Sold Date: August 23, 2020
Start Date: August 13, 2020
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COLGEMS THE MONKEES GREATEST HITS LP.  A little harder to find these days. Jacket, Inner Sleeve, and Vinyl all show signs of wear. I graded it fairly to the best of my ability. If you're looking for a Mint or Near Mint Lp this isn't it. Still overall nice condition and a solid addition to any Monkees fan's collection.

Appearing in record stores a year after the cancellation of the Monkees'  in1968, the black-and-orange-covered package remains one of the rarest pieces of vinyl in the band’s discography. After an unsuccessful movie, , from the previous winter, RCA Records attempted to revive interest in the Monkees which was waning, but to no avail. The band was now down to a trio after the departure of , and The Monkees Greatest Hits climbed to number 89 on the album charts before disappearing.

It is also the only original Monkees album not to feature any photographs of the group either on the front or back covers.

Despite the "greatest hits" title, many of the tracks chosen were either favorite songs from the TV show or "deep cuts" from the albums. Absent are "(Theme from) The Monkees" and "For Pete's Sake," the latter of which is the second season's closing theme.

All of the A-sides to the band's first six singles were chosen. The stereo mix of "" was included instead of the single mono mix. This first compilation also featured the LP debut, as well as the stereo debut, of "" without handclaps and with singing "Oh girl, oh girl" during the instrumental section which is not present in the mono single version.

Of the eight remaining tracks, "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" was a very popular B-side. "Randy Scouse Git" was issued as a single in UK and reached #2 on the (as "Alternate Title"). "She" was released in Mexico and "Shades Of Gray" in the Philippines; however, they did not do as well as Mexico’s number one, "(Look Out) Here Comes Tomorrow" or Australia’s chart topper, "(Theme From) The Monkees," neither of which appear on this package.

Despite still being with the group at the time, no songs with Nesmith's lead vocals appear on the album (the Nesmith-penned "Mary, Mary" does make an appearance). Although Peter Tork had recently departed, he gets a co-vocal with Jones on "Shades of Gray." As was common on the show and the albums, has many lead vocals on the album; 8 of the 14 tracks feature Dolenz.

Missing from the album are three B-sides that charted in the Billboard Hot 100: "The Girl I Knew Somewhere", "Words" and "Tapioca Tundra". "Take a Giant Step", the B-side to "Last Train to Clarksville", and "Goin' Down", the B-side to "Daydream Believer", also do not make an appearance. Instead, "I Wanna Be Free," "Cuddly Toy" and "Zor and Zam" were included. "Free" appeared multiple times on the TV series; "Cuddly Toy" may have been included because it was written by , whose star was on the rise at the time; and "Zor and Zam" was the final song by the group to appear on the series in the show's final episode.

The album progresses in roughly a reverse-chronological order, with more recent hits "Daydream Believer" and "Pleasant Valley Sunday" at the beginning, and early hits "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" and "Last Train to Clarksville" closing out the album.