2001 The Monkees Music Box

2001 Music Box
The Monkees
Louie Shelton - Guitar

It's hard not to wonder why the four-disc Music Box even exists. After all, Rhino has not only released definitive reissues of all of the Monkees' studio albums, complete with bonus tracks, but the label has a series devoted to rarities (Missing Links), a single-disc greatest hits album, a double-disc anthology, and another four-disc box, Listen to the Band, which is excellent.

2000 Nashville Guitars

2000 Nashville Guitars
Various Artists
Guitar (Acoustic), Producer

On Nashville Guitars, produced by noted session guitarist Louie Shelton (the Jackson Five, the Monkees), he contributes the up-tempo track "High Roller," accompanied by ten more tracks from some of the finest pickers in Nashville. Mark Casstevens contributes an acoustic picking masterpiece in "Cowtown," this from a guitarist who can be heard on albums by folks like Garth Brooks, Faith Hill, and Amy Grant. Reggie Young (Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds") shines at full luster on "Exit 209," an easy listening number, and Ray Flacke smokes the fret board on "Templar Treasure."

1976 Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart

1976 Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart
Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart
Louie Shelton - Guitar

Most music fans showed no interest in this album when in it was released in 1976, it was most certainly their loss. Though lightweight and fluffy, this album ended up being the most consistent Monkees-related release since Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, the fourth Monkees album from 1967. With top-notch songs from the pens of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart and even a few outstanding tracks from Mickey Dolenz, this album was destined to be a cult classic. Kicking off with the mid-tempo balladry of "Right Now," sung by Davy Jones and featuring a few Lennon-esque chord changes, it was obvious that this was not the latest Deep Purple album.

1973 The Partridge Family Crossword Puzzle

1973 Crossword Puzzle

The Partridge Family

Louie Shelton - Guitar

Crossword Puzzle was the eighth LP from the Partridge Family, a multimedia, made-for-TV project that hit marketing pay dirt learning lessons from the success of the Monkees' manufactured origins, as well as the real-life pop/rock family the Cowsills. As a weekly prime time sitcom, The Partridge Family ran on ABC-TV from September 25, 1970, through August 31, 1974.

1970 Partridge Family Album

1970 Partridge Family Album

The Partridge Family

Louie Shelton - Guitar

This platter is the first of seven non-seasonal offerings from the pre-fabricated-for-television entity known as the Partridge Family. The idea took root in both the overtly marketing-oriented Monkees' multimedia project and combined it with the infinite storyline possibilities inherent in the honest to goodness pop/rock relations, the Cowsills. The Partridge Family ran on ABC-TV from September 25, 1970, through August 31, 1974.

1968 Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart I Wonder What She's Doing Tonite?

1968 I Wonder What She's Doing Tonite?
Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart
Louie Shelton - Guitar

"I Wonder What She's Doing Tonite?" went Top Ten in January of 1968, toward the end of Monkee-mania, and it's as splendid a pop tune about lovelorn insecurity as you'll find. The album titled after the hit is a real treat, and is up there with some of the better albums by the Monkees; the pair's ability to blend American bubblegum with British pop makes for a unique confection.

1967 Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart Test Patterns

1967 Test Patterns

Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart

Louie Shelton - Guitar

Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart never got much respect from the rock intelligentsia, being too closely associated with the Monkees before they were considered cool and also with the business end of the music business. Though based in the West Coast, they seemed much closer in origin and spirit to the Brill Building than to Haight Ashbury or the Sunset Strip. Their debut album, however, is a fairly bold creation given that it was recorded very hastily and rushed out to try and catch some of the commercial action that the duo's songs had helped stir up around the Monkees.

1967 The Monkees Headquarters

1967 Headquarters [Deluxe Edition]

The Monkees

Louie Shelton - Guitar

After the release of More of the Monkees, on which the band had little involvement beyond providing vocals and a couple Mike Nesmith-composed songs, the pre-fab four decided to take control of their recording destiny. After a well-timed fist through the wall of a hotel suite and many fevered negotiations, music supervisor Don Kirschner was out and the band hit the studio by themselves. With the help of producer Chip Douglas, the band spent some time learning how to be a band (as documented on the Headquarters Sessions box set) and set about recording what turned out to be a dynamic, exciting, and impressive album.

1966 Monkees

1966 Monkees

The Monkees

Louie Shelton -Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Guitar (Electric)

Before the dissolution of the independent reissue label Rhino Records, they were able to corner the market on all things related to the Monkees. This 21-volume VHS format box set gathers all 58 episodes of the Monkees' landmark television sitcom, their hourlong prime time 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee special, the first — and never before broadcast — version of Here Come the Monkees (pilot episode), and two short adverts for Kellogg's breakfast foods (one of the program's original sponsors). Producers Bert Schneider and Robert Rafelson's initial inspiration was to create a weekly made-for-TV version of the Beatles' Hard Day's Night.

1966 Monkees [Deluxe Edition]

1966 Monkees [Deluxe Edition]
The Monkees
Louie Shelton - Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Guitar (Electric)

The Monkees' first album was a huge success, following on the number one single "Last Train to Clarksville." The Monkees spent 78 weeks on the Billboard chart including an astounding 13 weeks at number one. The record wasn't only a commercial juggernaut, it also stands as one of the great debuts of all time, and while the record and the group have faced criticism from rock purists through the ages, it stands the test of time perfectly well, sounding as alive and as much fun 40years later