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The Unique Thelonious Monk is a 1956 album from Thelonious Monk, his second for Riverside Records and is made up of old standards as was Riverside's initial plan in order to broaden consumer interest. Though composed solely of standards, The Unique Thelonious Monk contains strong performances from both Thelonious and his early band members, Art Blakey and Oscar Pettiford. The album itself, however, is often overlooked by documentaries of Monk's career and is little heard of despite Riverside publicist Billie Wallington's marketing ploy at the time of mass-printing the stamp featured on the cover art. Riverside distributed sheets of 100 stamps, some of which even made their way through the United States Postal Service despite being larger than regulation size. Standard stamps of the era were under an inch wide and high; the Monk stamp is 1-9/16" high by 1-3/8" wide. In 1956 it took a 3-cent stamp to carry a 1st Class letter. Riverside's Monk stamp had a 3 in the lower left and a 3-1/3 in the lower right.
[edit] Track listing
- "Liza (All The Clouds'll Roll Away)" –3:11
- "Memories of You" –4:15
- "Honeysuckle Rose" –5:32
- "Darn That Dream" –6:30
- "Tea for Two" –5:52
- "You Are Too Beautiful" –4:53
- "Just You, Just Me" –7:59
