaced "Mona" with the single "Not Fade Away" (see "Stray Cats" below)

-12 X 5 (1964): includes the entire "5x5" (EP)

-The Rolling Stones No. 2 (UK, 1965): all tracks on Rolling Stones Now! or 12x5 except... "I Can't Be Satisfied" (Hot Rocks); "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love" (different version than the one on Rolling Stones Now, which is available only on the 2002 reissue of More Hot Rocks)

-The Rolling Stones Now! (1965): this includes "Mona," which was bumped from the US version of "The Rolling Stones."  Why not just include the US version of that LP in this set, since it has the otherwise unavailable "Not Fade Away"?  That would have left room on "Stray Cats" for another song!  The other items this offers are the singles "Little Red Rooster" and "Surprise, Surprise."

-Out of Our Heads (UK, 1965): all of these tracks are on either Rolling Stones Now!, December's Children, or the US issue of Out Of Our Heads.

-Out of Our Heads (US, 1965): along with a number of tracks from the UK issue, this includes the singles "Play With Fire"; "The Spider and the Fly"; "The Last Time" and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" as well as one song ("I'm All Right") from the 1965 UK EP Got Live If You Want It!.  This album also includes the otherwise unavailable "One More Try"

-December’s Children (And Everybody’s): includes two songs unavailable elsewhere, "Look What You've Done" and "Blue Turns To Grey."  Other than that, this includes singles, tracks from the UK Out of Our Heads, a song from their debut EP ("You Better Move On") and two songs from the 1965 UK EP Got Live If You Want It!: "Route 66" and "I'm Movin' On."

-Aftermath (US, 1967): The US issue drops four songs but adds "Paint It, Black," so it seems totally unnecessary to include this album here.  Just add that one song to "Stray Cats"!

-Aftermath (UK, 1967): several of these tracks are also on Flowers, while "What to Do" is on More Hot Rocks.

-Between the Buttons (UK, 1967): I'm glad this is included and not the US version, which features two singles ("Let's Spend the Night Together" and "Ruby Tuesday") which can be found elsewhere.

-Flowers (US, 1967): usually viewed as superfluous, this compilation is needed here for collecting several singles, as well as two songs unavailable elsewhere ("My Girl" and "Ride On Baby").  "Sittin' on a Fence" is only available here and on More Hot Rocks, and the version of "Out Of Time" is also completely different than the one on the UK Aftermath.

-The US and UK editions of Their Satanic Majesties Request, Beggar’s Banquet and Let It Bleed all contain the same cuts, although there is some question whether the latter two are fold-downs; I've read that only "Sympathy For the Devil" is a unique mix.

-The set does not include the live releases from this period... 1970's Get Yer Ya-Yas Out is part of its own boxed set, and was only ever released in stereo.  The US LP Got Live If You Want It is just a boring mess.  Two songs, "I've Been Loving You Too Long" and "Fortune Teller," are just studio outtakes with crowd noise overdubbed.  The original, un-dubbed versions are on the 2002 reissue of More Hot Rocks.  See below regarding the 1965 UK EP also titled Got Live If You Want It.

-Also not included is 1975's Metamorphosis, an interesting compilation of outtakes (it's mostly stereo, and mostly disowned by the band).

-In 1971, ABKCO released the compilation Hot Rocks, 1964-71 (not included here).  All of those tracks are accounted for.  A follow-up, 1972's More Hot Rocks  (not included here), includes several hard-to-find singles, plus a whole side of then-rarities.  When this album was reissued in 2002, three more rarities were added.  All of those are accounted for below.

-Stray Cats: this is listed as a new compilation of singles and EP tracks.  My guess is that it will include some of the following...

-The Rolling Stones (EP): Three tracks ("Bye Bye Johnny"; "Money"; "Poison Ivy" Version 2) are available only on More Hot Rocks; the fourth track ("You Better Move On") is already on December's Children

-The 1965 UK EP Got Live If You Want It includes three songs accounted for above, plus a snippet of crowd chanting ("We Want The Stones"), a snippet of "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love," and the song "Pain in My Heart" (otherwise unavailable).

-"Not Fade Away": single, on the London Singles Collection and the US version of 1964's "The Rolling Stones"

-Unreleased single: "Fortune Teller"/"Poison Ivy" [Version 1], which was eventually released on a "Saturday Club" compilation; currently on More Hot Rocks.

-Singles (currently on Singles Collection: The London Years and Hot Rocks 1964-71): Jumpin' Jack Flash; 19th Nervous Breakdown; Honky Tonk Women

-Singles (currently on Singles Collection: The London Years and More Hot Rocks): Long, Long While; Come On; I Wanna Be Your Man; Child of the Moon; We Love You; Dandelion

-Songs from Singles Collection: The London Years which are unavailable elsewhere: Memo from Turner; I Want to Be Loved; Stoned; Sad Day; Who's Driving Your Plane?

-I am not sure if ABKCO will once again include "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses," which are already on 1971's "Sticky Fingers."  A link to the legal wrangling over these two cuts is here.  They've always been in stereo, and since "Sticky Fingers" is essential on its own anyway, I'm hoping they don't take up space here.  In the UK, the single was released with a third cut, a live version of "Let It Rock" (also stereo, recorded in 1971 at Leeds University) which has turned up on recent compilations ("Singles 1971-2006," "Rarities 1971-2003"), but would otherwise be a welcome addition to "Stray Cats" for completeness sake.  It's not an ABKCO-controlled cut, nor was it even recorded in the 1960s, so it's doubtful.

-Did I miss anything?  Leave a comment!