The Smiley Smile Message Board

I wanted to let folks here know about this because it seemed to be an inspired decision from Guitar World's editors, and there are more than a few Monkees fans and guitarists who are members of this board. I just got the most recent issue this morning in the mail, dated June 2012, and "Last Train To Clarksville" is one of the featured guitar/bass transcriptions this month. I think this is terrific, and overdue. It was great to see the music of The Monkees being presented this way, as a song worthy of being learned and performed by the guitar community at-large. I know that seems like such a niche thing to say or even get excited about, but how many decades have Monkees fans had to "win over" other listeners and even other musicians by pointing out how *good* some of the music really was, versus the image?

Maybe this is a sign that things have changed, and that now a truly great and exciting 60's single like Last Train To Clarksville can go beyond the television/bubblegum depiction and be thought of as a good song in general, no strings attached.

I'm also thinking magazines like this could be persuaded to start including other 60's acts we love here, like *ahem* THE BEACH BOYS, in much the same way they featured the Monkees. I have a mid-sized collection of these and the only BB's transcription I can cite offhand is "California Girls", published in the late 80's. Maybe if positive reaction to The Monkees sheet music starts hitting the inbox of the editor, and some praise and requests for Beach Boys starts coming in, more "new" fans and readers will jump on board as well. Just a thought.

Here is the website: Unfortunately I think the May issue is still featured but you can find the new one somewhere on the site. If this is something you like, drop them a line and tell them "Thanks" and mention the BB's as well for upcoming featured music.

http://www.guitarworld.com/ (http://www.guitarworld.com/)

"LTTC" riff played by Louie Shelton, or at least that is what the Internet told me.  I think he also did that great riff in "Valleri" -- which is a classic no matter who played it.

The internet was right, that was Louie Shelton who also played Valleri - both versions! One of the best guitar solos of the 60's. It was a neat touch that Guitar World listed how to get Louie's super-compressed tone on Clarksville (the original used a McGuinn-like opto compressor for *heavy* compression, a classic 60's guitar sound), and I have used that track to demonstrate the sound of those classic compressors for students in the past.

Louis Shelton - another guitar hero of mine whose music I loved for years but whose name I didn't know until I got older. That guy was an incredible guitarist, just a fantastic soloist. Go to his website and check out his credits and bio, so many absolute classic songs to his credit:

http://www.louieshelton.com (http://www.louieshelton.com)