The Ventures - instrumental group

[trying2win]

--Some of the middle-aged PA members may recall The Ventures, an instrumental group whose most well-known recording might just be "Walk Don't Run". Anyone else remember them? They sure have some great guitar picking on a fair number of their songs.

--I have a lot of their old albums, tapes and CD's. I never get tired of listening to a lot of their old hits.

--Several members of this group have been playing in the band since around 1960....a long time. They were recently doing an outdoor concert in Seattle and recorded a few of their songs on video. The songs "Surf Rider", "Walk Don't Run", and "Perfida" (remember any of those?) are the ones being played on the two videos available for free at this link:

http://www.theventures.com/video/video.htm

--I'm betting these are some music videos, that Just Ralph would enjoy watching and listening to! If you watch them Ralph, please give us your opinion what you think of The Ventures music on these videos.

Thanks,

Trying2win

[trying2win]

--Once you click on the link for The Ventures music video, it gives you several lines to choose from. The one marked "high speed access recommended" line, has the best picture quality.

Trying2win

[JustRalph]

I hope I can play like that when I am that age...........


hell.....I can't play like that now..................

Very cool.....nice links...thanks......

[wolsons]

I used to LOVE their music - still do, it seems!

Great link - thanks!

[Tom]

Oh yeah. Walk Don't Run and House of the Rising Sun were mandatory songs for bad bands. And I was in the worst ever!
Still remember my old Ford convertable, 1967 Galaxy, tooling around with venture music and Beech Boy tunes cranked on full.
Wipe Out....who did o that one? Safaris?
Knew a girl who danced to Wipe Out like you never saw dancing!
Made your knees shake to watch.
Groovy!

[freeneasy]

dont you have ' telstar' in there somewhere. i think they did there own version of 'apache' and 'pipeline', 'lonley bull'? but did they ever do a version of 'wipeout'

yeah tom the safaris did 'wipe out' and 'surfer joe' and both were on the same 45, that was a coou

[Red Knave]

Originally posted by freeneasy
dont you have ' telstar' in there somewhere. i think they did there own version of 'apache' and 'pipeline', 'lonley bull'? but did they ever do a version of 'wipeout'

yeah tom the safaris did 'wipe out' and 'surfer joe' and both were on the same 45, that was a coou

The Tornadoes did the original Telstar. British group. I loved it with the space machinery sounds at the start and the angry-bee sound in the keyboards.
Apache was originally done by a scandinavian guy. The record said Jorgen Ingman and His Guitar. One of the first guys to do multiple tracking. Accompanied himself on all the parts. Even the percussion is him thumping the guitar body with his thumb.
Pipeline was the Chantays. I still have the '45. As one DJ put it 'doing a medly of their Hit'.
Lonely Bull was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. I think their first charted song.
Wipeout was the SURFaris (oh, I get it!)
Man, great memories. Thanks for starting this thread.

[trying2win]

--It's nice to see a few of us remember The Ventures and enjoy listening to their music. Just watching their online music videos, brings back a lot of memories. I love listening to the music of instrumental bands from the early 1960's, that had talented lead guitarists. In The Ventures case, it was Nokie Edwards.

--I've seen the odd concert of The Ventures on TV, over the years. Seems to me, that I recorded one of them on a VHS tape. Like a dummy, I erased it. Drat! Wish I had kept it. Oh well, if I really want a video tape of one of The Ventures concerts, I can always buy one from their website if I want to.

--Although The Ventures hit, 'Walk Don't Run' is probably their best remebered song, I'd have to rate three of their other songs as my favorites. Those being:

1. Ram-Bunk-Shush
2. Sunny River
3. Diamond Head


--On the same topic of early 1960's instrumental groups with great lead guitarists, does anyone remember The Fireballs? I just love listening to their old songs. Here's another instrumental group that had a superb lead guitarist. His name... George Tomsco.

--What a great person George Tomsco is. One time, when I was young fellow (now that's going back quite a few years!), I couldn't find any of The Fireballs' albums in either a retail, or used record store. Then, I got this idea to send a letter to The Fireballs via the Norman Petty Studios in Clovis, New Mexico. I had read somewhere, that that studio was where The Fireballs did a lot of their recording. I asked in the letter, if the studio could pass on the letter to George Tomsco. I had asked George if he knew where I could buy some of their group's recordings, because I couldn't find any. Lo and behold, a few weeks later to my surprise, in the mail was a reel-to-reel tape (remember those?) of a lot of The Fireballs recordings, and a letter from George Tomsco. A present to me. Wow! I've never forgotten George's act of generosity and kindness.

--The Fireballs are still performing at the odd gig, now and then.

--Their best known song is probably 'Torquay'. Anyone remember that one? My favorite three songs by The Fireballs are:

1. Foot Patter
2. Bull Dog
3. Teekee


--As for picking any of The Ventures' or The Fireballs' songs on my acoustic guitar, I've learned (by ear...I never learned to read music) how to do...'Walk Don't Run' and 'Perfidia'. Tried songs like 'Surf Rider' (too tough) ...and 'Ram-Bunk-Shush' (difficult to learn, but I'm progressing). As for some of The Fireballs' songs...ones like 'Torquay' and 'Foot Patter' are fairly easy to play on guitar. 'Bull Dog' is a little tougher to learn. I'm not very good at that one yet.

Trying2win